Pollan’s central claim is that most food found in the supermarkets is not real food. He speaks about Gussow, a woman who grows a great deal of food and who despairs of the products being sold in the larger stores. Pollan goes on to list a selection of ‘rules’ to help people to shop and eat in a more healthy manner.
The purpose of Pollan’s argument is to educate readers about what is real food and what is not. Additionally, the list of rules seem designed to encourage readers to think more deeply about what they buy and eat and, hopefully, change their ways.
The author does not use a great deal of evidence to support his argument. He quotes Gussow in her opinions, but that is all. There is no actual evidence that what he is claiming is true. For example, the article claims that seventeen thousand new products claiming to be food are put on the market each year. However, he does not provide a source to back this up; it is simply quoted as having been stated by Gussow.
Some of the rules in the list make sense. For example, there are probably few people who would argue that “Eat well-grown food from healthy soil” is a bad rule. However, rules such as “Eat more like the French or the Italians, or the Japanese, or the Indians, or the Greeks” are clearly problematic. Surely, it is impossible to claim that all Greeks, for example, eat healthily. Such a sweeping statement has no place in a list of health rules. Another example of a questionable rule is “Try not to eat alone.” Many people eat alone and eat very healthily; once again, although there may be a sensible thought behind this instruction, it is not definitive.
