Michael Pollan’s name has become nearly synonymous with the provenance of food, what we should eat and why.
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual contains suggestions about not just how to eat, but how to live. Pollan isn’t authoritarian in his views; his tactics are gentle and well-intentioned. People don’t like being told what to do, and Pollan rarely dictates from on-high. Instead, he coaxes you into his world. We are all eaters; we can all eat better; let me show you how.
The original release of the book, in 2009, is just the rules. A 2013 edition is the one that captured our hearts and earned a forever place on our bookshelf. The compilation (culled from scientists to Nonnas to the Romans) goes down easy, thanks to Maira Kalman’s marvelous, whimsical companion illustrations.
“Set your table with flowers and everything will taste twice as good.” “If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re probably not hungry.” “Eat close to the Earth.” It is, as Kalman describes it, “a humanistic and smart book that describes a sane and happy world of eating.” In other words, the types of rules we can get down with.