Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual
by Michael Pollan

I first ran across Michael Pollan at a friend’s house. He was reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and offered to let me borrow it. I was intrigued and read through it quite quickly. I found Michael’s conversational writing style to be quite enjoyable and it helped me to better appreciate the information that he was sharing while he told his stories.

Having enjoyed The Omnivore’s Dilemma so much, there was no hesitation about picking up Food Rules when I saw it on the store shelf. It’s a small book, and I actually managed to read about 1/3 of the book while waiting for my wife. (So as to not pick on anyone, we weren’t shopping. I was waiting for her to get off from work.)

This book could be the answer to all of the various diets out there. The ones that say you can’t eat meat, the ones that say you should predominately eat meat, or the no carbs, or mostly carbs… It all gets so confusing.

In Food Rules Michael presents seven words that sum up what we should eat. That’s refreshingly straight-forward. A meal-planning guide that I can understand and follow.

Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

He then goes on to provide “rules” that help to further define these three sentences, giving more details that will help you stick to those seven words whether you’re shopping, cooking, or eating. 64 simple rules that are easy to remember, easy to follow, and great for your health. No rule takes more than two pages, most less than one.

The rules are simple. It’s easier than you think. The good news? You don’t even have to cut out things like chips, cakes, ice cream, pies, or other goodies (see rule 60).

Check out Food Rules for yourself.