Michael Pollan on Oprah today 1/27

Hi- Michael Pollan was on Oprah this morning. I only watched a few minutes of the program when Alicia Silverstone was on talking about her book The Kind Diet. The show will be rebroadcast at 11:00pm on channel 7. I am going to try to watch the whole program then. I just looked at the comments for the show on the oprah.com site, and most people seemed to love the show. They also have a deal right now on oprah.com where you can buy a copy of the DVD food inc. at Amazon for $9.95. I would be interested to find out what other people thought of the show. Thanks, Nancy

I thought the show was interesting and provided a lot of views. For instance, Pollan was talking about processed food like substances, and then they show Silverstone buying some sort of packaged processed chicken Scallopini like product, and processed rice ice cream like desserts. Somehow in her mind, because it's not meat or dairy it's still good for her body. Pollard's view on the other hand was eat what your great grandmother ate, and could identify today. He still eats grass fed meat. I do have a more positive view on Chipotle now.

nicinchic wrote:For instance, Pollard was talking about processed food like substances, and then they show Silverstone buying some sort of packaged processed chicken Scallopini like product, and processed rice ice cream like desserts. Somehow in her mind, because it's not meat or dairy it's still good for her body. Pollard's view on the other hand was eat what your great grandmother ate, and could identify today.

I didn't see the show, but am familiar with Pollan. As far as Silverstone goes, she's a huge animal rights activist, and whether you agree with her or not, her no-meat, dairy, eggs vegan eating is an extension of those political views. I give her credit for at least being consistent, as perhaps extreme and misguided she may be, although I seriously take with a huge grain of salt any health claims she may make about her diet. I mean, if she doesn't want to eat animal products for political reasons, fine, but don't simultaneously claim that it is more healthful than a diet which includes animal products. Anyway, I'm not sure how much Pollan is challenging Silverstone directly, or if at all, but it seems like Pollan's usual schtick, i.e., eat how your grandmother would eat, doesn't apply at all to someone like Silverstone, who is making her food decisions based upon her political views.

I think you mean Pollan, not Pollard.

I understand what he means by "eat what your grandmother ate" and I basically agree with it. But the fact is that my grandmother didn't have access to that much fresh vegetables (Imagine the vegetable section at Jewel and similar stores in 1930!) and a really limited variety of fruit, vegetables, etc. What he really means is to avoid processed foods. Is it easier to say that, or to say "eat what your grandmother ate"?

edited that to Pollan.

Anyway, the clip is on Oprah.com of Silverstone. She doesn't talk about animal rights or political views. She talks about her cookbook, and incorporating new foods into your diet, such as whole grains and leafy green vegetables etc..

He should say "great-grandmothers." I'm not that much younger than he is and yet both of my grandmothers lived more than half their lives in the convenience foods era. It was my great-grandmothers who cooked from scratch and in two out of four cases, actually grew up on farms.

He did say great grandmothers.

Oh whoops. Never mind!

NFriday wrote

Hi- Michael Pollan was on Oprah this morning. I only watched a few minutes of the program when Alicia Silverstone was on talking about her book The Kind Diet. The show will be rebroadcast at 11:00pm on channel 7. I am going to try to watch the whole program then. I just looked at the comments for the show on the oprah.com site, and most people seemed to love the show. They also have a deal right now on oprah.com where you can buy a copy of the DVD food inc. at Amazon for $9.95. I would be interested to find out what other people thought of the show. Thanks, Nancy

I haven't seen this Oprah yet, but I will. This past Sunday evening, I watched Food, Inc. while trying to eat meatloaf.
Like Super Size Me, the film was thought provoking.
Like The Jungle, it made me less enthusiastic about consuming meat. I'm not a vegetarian, but I find when I eat meat, these book and movie scenes tend to pop into my head. (Which is why there are three packages of tofu in my fridge!)

I enjoyed Michael Pollan's contribution to the episode. He condensed Food Rules to 7 words: Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not Too Much.

Hi- Michael Pollan was promoting his book Food Rules. which right now is #3 on Amazon. It got mixed reviews on Amazon. The book seems to be geared more towards people that have not read his other books, and do not want to take the time to do so. The book is only $5 on Amazon, but is only a little over 100 pages, and has been referred by some reviewers on Amazon as the Cliff notes of Michael Pollan. He did get many favorable reviews from people who had not read his other books though. Videos of the Oprah show are available on http://civileats.com/2010/01/29. Hope this helps, Nancy