I am an educated person who knew inherently that fast food was not good for me
581852
This book allowed me to TRULY understand for the first time the face of my food addiction.  I am an educated person who knew inherently that fast food was not good for me.  However, I still gave into the urges and put my health at risk.  Going through the exercises in this book and asking the seemingly simple questions of How is NEVER eating a fast food sandwich again going to affect me and my life?  How will I feel- vs. How will my Pig feel..simply put this book HAS changed my relationship with food.  The struggle is real and this book allowed me to rein it in.
1034216
My gag reflex was working over time while reading Anything that Moves .  Goodyear takes us on a tour of some unusual dining mostly on the West Coast and in Vegas and she does it at a run.  In one chapter youll be learning how to process, cook and, God help me, eat insects.  Soon youll be virtually eating raw meats, organs, testicles, penis, live octopus and shrimp, unpasteurized dairy products, etc.  There was one day in particular when I combined the chapter entitled Guts, which is about eating ALL of a creature, with a real time meal of highly spiced chana masala.  Big mistake.  I seriously wondered if I needed to throw up.  To be fair Im not a big meat eater because of its taste and the bloody fleshiness of it.  I also found the information about the cruelty involved in making sharks tale soup and foie gras not to mention the consumption of endangered species and animals such as whales and big cats and elephants.

I don't think Goodyear is purposely going for a choking response but be aware that she looks head on (I know, bad pun) at how the foodie movement is pushing chefs and eaters to ever more exotic fare.  She also explores the political and governmental oversight involved in the food industry as well as how specialist food marketers are driving the market closer and closer to the edge of traditional American taste buds.  Of course I understand that all of these foods are eaten and rightly so in various cultures.  If its a question of eat whats available or die the choice is clear.  Choosing to eat unusual foods for excitement and bragging rights feels uncomfortable to me and downright wrong when it involves the torture or killing of endangered or more sentient animals.  Anything that Moves was an education for me.
2870307
Michael Pollan, whom I discovered for myself in a Fresh Air interview probably in 2008, is the authority now on food, its ties to government mismanagement and our societys obesity epidemic. Every page of the 201 has a fact sticking out, as well as a what this means in other words sense of redundancy. After finishing the book I have tested myself several times today with tidbits that have to be carried on and incorporated into my lifestyle. Of children born in 2000, one of three will develop diabetes. 66 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. We spent as much on food plus healthcare now as we did twenty years ago, although we spend much less on food and much more on healthcare. Refined flour and processed corn, corn products as in food products substituting for real food, dominate the center aisles of grocery stores and with fast food dominate our collective eating disorders. In my opinion, it seems the finger to point has to be at the sweetener of corn syrup.
 In Defense of Food, the title, has to be re-read after the book itself, which has enough scary consequences to warn us away from eating. Pollans resurging thesis is that food should be defended, and that what we usually eat is not food in the first place. We should continue to eat food, but stop at adulterations that usually in fact include some corn byproduct. We should eat fats. We should eat sugars, carbohydrates, proteins, but we should eat them as they naturally occur in food at its basic level. The synergy theme to the book is that nutrients removed or added are not nutrients as they were intended, and that to take a pill or to consume what has had a nutrient added to it, absent the food itself, makes us quickly and definitely unhealthy. To back up his point, he always has the carb craze of a few years ago to prove that what we are told has the bias of business. All of this time, fats were as healthy as carbs could ever be. He also examines the 10 to 1 ratio of omega-6 to omega 3; the 3 to 1 ratio, Pollan concludes, was much wiser.
 George McGovern was the messenger. But in 1977, he alienated himself from his South Dakota constituents by calling for reduction in red meat and dairy. This lead to talk of nutrients, a word Pollan usually uses in the pejorative. People no longer had to honestly appraise food if nutrients could be doctored into them, or removed. Another name is Weston Price, a crackpot and food anthropologist who laid the foundation that ethnic eating is better than the Western diet, leading me to question that if a melting pot of food makes us sick, what about the melting pot overall? And Kerin ODea remedied diabetics in Australia by returning them to Aboriginal crocodile and kangaroo diets.
 On page 118: To put this in more concrete terms, you now have to eat three apples to get the same amount of iron as you would from a single 1940 apple. So there is no quick fix; its not a matter of choice. The food is only as strong as the environment that produces it, and we are too careless in the end to bypass fast food, microwaves, and convenience time. The soil is compromised; the chickens are artificial, the process is in warp speed. It also makes food cheaper and always available, but Pollan stresses there is no quick fix to our food problem because healthy food cannot be quickly prepared. And overeating anything is a carcinogen: too much food means too much cell division.
52437
This book changed me. It really did.

I'd always had a sense that I should avoid most processed foods; we all know that deep down, right? But this book really broke down how that's not only true from a nutritional perspective, but how corporate greed drove this country's current obesity epidemic. Yes, we're all human beings with free will, but when billions are spent on marketing and trying to make these things seem like they're not terrible for you - just read the book. You'll get what I mean when I'm done.

Even if this wasn't based in (important) facts, it'd make a great novel. Excellent read.
3152982
Well, this is an interesting book. But I must say...
God Bless the Fast Food Industry! It represents all that is great with this country. If you don't like fast food maybe you should leave America or are a Communist. Even EUROPEANS love our American fast food, fancy French restaurants are going out of business because the French know a good thing when they see it and can't get enough Big Macs. Books like this are just wrong they say fast food is unhealthy and evil my brother eats nothing but fast food he's 39 and healthy as a horse. I think Schlosser must be jealous of fast food success and that's why he wrote this book. How sad.
You can go ahead and click "Not Helpful" but by doing so you're admitting that I'm right and it scares you so much that you feel the need to censure me in some way. Go ahead, I am used to attacks by liberal nancy-boys.
Final ratings - 1 out of 5 stars.
402557
Before I read this book I noticed that certain foods known to be good weren't showing any beneficial factors in my body.  Honestly it was a reverse effect. It's very disappointing thinking I was eating healthy but no positive results especially when juicing and on a low calorie diet. After 4 weeks of eating what I thought were good for me I learned from reading this book that it was poisoning my body. After four weeks of juicing and light meals, I was blown away the following week after eating a high protein diet. I did not understand when I looked in the mirror after eating high protein and vegetables how I looked more like I'm was expecting when I was faithfully juicing until,I read this book. It's all about the types of food I was putting in my body. This book has opened my mind to being more conscious of what is best for me. I like the breakdown provided for each categorization of food type. Good for all health conscious people.
4369906
You know, I feel so guilty that I had been feeding this crap to my dog for 3+ years and I admit the only reason I did was because I didn't know any better and it was affordable. Why did I not put 2 and 2 together when he stared getting very dry, flaky skin, itchy paws, hot spots, red crusty sores and on top of all that - ear infections? When I started learning about the ingredients in dog food it really opened up my eyes. This food is a sham. They want you to believe it's chock full of beef and vegetables but it's not - it is full of corn (which is a an allergen), flours, fillers, artificial ingredients, fats and sugar with a little bit of beef and veg thrown in at the end. No wonder my dog was having so many problems with his health! I have since switched to higher quality foods with chicken, lamb or fish meal as it's first ingredient. I highly recommend these brands if you want your dog to thrive on healthy whole foods full of nutrients and flavor: California Natural, Innova, Canidae (the old formula), Merrick and Wellness Core. See [...] to research all brands of dog food.
300495
By reading this book, I cut out the products my body did not like. I have stopped having IBS, and my life is much better. Read this only if your willing to give up the wrong types of food.
4913679
I'm a foodie, I'll admit, but sometimes convenience wins and I'm forced to settle. I've actually enjoyed most Healthy Choice meals that I have experienced in the past, but I knew there was something wrong with this product. If you look at the reviews for the line of Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, this one in particular scores way lower than the rest. I doubt that I will be trying any of the other fresh mixers unless I get them for free, like I did with this one, but I just had to find a place on-line to express how awful it tastes. I hate to throw away food, but this was simply inedible. My stomache and head were both hurting after just a few bites. My body was completey rejecting this garbage from the time I started eating it. I hope that Healthy Choice contacts me to offer me a job as a taste-tester, because I would never let any food-maker release this product with confidence. Stay away from this product.
4283048
I hate to write a negative review but I am extremely disappointed with this book.  I have had stomach issues that I have seen my doctor for over the past few years and when I saw this book I was so hopeful that it would shed new light or give me some new ideas.  It turns out the main thing it did was annoy me.

The book is written with common questions followed by the answers and many of the answers were so obvious they weren't even answers.  Saying not to eat something that upsets your stomach before a big meeting.....come on, that's not a revelation.  Maybe it isn't meant for me, someone who has somewhat informed myself...and uses common sense.  There is a lot of information on the causes of various stomach problems, I'm not saying this book wasn't informative, but as far as actually helping symptoms goes I found it lacking.
3351362
I am 52 years old and have had a variety of health  health issues, that, that seemed to be getting worse as I aged.  I was tired of every time I went to the Doctor he wanted to fix the issue with a pill.  I decided to go on a quest to see if I could heal myself using food.  Someone recommended I watch the documentary Sick Fat and nearly dead, which got me started by juice fasting.  I then read the book China Study which helped bring things further into focus for me, but something was still missing.  I was losing weight and feeling better but still had moments of extreme hunger.  I was eating a primarily whole foods diet, which included whole wheat bread.  A friend of mine sent me an article about the book Wheat Belly.  What the article said made a lot of sense to me, and helped explain my moments of extreme hunger and other symptoms I was having.

I bought the book and modified my diet, and am feeling great.  At this point I am taking no drugs.  I have lost 63 pounds, my blood pressure is 115 over 70 and my cholesterol is 143.  I use to have dandruff but it is gone as well.

Read this book and get out of the doctor mill, they don't want you healthy, there is no Money in healthy people.
4886537
This is my expererience with the Atkins approach. I bought the book, read it from cover to cover in a weekend. I decided I would like to try it, though I knew of no one personally who had. As the book emphasized, I saw my physician, who laughed at me and tried to discourage me from it: "You'll consume far too many calories, far too much protein and fat. It's not good for your heart. You'll feel exhausted, headachey.  Your blood pressure and cholesterol will soar. Don't do it."
Well, I was gung-ho. I had my blood drawn (ouch), had the doctor check my blood sugar, had my blood pressure taken. Everything was within normal for my age. So, just as the book suggested, I started the program and did it diligently for 14 days. I walked 40 minutes each day and lifted weights twice a week in that period.
I felt headachey and weak. I craved sweets. And I gained 4 stupid freakin' pounds!
Went back to the doctor, who laughed some more, checked all of my levels (my cholesterol had risen by 8 points, my blood sugar had dropped), and then said, "Now will you try a sensible diet?"
990496
I read this book at age 14 when it first came out...
I immediately stopped eating all processed foods and meats and then I stopped eating red meat all together for 20 years....
This book did me a lot of damage....It advocated a low fat, high carb diet which put me in an inflammatory condition
that was only reversed after I started listening to the great Dr. Robert Atkins radio show about 1993....
After I cut out the toxic carbohydrates (mostly flour), sugar and added healthy fats the chronic debilitating hypoglycemia, swollen knees, acne, dry hair and skin all went away.
I still am indebted to the late great Dr. Robert Atkins for the great help he gave me and thousands of others...
673765
Let me start by saying... I enjoy putting myself through things like this.  I find it fascinating the flavors that food scientists can come up with.  I also have to give Frito Lay credit here.  I appreciate their willingness to make every 19 year old stoner's dreams come true around this time each year, by letting the public make these kind of suggestions.

So I was on Amazon Pantry, looking for the cheapest way to use a $5 credit, when I came upon these.  Then the struggle began.  My brain and my stomach hate each other, stemming back from a food poisoning incident at a Subway many years ago.  I'm pretty sure this is how their communication went down:

Brain: "That looks terrible."
Stomach: "...Not Again"
Brain: "I can't imagine the science that went into making that happen."
Stomach: "You know your using "science" as if that's a positive here, right?  This is food!"
Brain: "There's no way this is sticking around... I hate you Frito Lay for making me buy this "Limited Edition" bull****."
Stomach: " You don't HAVE to buy this.  There's a lovely gyro place just up the street.  We like them a lot, remember?"
Brain:  "Shut up stomach!  You're not the boss of me!"
Stomach:  "Garbage in, garbage ou..."
Brain: "'MERICA!!!!!!!"

With that as the backdrop, and the added bonus that "these are toats free with that credit", these went into my cart, only to arrive a couple days later.  Now... I know what you're thinking.  "You had two days to reconsider your choices in life."  NOPE!  THIS IS HAPPENING.

I opened the bag to be greeted by a smell that can only come from circumstances that would allow the flavor of gyro meat, dairy, and cucumber to be flavor sealed, shipped from who knows where, and left out in a 90 degree day.  To put it another way... it smelled amaze-balls!

So I popped one in the ol' pie hole.  It was a kettle chip, which was seemingly symbolic... because why shouldn't the initial point of contact get cut up from shards of hyper-crispy potato when I know that 30 minutes later the rest of me is going to be sad as well?

IT WASN"T BAD.

It wasn't good either.  I definitely saw how Frito Lay's food genies MacGyver'ed this thing together.  I tasted tzatziki, which was good.  I tasted gyro spice... which was actually pretty on point.  But then...

THE TASTE OF GREASY MEAT!!!!!!

Now, last I checked, potato chips aren't a health food.  It's hard to knock them for being greasy.  Especially kettle chips.  But the meat flavoring with the greasiness of potato chips was a little too much.  And by a little, I mean a LOT too much.  It turned the whole experience into the equivalent of leaving a frozen gyro pack outside to thaw, forgetting about it for a day or two, having a raccoon give birth on top of it, and then saying "Ooooh, this looks like an ideal 3 PM snack" and cooking it all up!

Then, because I am a man of science, I proceeded to eat 4-5 more, because "flavor distribution may have been off on the first few."  Nope... all pretty much the same.  I then threw the bag out.  Now, to be entirely fair, I threw them out not because I hated them.  I didn't.  I've had way worse.  I threw them out because for as much as I like trying new things, I don't need to be raising a championship banner for finishing a bag of these.

After all, I am an adult.
501641
Changed my life...first time I have ever had freedom from food.
3440388
"Fast Food Nation" is a well researched, well documented, well written book on the inside workings of the Fast Food Industry, the Beef Industry, and lack of Government Regulation for both.  The book will shock and disgust you and hopefully motivate you into taking action.  Action should be taken not solely for the low quality and pathogen infested food, but for the poor working conditions and lack of concern for workers at both the fast food restaurants AND the beef slaughterhouses.  Sympathy should also be given to the ranchers and farmers forced off their lands and out of work by the beef industry and fast food style of business.  And what about the current explosion of obesity in this country?  Fast food is the source of fatness and health problems.  Read this book, consider the facts, educate yourself about the atrocities running rampant in our "perfect" society, and make changes in your life style.
1971918
I knew before that journalists are taught some kind of very specific logic, so I wasn't surprised to see all of these manipulative conclusions without any evidence. The best way to describe his logic is to say "I'm gonna tell people this is bad, because I don't like it." Lack of education, evidence and logic, just his feelings. I couldn't stand his rant on Kazakhs and Bolivians. I doubt the author could stretch his mind beyond typical stereotypes and official propaganda. Just imagine someone writes "America is the country of obesity, breast cancer and diabetes, I don't think they can produce food for healthy people."

Yesterday I bought organic nuts from California. They were bad. Does it mean that Californians are greedy corrupted farmers? Or maybe a million different things have happened to these nuts? If I buy organic blueberries and they aren't as good as I want them to be, do I think these blueberries are not organic? No, I don't make conclusions based on my imagination. On the contrary, I think this blueberry wasn't coated with wax, that's why it got rotten. I'm not saying food from other countries is good because it doesn't taste good, no. But I still believe that the way the author feels about foreign countries shouldn't affect his so-called investigation.

So if I were to write a book about organic food I would do the following:
1. Read and understand what organic food is. Check official info, summarize the rules and describe it in normal English language.
2. Hire a chemist! And check walnuts from California and Kazakhstan.
3. Compare several brands of organic walnuts and non-organic.
4. Walnuts and beans are not enough. Try eggs, dairy, meat, tomatoes etc. Check the dirty dozen at least!
5. Investigate if I find something bad. Check if they were major scandals in the area.

This book contains none of these. Just some conclusions based on the authors imagination.