Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for In Defense of Food:
1. Okay, first things first: doesn't it just kill you to think that Krispy Kremes aren't a natural food? What other food is Pollan pointing his finger at? How painful would it be for you to give those foods up?
2. So...given Krispy Kremes and other goodies, what does Pollan mean when he says we eat foodlike substances? What does Pollan think we should be eating? How much of your own diet is made up of "foodlike substances" vs. "real food"?
3. Pollan claims that the Western diet has been replaced by nutrients. What does he mean by that? When he uses the term "nutritionalism," to what is he referring?
4. Pollan also says that after 30-years of nutritional advice from health experts, we're actually sicker than before. Do you agree? What kind of evidence does he use to support that claim?
5. Whom does Pollan blame for our dietary landscape? Again, what is the evidence? Does he make a good case?
6. If you've read Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, does this book make new claims—expand your knoweldge ? Do the two books complement one another? Or is this one simply a repetition of Omnivore?
7. What solutions does Pollan offer to help us make thoughtful choices, both in our own eating habits and in protecting the natural food supply?
8. Are you up for it?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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