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Refining Whole Food

Decent Essays

1. It became such a larger process to the modern diet because, white powder was nutritionally worthless. The history of refining whole food has been a history of figuring out ways not just make them more durable and portable, but also how to concentrate their energy and, in sense, speed them up. This acceleration took a great leap forward with the introduction in Europe around 1870 of rollers (made from iron, steel, or porcelain) for grinding grain. A great deal of modern industrial food can be seen as an extension and intensification of this practice as food processors find ways to deliver glucose ‐ the brain’s preferred fuel ‐ ever more swiftly and efficiently. Refining grains extends the shelf life (precisely because they are less nutritious …show more content…

People have been using refining cereal grains since at least the Industrial Revolution, favoring white flour and white rice over brown, even at the price of lost nutrients. Part of the reason was prestige: because for many years only the wealthy could afford refined grains, they acquired a certain glamour. Viewed from this perspective, the history of refining whole foods has been a history of figuring out ways just to make them more durable and portable, but also how to concentrate their energy and, in a sense, speed them up. Refining grains extends the shelf life and it makes it easier to digest by removing the fiber that ordinarily slow the release of their …show more content…

A central purpose from the book is to inform the reader about the biases of the “real world.” One event that illustrates Pollan’s argument is the McGovern fiasco, in which senator McGovern in his report, in the second senate hearing of 1977, advised the American public to “reduce consumption of meat” (Pollan 23). After hearing this, companies of the food/medical industry sought a way to counter and influence McGovern’s claim; they hired lobbyist. Due to lobbying, McGovern’s third term ends and is not re-elected for a fourth term. This sent a clear warning to all those who would oppose the American diet, as described by Pollan, “…the National Academy of Sciences… was careful to frame its recommendations… to avoid offending any powerful interests” (Pollan 25). This is the bias to which Pollan refers. It also proves to be a central purpose to the

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