Why are Pollan, Goodall, and Nestle not fat?

Julie Guthman, in her article, Can’t Stomach It, presents a unique perspective regarding ‘one of the greatest public health threats of our times’ – obesity. Many overweight individuals are obsessed with ways to be thin and beautiful. This obsession results in an incredibly profitable industry where product and services such as plastic surgery are certainly successful. While most of society turns to this industry to ‘get skinnier’, authors such as Pollan, Goodall, and Nestle approach the obesity dilemma in the fact that the horrible eating habits of individuals are the reasoning for gaining weight. On the contrary, most writers reflect on fat growing culprits such as television viewing, long drive-to-work times, supermarket product placement, working mothers as well as poverty.

“Pollan is much more pointed in his analysis. As he puts it, ‘All these explanations are true, as far as they go. But it pays to go a little further, to search for the cause behind the causes…When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat” (76). This sums up Pollan’s views on the matter of obesity perfectly. Before critiquing Pollan’s work, Guthman makes sure to objectively present his arguments. She then begins to question Pollan on why isn’t the entire society then overweight. Food is abundant and cheap for all individuals, but not all indulge in this phenomenon. Pollan, Goodall, and Nestle are thin and able to resist overindulgence. As a result, these authors, especially Pollan, choose to look down upon the overweight. One example Guthman’s text gives is that in the film “Super Size Me”, obese people are often left anonymous and only shown from neck down. On the other hand, skinny Americans are not hidden at all. Pollan creates a shameful vision of fat people while never mentioning the struggles some may be experiencing in order to eat healthy such as the high prices of healthier foods and knowledge of good eating habits.

I was personally very surprised concerning the information I learned from Can’t Stomach It. I have seen “Super Size Me” twice and I have never questioned why the obese individuals were never revealed. I also never recognized how much Pollan ranks himself above those suffering from obesity. I have always thought that the reason obese people couldn’t eat healthier was because of the incredibly difficult ability to change their eating habits. However, I am now much more aware that most fat people are not financially capable of changing their ways of eating. Pollan simply claims that these people have no self-control, portraying his own average weight as being superior to those with obesity. I am disappointed that I continued to support Pollan’s views without even looking at the contrary side.

·         Were you previously swayed by Pollan’s biased views against obesity before reading this?

·         Can you think of anything society can do to better balance this division between upper-class normal weight individuals and lower-income obese individuals?

·         Do you think our country will ever be able to offer healthier foods at a cheaper price in order to downsize the obesity epidemic?

Guthman, Julie. "Can't Stomach It: Why Michael Pollan et al. Made Me Want to Eat Cheetos".

Gastronomica. 2007.