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What to Eat Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Nourishing, and troubling.
Comment: This is the most credible, impressive book I've read on food. Her advice is actually quite traditional (eat fewer calories, exercise more, watch portion size and saturated fats, read the friggin' ingredient labels), and yet the book feels like a revolution, perhaps due in part to her comprehensiveness in weighing the pros and cons of various foods from multiple angles and her scandalous revelations of the regulatory tugs-of-war. And yet... as I read further and further, I noticed increasingly that the consumer's best response to a vast variety of food conundrums was "write your congressman." Sure, she's right, I guess--much of what we consume is what it is because politicians and regulators make/permit it to be so.

And yet. With all the substantial problems in the world right now, it is daunting for a consumer to invest in a movement that's increasingly not "the big problem." We've seen a positive revolution in food in the past generation. But as we scrimp and save, the Wal-Mart "cheaper is better" food ethic may trump the recent progress of the artisan food producers and purveyors.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: All Purpose Guide
Comment: This is a good all purpose guide to nutrition, including and especially safety concerns. It doesn't just stop with "carrots are a good source of vitamin A, etc" but it goes on to address issues such as how food is processed, handled, and packaged, and how these considerations affect the actual desirabilty of eating those foods. I'd buy it in ADDITION to other nutrition books, not as a standalone.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Taking it all into account.
Comment: Nestle's book takes on a different view than your average foodie book promoting organic and local foods. She factors in "animal suffering and economic degradation" (Dorothy Kalins, NYTimes Sunday Book Review "Eat Your Vegetables May 28, 2006). I agree with Nestle that you really do vote with your shopping basket. What you buy at the store is what you support in our economy. This is a really eye-opening account of food in America today.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thorough
Comment: This book was recommended based on interest in the book "In Defense of Food" which I loved. This book has the information that shows people are too hung up on balancing a diet, when eating FOOD is really what we need to focus on, fruits, vegetables, etc. that give individual bodies nutrients and energy without having to calculate and quantify all elements of food.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A must-have book.
Comment: This book answers practically every question that today's confused American consumer could possibly have about food. It is valuable information, organized to be very user-friendly. Ms. Nestle cuts through the conflicting information that is available regarding so much of our food supply, and offers clear, sane guidance that will be a benefit to anyone who seeks it.

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