Food writer boils advice down to 7 words

Fresh off his "In Defense of Food" winning a James Beard Foundation Award for food writing and literature, and being tapped as reading matter for the entire University of Wisconsin-Madison community next fall, Michael Pollan is on a (whole grain) roll. In this followup to "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Pollan continues to seek out the simplest ways to navigate our increasingly complex food culture.

So far, he has it down to seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Q So we have to ask: What did you have for dinner last night?

A Ah, we had grilled chicken, asparagus -- which is in season at the moment -- fava beans, which are such a pain. You have to peel them twice. I think you burn more calories preparing them than you ingest, but they're a real sign of spring. Oh, and wild rice.

Q With the recent contamination scares, people may be feeling a sense of security in processed foods, which are exactly what you argue against. How do you respond?

A A lot of people think processed food is safer because it's so sanitized, but that really means that everything's been killed. It's dead. There's definitely a fear coming of food grown in the soil, which is really sad. A lot of the problem with produce comes in the processing.

People are relying on companies washing fresh lettuce and putting it in a bag with an 18-day shelf life instead of doing it themselves. The consumer should assume that whenever they outsource food preparation, there's a certain amount of risk involved. Not that you're always going to get it right yourself, but the scale of the problem is a lot smaller.

Q With people looking to stretch their food dollars, is the message to eat organically and locally, which often means more expensively, losing steam?

A I've heard contradictory things. I know Whole Foods is struggling, but I've also talked to people who make organic food, and they're doing just fine. This spring, we'll see what happens in the farmers markets. You do have people trading down. McDonald's is doing very well, which is not a great thing in terms of health. Then again, you have more people cooking at home, and the more people cook, the healthier they are.

Q You must be thrilled with the White House garden.

A Yeah, I think it's one of the most encouraging developments we've seen in years. The fact that Michelle Obama planted a garden and told people that it's an organic garden introduced the idea of growing and cooking real food for your family to a great many people. On the other hand, her husband is going out and having cheeseburgers! Every time she does something healthy, he goes for a good junk food hit. And we all like a junk food hit, but I think it's a rather calculated attempt to not be seen as elitist.

Q "In Defense of Food" was just chosen for the UW-Madison's "Go Big Read" common reading program. Will your message catch these young food consumers in time?

A Yes, because college is the first time they have real authority over their food choices. In general, people are perplexed about how to navigate this very complex food environment with conflicting health claims and changing nutritional advice. But you know how sometimes, the deeper you dig into something, the messier it gets? With food, the more I looked into it, the simpler it got, down to seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Q You've said this book isn't really about food, but about culture. What do you mean?

A This is actually a deeply conservative book in some ways. We have to remember things that we've lost. We have to conserve knowledge that the marketplace has eroded. We spend more time watching TV or waiting to be served than we do cooking. We keep telling ourselves we don't have time to do this, and the marketers flatter our sense of busyness. But what if that family that looks so crazy grabbing breakfast bars to eat in the car set their alarm clocks 10 minutes earlier and actually had a bowl of cereal and juice?

Kim Ode • 612-673-7185