Coming to PBS tonight, Wednesday, December 30: IN DEFENSE OF FOOD
Michael Schwartz’s adaptation of Michael Pollan’s bestseller about healthy eating had its world premiere at Mill Valley this Fall. The doc has also screened at the Austin, Life Sciences, and Feast on This film fests.
In interviews and a filmed live stage presentation, the likeable Pollan serves as a guide through the minefield of information, misinformation, and marketing that has served to confuse our comprehension of what we should – and shouldn’t eat – for decades, and, consequently, has led to an obesity epidemic and a litany of health problems for consumers of the typical western diet. Early on, he reveals that the solution is surprisingly simple, concisely put as: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” That’s food, in contrast to what he refers to as heavily processed “foodlike substances;” moderate amounts, rather than fall for super-sized marketing and other more subtle factors; and a vegetable-heavy diet, with meat and other typical staples the exception rather than the rule. The straightforward filmmaking approach, and Pollan’s compelling reasoning, make for an easily digestible, if conventional, public television documentary that might encourage viewers to make some sensible changes in their relationship to food.
what (not) to doc 