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WHAT TO EAT
An aisle-by-aisle guide to savvy food choices and good eating
Marion Nestle

624 pages • 0-86547-738-8
Appendix/Notes/Index

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The questions and discussion topics that follow are designed to enhance your reading of Marion Nestle’s What to Eat. We hope they will enrich your experience of this eye-opening guide to what you need to know to cut through nutrition confusion and make sensible food choices.

INTRODUCTION

These days, food choices can seem impossibly complicated. Health is only one criterion; others include taste, price, and the environmental impact of food. Many consumers care deeply about issues ranging from fighting obesity or boosting immune systems to sustainable agriculture and the way food animals are raised. All of these issues can make food choices feel overwhelming. Award-winning nutritionist Marion Nestle now brings much-needed clarity to a topic we all confront on a daily basis: What are the best choices for our bodies, our palates, and the world we live in when it comes to food? She consulted store managers and farmers, inspectors and leading scientists, to create What to Eat, a friendly, hype-free, and fascinating guide to eating well, packed with fresh, surprising information about everything you might want to know about the foods you buy. Just as Jane Brody’s Nutrition Book provided breakthrough insight into the world of nutrition more than two decades ago, What to Eat updates these timely topics to bring us the answers we crave.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How have mealtimes and snacks changed since you were a child? Are your eating habits different from those of your parents? In what ways have they improved or gotten worse?

2. Did anything surprise you about what is involved in bringing foods to market and selling them? Did anything in what you read change your opinion about the role of food companies in government advice or action about food?

3. What were the most enlightening or reassuring facts you discovered in What to Eat?

4. Chapter five provides evidence that fresh fruits and vegetables are quite affordable, contradicting the frequent claim that Americans don’t eat enough fresh produce because it costs too much. How does this finding compare with your own experience? What do you think accounts for any differences you observe?

5. Did reading What to Eat change your understanding of the meaning of terms such as “organic” and “trans fat” and “natural”? What are your top priorities when making food choices? What are the best ways to determine whether certain foods really do meet your criteria?

6. In the introduction, Nestle writes, “The foods that sell best and bring in the most profits are not necessarily the ones that are best for your health, and the conflict between health and business goals is at the root of public confusion about food choices.” Can you think of some examples from your own experience?

7. Did the book change your opinion about eating foods that have been genetically modified or irradiated? On what basis would you decide whether to eat foods treated in these ways?

8. Which weight-loss diets have any of your reading-group members tried? Did reading this book change your opinion of diets that eliminate a particular type of food (from no carbs to no sugar—not even in carrots)? Why do you suppose it is so difficult for many Americans to apply Nestle’s simple principle of “eat less, move more” when attempting to lose weight?

9. Discuss Nestle’s overall approach to the food dilemmas confronting us today (e.g., Is green tea really a wonder drug, or should we avoid the caffeine in tea and coffee? Are the omega-3 fats in fish worth the risk of methylmercury? etc.). What is the most reliable and rational way to resolve conflicting advice about food? Has reading this book changed the way you view the media’s “breakthrough” reports of new discoveries in nutrition?

10. What benefits and limitations does the book present about being vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous? Did the book in any way affect your attitude about consuming dairy products, meat, or fish?

11. Nestle has been a vocal crusader against food marketing aimed at children, particularly for products that have a high sugar content. What can parents do to counter the effects of advertising and packaging on children’s food preferences? What is the best way to raise a child who eats healthfully and is eager to try new “adult” foods? Did reading this book make you curious about the quality of meals served in schools? What are the best ways to make school lunch programs more nutritious?

12. Do you routinely take nutritional supplements? If so, discuss which ones you take and why. Do you think they are effective? Explain how you know. Do you believe that new legislation is needed to reform the nutritional-supplement industry? If so, what types of rules would you want to see in place?

13. Does the success of publicly traded “organic food” corporations such as Whole Foods make you hopeful? Or must corporations always be at odds with healthful food choices and sustainable methods of food production?

14. What did you discover about frozen foods and packaged snacks? Can consumers balance the need for time management with foods that enhance long-term health?

15. Who should be responsible for ensuring that food is safe? You? Food companies? The government? What is the best defense against eating contaminated food? What is needed to prevent food safety problems such as those involving produce (spinach and lettuce in particular) as well as meat?

16. What sort of water do you usually drink—tap or bottled? What influences your decisions about beverages? What do you know about the quality of water in your community, and how could you find out more?

17. Do you believe that food choices are mostly a matter of personal responsibility? Or do you think that factors in the food environment—such as portion size, variety, and ubiquity—can influence what you eat?

18. Would you describe yourself as an optimist or a pessimist when it comes to eating well? What might need to happen to make you feel more optimistic?

19. Some readers have reacted to What to Eat by losing weight without even trying. What principles of weight loss does the book propose? What dietary changes might you make as a result of reading this book?

20. One of Nestle’s goals is to restore the joy of eating. Can American culture reconcile fears of food with the sheer pleasure of eating well?

PRAISE FOR WHAT TO EAT

“The perfect guidebook to help navigate through the confusion of which foods are good for us, what labels we can believe and, most important, which are the foods to avoid . . . [This] book is both an everyday reference and political statement.” —Phil Lempert, USA Today

“[This] book is for anyone who has read a food label; been annoyed at how often their children nag them for certain cereals; wondered about the difference between natural and organic; or questioned who is minding the store when it comes to nutrition and food safety.” —Marian Burros, The New York Times

“In a field full of crackpots and food-loathers and obfuscators, [Nestle] stands out as a level-headed, clear-thinking person who actually enjoys food (in moderation of course, as Julia used to say).” —R. W. Apple, author of Apple’s America

“Accessible, reliable and comprehensive.” —Judith Weinraub, The Washington Post

“Nestle is simply one of the nation’s smartest and most influential authorities on nutrition and food policy.” —Carol Ness, San Francisco Chronicle

“The most comprehensive guide to the political and nutritional choices we make shopping for food.” —Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“When it comes to the increasingly treacherous landscape of the American supermarket, with its marketing hype and competing health claims, Marion Nestle is an absolutely indispensable guide: knowledgeable, eminently sane—and wonderful company, too.” —Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire

“The industry wants you to believe there are no good foods or bad foods. Well, that’s not true. And I can’t think of anyone who knows the difference better than Marion Nestle.” —Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

“Meticulously researched, thorough, and indispensable—Marion Nestle’s What to Eat delivers on its title. It’s a reliable, riveting guide to the amazing truth about what we’re sold by the American food distribution system. Refreshingly rigorous and fun to read.” —Alice Waters, founder and proprietor of Chez Panisse and author of Chez Panisse Café Cookbook

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marion Nestle has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation—the food world’s highest honor—as well as the foundation’s book prize for Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. She is also the author of Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism and was featured in the movie Super Size Me. A native New Yorker, she raised her family in California and now lives in Greenwich Village, where she teaches at New York University. Visit her websites at www.foodpolitics.com and www.whattoeatbook.com.