Mary Maxfield Food As Thought Analysis

In Food as Though: Resisting the Moralization of Eating, Mary Maxfield argues that people need to start trusting themselves more, when it comes to their bodies and their needs. Maxfield starts off by talking about all of the things that Michael Pollan writes about to help inform his readers about becoming healthier and what their problems are. Maxfield talks about how Pollan says that the food industry and also nutrition science is really confusing people on how to eat properly. She states how Pollan has his own theories and makes his own assumptions about health, diets, and weight that all follow the food industry that he critiques. Maxfield also talks about Pollan’s theory of “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants,” she explains how Pollan is using this because he does not believe people are capable of properly nourishing themselves.
This is because we feel the need to rise above everything and look like this beast of nature. She talks about how just like religion is a factor, culture as well influences our eating habits. Maxfield talks about how Michelle Allison has went out and observed adults, and when adults hear that they can go out and eat what they want, they actually go out and cram their faces with junk food because that is what they feel is being said. Maxfield also talks about how we try to rise above our animal nature through our food. She talks about how food really is not moral or immoral, it is not good or bad, it is just neutral. Maxfield talks about how healthy and unhealthy are being pushed into our brains because of culture. She talks about that if we can keep an open mind of our culture it can help us get away from this certain way of eating. Maxfield states that if we can clear our minds and forget about everything we are being told and just trust ourselves, our bodies, and meet our needs than we do not need to worry about the rights and wrongs of how we