One of the most insightful critics of the American food system is Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma. In his latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Pollan provides the following 12 steps for healthy eating:

• Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
• Avoid foods containing ingredients you can't pronounce.
• Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot.
• Avoid food products that carry health claims.
• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket; stay out of the middle.
• Better yet, buy food somewhere else: the farmer's market or CSA (community supported agriculture program).
• Pay more, eat less.
• Eat a wide diversity of species.
• Eat food from animals that eat grass.
• Cook and, if you can, grow some of your own food.
• Eat meals and eat them only at tables.
• Eat deliberately, wth other people whenever possible, and always with pleasure.