Rules to Eat By

Rules to Eat By is a trend feature written by Michael Pollan for the New York Times. The story talks about the food issue that people are misguided by the "dazzling food science" conveyed by marketers, government and experts in the current market.

The feature applies a traditional structure, arranging the author's viewpoint into a logical order.

The article can be divided into two parts. In the first half, Pollan points out that the so-called "food science," even published by the nutritionists, is undependable. And the rest suggests that we'd better rely on the "popular wisdom," which is the way we used before, to choose food and stay healthy.

I think Pollan organizes the story pretty well by using the rhetoric question and second-person writing style.

He raises questions in the beginning of each part and gives the answer in the followings. This approach drives the audiences' interests, makes them feel as if they are pursuing the answer themselves, which is particularly useful when dealing with the issues in people's daily life

One problem in the second half of the feature is that it is too abstract for just saying "we relied on culture" and "ruls of thumb about eating that have been passed down in our families or plucked from the cultural conversation."

I think that it would be more convincing for providing specific examples, just as Pollan conducted in the first half of the story.