FOOD RULES

Michael Pollan recently published a book called Food Rules. In it, he lays down a series of rules on what and how to eat. The photo above, for instance, breaks Food Rule # 59: Try not to eat alone. The photo below demonstrates people following Food Rule #59.

Or, for a different example, Food Rule #60: Treat treats as treats. The photo below shows a party with several different kinds of treats, as part of a special occasion instead of as a normal part of one's diet.

Of course, people typically follow more than one rule at a time. The picture below combines Food Rule # 59 and Food Rule #60.

How many of these food rules do we follow in our daily lives? I decided to find out. I took photos of various pantries, fridges and freezers to see how well we follow the rules. How many food rules does a BYU student break? These pictures are all of my apartment. Among my roommates are a dietetics student, a dance major, a studio art major, an English major on a diet, an actuarial science major from Mexico, and myself, a French Studies grad student. How well do we follow the rules?

This pantry is shared between the dance major and the studio art major (they're also sisters):

Food Rule #2: Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce
Food Rule #11: Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food Rule #13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #17: Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.
Food Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Food Rule #21: It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language.
Food Rule #34: Sweeten and salt your food yourself.
Food Rule #39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

This freezer is shared between four girls: the dance major, studio art major, the dietetics major, and the actuarial science major.

Food Rule #2: Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #11: Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food Rule #13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #17: Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.
Food Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Food Rule #27: Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.

Those four girls also share this fridge:

Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Food Rule #8: Avoid food products that make health claims.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #10: Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.
Food Rule #11: Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

The actuarial science major and the dietetics major share this pantry:

Food Rule #2: Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #4: Avoid products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.
Food Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #10: Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.
Food Rule #11: Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food Rule #13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #17: Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.
Food Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Food Rule #34: Sweeten and salt your food yourself.
Food Rule #35: Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature.
Food Rule #39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

This is part of the English major's section of the fridge:

Food Rule #10: Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.
Food Rule #42: Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism.

This is her pantry:

Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #8: Avoid food products that make health claims.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #10: Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #17: Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Food Rule #34: Sweeten and salt your food yourself.

If I embarrassed my roommates, it's my turn. This is my food:

Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #4: Avoid products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.
Food Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Food Rule #8: Avoid food products that make health claims.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #12: Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #42: Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism.

And this is my pantry:

Food Rule #3: Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
Food Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Food Rule #6: Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.
Food Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Food Rule #9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
Food Rule #11: Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food Rule #13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
Food Rule #14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Food Rule #17: Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.
Food Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Food Rule #19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Food Rule #34: Sweeten and salt your food yourself.

The food rules broken most often? Food Rule # 19 (If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't). Food Rules #7 (avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce) and #14 (Eat food made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature) tied for second. We all broke the rules, which happens to follow Food Rule # 64: Break the rules once in a while.