Something to Chew on

This book attempts two tasks. First, it explains all of the human body systems involved in nutrition, which is most of them, in detail. Second, it takes up social issues related to food: a world where some die of obesity while others starve, the social uses and misuses of scientific data, climate change and global sustainability. The author directs the Institute of Food and Health at University College Dublin. His credentials are impeccable, his desire to communicate with general readers is vivid, and his goals are clear. The book is designed to help ordinary citizens gain the tools they need to understand and share in making the policies that affect their lives and families. Unfortunately, the book is closely printed in a small font, and much of the first half is written like a nutrition textbook; the prose leavens complex explanatory nuggets on leptin and lactoferrin with colloquial expressions that may work well for Irish readers but often seem odd, forced, or childish to Americans. The author has been an advisor to international agencies all over the world on the practical issues of food and society, and his opinions are well worth hearing. He points out that the process of deciding policy "...starts with risk assessment which is purely technical, moves to risk management which is mostly political, and ends with risk communication which is mostly ignored and almost always botched." While the book's prose doesn't match the demanding standard set by the best science writers, it deserves points for connecting the technical information, the political picture, and the communication. It deals with important issues for general readers and the world in which they live, and readers who can give the book their full attention will be well rewarded. Distributed by Dufour. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)