We have a lot of respect for writer Michael Pollan’s writing about the food industry, and heard that his 2009 book Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual presented a sane approach to eating. But we’ve been so bombarded over the years with”scientifically proven” strictures about what to cook and eat that were later proven WRONG, that our skepticism kept us away from his book. Until now.

Last month Pollan re-released the book with a set of fabulous illustrations by Maira Kalman, and we were hooked. Pollan’s rules are totally sensible, easy to follow ideas for maximizing the good stuff in your diet, most of which we can definitely get behind. But it’s the great images that really pull you in and make the rules come alive. Here are some of our favorites, starting with the one, above, whose simple rule is “Cook”:

“ Shop the peripheries of the supermarket (where the real food is) and stay out of the middle (where processed food is)”:

And from an interview with Kalman: “When Michael asked if I would like to illustrate this book, I said two things. First, YES. Absolutely YES. Second, that Cheezdoodles had a beloved place in our family history.”

We’re going to buy a bunch of copies to give as gifts.

Related posts: ‘they draw and cook’, the visual recipe site
“can do” (maira kalman)
maira kalman on invention and ingenuity (and napping)
the fun theory of doing things that are good-for-us