Tuesday, January 8, 2008

In Defense of Food!


Michael Pollan - one of my top non-fiction book writers....

He has a new book out this month - In Defense of Food - An Eater's Manifesto which I'm actually going to BUY instead of get at the library because I loved his other books SO MUCH!

Our Decrepit Food Factories - NYT

Whenever we try to rearrange natural systems along the lines of a machine or a factory, whether by raising too many pigs in one place or too many almond trees, whatever we may gain in industrial efficiency, we sacrifice in biological resilience. The question is not whether systems this brittle will break down, but when and how, and whether when they do, we’ll be prepared to treat the whole idea of sustainability as something more than a nice word.
Also great interview (~ 35 minutes) on Science Friday, NPR with Michael Pollan:
Notes as I listen:
- "Nutritionism!" a new word/ideology for adding or altering nutrients as individual components (beta-carotene, omega-3's etc) in "functional foods" versus just the whole food itself.... ie that we need a scientist now to tell us what's healthy to eat and confusing the issue/discourse.
- Tradition is a reliable source of distilled wisdom -eat food your great-grandmother would recognize as food ( not too many ingredients). I agree -I think the hardest part isn't eating healthy but eating LESS. That's the monkey on MY back.
- "Eating is about other things BESIDES our health"!
- How to recognize organic beef- look for the word "pastured"... cattle are eating the equivalent of our fast food diet, with antibiotics. Free running hens far superior, best eggs are pastured - go outside and eat grass and bugs etc... eggs are higher in O-3's, higher in nutrients.
- Be willing to pay more MONEY for good healthy food- pay more, but eat less! Industrial food is artificially cheap. Spend more TIME on food.(buying, prep, eating, cleaning up). Don't outsource your food making.
- Cooking shows make cooking at home look too difficult or intimidating - like comparing porn videos to "regular" sex!
-Best choices for your health turn out to be best choices for the environment

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