Not four days since my post on my heroes in food, when here comes Mr. Michael Pollan on the subject he knows best: food and its politics. I love this guy. And his most recent Op-ed article for The New York Times, “Big Food vs Big Insurance” is a fine example of why he is amazing. With his eloquence and sharp understanding of the content, Pollan sheds new light on on the ever-enlarging healthcare debacle.
Read the rest of this entry »
Michael Pollan strikes again!
My heroes in food
Before I begin, I want to comment on yesterday’s post. I think I may have made the wrong message. I recognize that everyone, myself included, must shop at grocery stores to purchase some if not all of our needs. At the same time, I do believe that grocery stores are not in the business of health; they are in the profit-making business. As such, the food-labeling campaign is great for grocers because now more of their packaged products are deemed “healthy.” This is distressing for me. I do not trust grocery stores (unless they are coops with a strong volunteer base.) Grocery stores do not want transparency; they do not want intelligent consumers; they want people to purchase foods based on anything but health considerations. Yes, grocery stores have whole foods, but what percentage of their products are whole fruits and vegetables? I could go on and I won’t. I just want to make clear that I strive to put less of my money in the hands of grocery stores and more in the hands of the producer. In today’s world we can buy our fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products directly from producers (farmers). That is my goal and I believe that we should all strive to strengthen local economies and local agriculture, etc. (I would love to hear other’s thoughts on this – please comment and let’s hear what you think!)
There are 5 people in the world of food that I consider heroes. Today I want to share these fine individuals with all of you. Some of them you may know or have heard of and some of them may be complete strangers. But these are the people I admire and mention in conversation more than most others. And so, in no particular order, my heroes in food:
Losing faith in nutrition
Processed foods + lots of sugar = smart choices
How did we get to a place where a green check on the package of a “food item” qualifies the contents as “healthy?” I ask this somewhat rhetorically and with a strong hint of sarcastic disgust. For Christ’s sake, if the food you wish to purchase is packaged, it’s probably got some nutritional flaws. Though who am I to say what nutrition is? I’m a bit of a snob on the subject matter. To be honest, I agree with Michael Pollan when he says, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (Read this.) I would take this a step further and say, “Eat food. Not too much. Nothing purchased in a grocery store.” Some of us are lucky, some of us have farmers markets; some of us are even luckier and have yards where we can plant and grow food; and some of us are the luckiest with a long growing season (the last group probably lives in California.) Anyone who falls in any of these categories has the possibility to avoid the grocery store. It’s not that all grocery stores are bad, evil places. The reality may be that we all rely on these modern amenities every once in a while. The sad aspect of this reality is the sad reality of grocery stores. (Read this to gain enlightenment on everything modern.) Before I begin a ridiculous tirade against the world and its conveniences, let me attempt to redirect myself.
Read the rest of this entry »
