In Defense of Food: Author, Journalist Michael Pollan on Nutrition, Food Science and the American Diet

[Billy]

[symplastless]

[kzin]

cheeze whiz comes to mind

if it comes in a box, a heavy plastic bag (like doritos), or a pressurized can you can be pretty sure it's not really food. I'd include regular cans in this as well but there may still be a few bits of honest food that show up in cans. I suppose that it's possible that some real food may show up in boxes but I doubt it.

Given all the crap they pump into meat and poultry these days I'm not sure whether I'd call those real food anymore... but you have to eat something.

[enigma]

[Ann]

enigma [e-mail] expounded:

The Omnivore's Dilemma is well worth reading, there's nothing smug about it at all - and as reaches more people than the target audience it will spread the necessary message - the public needs to understand that all that 'nutritional information' published by so many sources is really just advertisements for industrial food, and Michael Pollan delivers that message eloquently. It's easy to read, entertaining, well-written.

[Billy]

[Cheryl Isaak]

I've read him (and others in his general vein) in the past. I suspect I'll nab Omnivore one of these days, but right now, I do my best to feed my family well and that's all I can do.

C

[Billy]

[enigma]

Billy [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail] ct.net.au:

huh? did you not read what i wrote? i do not like preprocessed food. i do most of my cooking/baking from scratch & with whole grain flours. those are the flavors i enjoy. what i'm asking is if these books are getting to the people who don't know what real food is, or if it's only people who already reject the plastic food that read them. lee

[Val]

The people who are eating faux food are either too ignorant to even know there's a problem or just too stupid to care. These books are pretty much read by those who want to confirm ("I knew that and he agrees with me!") what they already know and perhaps add some smidgeon of information or just leave it on the coffee table for visitors to see while they hide the Cheetos in the back closet. The people who would actually glean any new life changing knowledge from this book are a nano percent of those who buy the book. JMO

Val

[Frank]

Tel us what trees we can eat ;)

[Bill]

Perhaps too poor to do otherwise.

Quality comes to mind and what that is is the issue.

Bill

[enigma]

"Val" [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

so, as i suspect, he's just preaching to the choir. :( lee

[enigma]

[Billy]

[enigma]

Billy [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail] ct.net.au:

but, Billy, if the general population is NOT reading the book & not becoming educated, what difference will it ever make if

*i* know what he says is true? yes, i have a 7 year old that reads the ingredients lists on packages & outright refuses to eat/drink anything containing HFCS. but he's one of how many thousands of 7 year olds? how is this book going to change how chosing healthy foods is taught in schools? how is it even going to change what kind of crap is *served* at schools? if the only people who are reading his books are people who already agree & just want confirmation, well, how is that going to change what the poor can afford to eat?

i'm not arguing that these aren't good, useful books (i have the new one, but not Omnivore's Dilemma), but i am saying that they probably aren't reaching those who need to really understand that preprocessed foods are NOT cheap, healthy choices. *those* people are frequently too busy to read, illiterate, non-English speakers, etc. lee

[Billy]

Certainly not when you consider the later health impacts.

Lee, I can only use myself as an example. I had no preconceived ideas going into "Omnivore's Dilemma" except that except that I felt that a lot of the fiber and nutrients were being left out of processed foods and too much sugar and fat was going in. "Omnivore's Dilemma" dotted the "I"s and crossed the "T"s for me. Plus it notes, that some of the nutrients never made it in, much less got removed latter.

Strides are being made on children's lunch foods around the country. Whether it is incorporating gardening to teach math, science, nutrition, and cooking or working with a CSA to provide fresh, wholesome food to students.

The environmental movement started slowly with Rachel Carson and grew. The ideas will not always fall on fertile ground. I remember hearing an inner city activist complain that she could go out in her neighborhood and by an oz. of junk or crack, or an AK-47 but she couldn't buy an organic apple. There are groups trying to get healthy food to people who want it. I'm trying to hook up with a CSA for weekly boxes of veggies to complement my gardening. Whole Foods poses as the organic equivalent of industrial food but they in turn, pointed out by Pollan, still don't get it. Organic milk made by free roaming cows that require an acre each? Free range chickens that may have a small yard available to them if they can find it? The schuck and jive and, the full tilt spin is alive and well in "organic" land. This is also addressed by Pollan. I'm not saying buy the book. Your library must have it. Request it. Browse it. Then you'll have your own opinion.

A couple of other books I'd recommend for browsing would be:

Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket by Brian Halweil The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements by Sandor Ellix Katz

The "Omnivore's Dilemma" as Pollan sees it is that we can eat so many different things. Whereas some species are very restricted to what they can eat, we are nearly unlimited. Pollan argues that, in part, is what culture is for, to help us make the right food choices. In this country of diverse cultures, the food culture has become diluted to insignificance. We can only reconstitute our food culture, if the truths are nurtured.

[Ann]

Bill [e-mail] expounded:

Nah, I know plenty of well-off people who just plain don't think about what they eat. They want quick food, not necessarily good food.

True, but quality isn't always pricey.

[phorbin]

So you"re saying that the choir doesn't need to be preached to?

It is the choir's voices that will make the difference in the end because the metaphorical choir amplifies the message and has more influence on and in real life.

[Cheryl Isaak]

Well, Billy, I knew some of those tidbits, but all. I did know that we should all eat more fruit and veggies and lay off the white bread and anything with added chemicals and food tasted better from the farm stand than the supermarket. But hell Billy, I knew that in the late 70's.

C