So I've Been Reading A Lot and Thinking...

Mostly a few Michael Pollan books.  If you aren't familiar he's written a few little books like "The Omnivore's Dilemma", "In Defense of Food", and "Food Rules".


Let's go back a bit, though, to about 11/2-2 years ago when I decided that I was going to "clean up" how I was eating.  I'd tried diets, etc before, but nothing really stuck or worked as well as I thought that it would.  When I started out I just wanted to lose weight and feel more healthy.  I started going to the gym and originally lost 20-25 lbs by using portion control and BF's knowledge of nutrition and fitness to tailor my eating/fitness routine.  Typically it was more heavy in lean proteins and veggies with smaller portions of whole grains instead of white/refined ones.  It worked well, but I've found it to be a boring routine with little room for introducing new things.


This past year I also worked on phasing out of home and personal cleansing products that are harmful to the environment and to me.  We've replaced the majority of our household cleaning supplies with natural or homemade solutions or have found some great eco-friendly sustainable replacements (LOVING the BioKleen line of products) and have simplified my beauty routine to include only items that I know aren't harmful to my health and are sustainable and ecologically sound.  We touched on doing the Nothing New challenge last year and are renewing it in full force for 2012.  It only makes sense that I would find more to improve upon in my journey to better myself and that's where Michael Pollan's work comes into play.


Many of my friends and acquaintances have read at the very least "The Omnivore's Dilemma"and it wasn't anything that seemed to pique my interest terribly.  I did some research regarding CSA's and I've always felt that eating organic and eating local are the best way to go when you can, but it wasn't a huge focus for a few reasons- partially financially, partially ease, and partially because I hadn't thought enough about the whole issue of food.  Well, I had thought about it, just not as in depth as I recently have.


This past summer I started becoming more focused on buying organic and/or locally grown foods stemming from my motivation to eat healthful foods that aren't grown in a way that harms the earth and provides more nutrition for my body and also from sources that support the local economy.  BF and I did a pretty good job picking organic and local when possible with our produce.  It was this line of thinking that lead me to rethink reading some of Michael Pollan's books, so when I was out and about this past Fall I picked up a copy of his "Food Rules" and began thumbing through.  I was enthralled.


What was shocking to me was that he wasn't trying to tell me EXACTLY what to eat and HOW to eat it for each meal to be healthy (most diets seem to be more of prescription saying "eat precisely this in this amount at this time"), he was using tried and true guidelines- the type my grandmother used to keep in mind when preparing meals and purchasing food- to help shape one's thinking about food and how/what to eat.  Basically what it all boiled down to for me was that we aren't really eating food, we are eating products that imitate food and cause a myriad of issues when we could avoid almost all of them by just switching back to the actual foods.  This lead me to read Michael's other two books which really solidified to me how much we have let companies, industries and the government dictate what we eat, how we eat, with whom we eat, and how much of eat we will eat.


BF and I decided that one of our commitments this year (and going forward) would be to eat as locally and organically as we can and to focus on purchasing ACTUAL FOOD- no processed foods, nothing containing high fructose corn syrup or preservatives or dyes, no foods with a list of ingredients we cannot pronounce and don't know the origin of, etc.  We have switched to butter or olive oil instead of cooking sprays and "heart healthy" spreads (which probably aren't really that healthy), whole organic milk instead of skim organic milk, foods with ingredient labels that are few in ingredients in general (think no more than 6 for the most part), and more seasonal fare instead of whatever we are in the mood for.


The books detail the "whys" of this food attitude/culture adoption much better than I can, but briefly the things I learned and then examined and found myself agreeing with are:


1.  We should eat more like other cultures (think Asian diet, French cuisine, Mediterranean)- other cultures have vastly different ideas regarding what REAL food is than Americans do. We tend to treat food as a necessary obligation that shouldn't involve pleasure, real fats and dairy products or social time.  Not only do other cultures have a completely different attitude (which I will touch on in a minute) but they eat REAL FOOD- real butter and dairy and none of that non-fat/low-fat stuff, real meats with real animal fat instead of de-skinned white meat, hearty fresh baked breads and finally a nice glass of wine (or the like).  Why is it that we seem to have such a huge issue with obesity when other places in the world eat butter and whole mike and pork belly and don't?  And guess what!  They enjoy doing it.


2.  You should know your food chain- I feel like we are getting pretty far removed from our food sources.  We go to the store and pick up what we need and we never meet the farmers who grew the produce or ranchers who raised the cattle for our steaks.  Not only do I want to know where my food comes from, but I want to make sure that I am putting money into the local economy so that the little guys who are running their farms/ranches/fishing ventures responsibly and sustainably are able to continue to do so.  I want to know that my beef was from cows that ate field grasses that their bodies were made to digest and are healthy.  I want to eat an apple that was grown in the town next to mine and that wasn't sprayed with harsh chemicals and picked too early.  The more you know about your food the more informed decisions you can make regarding them.


3.  Our attitude about food- for whatever reason, we Americans have some odd attitudes about foods.  Some of those include ideas like we need to eat "Good" foods and not eat "Bad" foods, but what really makes something good or bad?  We also tend to be obsessed with nutrition and health, but at the same time we eat much larger portions than most other cultures.  And we seem to be the only ones who has to have guidance from the government as to what and how much of a food we should be eating daily.  I feel like I need to look at food as what it is- something that tastes excellent and should be fully enjoyed and just happens to nourish my body (a plus, really!) but also sets aside time in my day to be social with my friends and family. I don't need to rush to eat or cram as much food in my mouth as possible; I can just relax and take in the blessings that I have.


4.  Industrial Agriculture, Ranching and Unsustainable Practices-  I don't even want to open this can of worms, but I will touch on it briefly.  We aren't being smart in these areas.  We are putting chemicals and toxins into the earth and thus into our food chain.  We are depleting resources while we build stock piles of commodities that aren't going to help us.  We are processing things that do not need to be processed.  It's all just so complicated.  And cruel in the case of industrial live stock.  Again, I want to know that what I'm eating was grown in an earth-friendly way and is full of actual nutrients and not just corn products and that it was well taken care of.




"Eat Food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants," is the way Mr. Pollan summarizes (and simplifies) his thoughts and "rules".  I fully agree.


If you haven't read any of his works, I highly recommend them!


Thanks for letting me get it out there!