Food: Life Force (and a photo of a vampire cow)
Yesterday I posted a rant about the movie, "Food, Inc." As often happens, I have a large reaction, burn up the keyboard with my opinions, then -- after sanity returns -- erase whatever I wrote. I used to do that with emails, and it kept my life in turmoil, because they mostly couldn't be "unsent." Live and learn. So, here's a calm post about food.
The movie is very good. Thought-provoking. Upsetting.
I don't know why I didn't get enthusiastic about the notion of eating real food until now. I've certainly heard about organic/natural food for the three decades I've lived in Boulder. But, for whatever reason, I didn't click into the words REAL FOOD before. And, as I've just discovered, products labeled "organic/natural," aren't always REAL FOOD. As usual, there's lots of razzle-dazzle going on in the marketing of "organic/natural" foods.
Anyway, watching the movie and listening to Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" on CDs has startled me into expanded consciousness. Something about the way Michael explains things just works for me. There's no pretentiousness or self-righteousness. Just extremely helpful explanations. He says we've gotten lost in "nutritionism," and are eating "food-like substances" rather than REAL FOOD, which leads to disease, obesity, and fouling our own nest.
I'm in the midst of a paradigm shift. New neurons firing. Channeled anger. I need to learn about real ingredients, grass-fed beef, real organic chicken, buying local veggies and fruits. Whew. I need to rediscover the joy of food. Or maybe discover it, since most of the vitality-sucking of our foods began even before I was born.
So, I recommend Michael's books and the movie. Here's a link to the "Food, Inc." trailer on youtube:
p.s. if anyone knows about any classes in the Boulder area on finding and cooking REAL FOOD, please leave a comment.
posted by Lynda Hilburn at 12:55 PM
8 Comments:
Lynda,
How exciting that you are in the midst of this paradigm shift! I agree, MIchael Pollan has a way of talking about things that just makes sense. If you want to read more, check out "Food Matters: A guide to conscious eating" by Mark Bittman. He is a cookbook author and has a regular food column and blog in the NYT. He takes Pollan's principles and presents a number of recipes and "how to" information.
Also, I like "Grub: Ideas for an organic kitchen" by Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry. Anna is the daughter of Frances Moore Lappe, who famously wrote "Diet for a Small Planet" back in 1973 or so. Besides some cool recipes, it has a lot of resource information - websites, books, organizations, etc.
I like "Fresh Food from Small Spaces: The square inch gardener's guide to year-round growing, fermenting, and sprouting", by R.J. Ruppenthal. He makes a convincing case that everyone can grow at least some of their food, and he shows how to do it.
And if you want to get the inside scoop on the craziness behind many "food laws", read "The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements" by Sandor Ellix Katz, and "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal" by Joel Salatin (who was in the movie). And of course "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, who was also in the movie.
There's a lot more I can put you on to, but this is a start. And I'd love to know more about your request for cooking classes -- that's a whole "nother" conversation!
Pennie Magee (signing here since I can't remember my Google account id)
Pennie! Thank you. What awesome resources. You're a peach (a real food one!). LOL
Lynda,
Thanks for your post about the film "Food, Inc." Although I already eat real food, I'd been afraid to see the movie, but you've made a good case for it. And on my way to your blog about "Food, Inc." I enjoyed reading the rest of your blog--well written and fascinating. That photo of you is fabulous!
Thank you, Gail! I'm happy you stopped by. I hope someday I'll be able to say "I aleady eat real food." I'm still completely confused about what that actually means for me.
A friend here in town looked into classes given by the School of Natural Cookery. The timing didn't work for her, but she ended up taking some private lessons from the school's Maia Cunningham. She had a good experience.
Thank you, Kathleen! I appreciate the good resource.
Hugs, Lynda
You are on the correct path for a healthier body. A morning tonic you might consider is having a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of water with half a teaspoon of honey every morning before breakfast. This helps to clean out a person's cells from toxic buildup throughout life; and also helps anyone suffering from arthritis or joint aches. After a couple of weeks of taking this you will find all food tastes better, and you won't want to be eating processed food due to its 'yucky' flavour. I recommended this tonic to a blogger in New Zealand (who likes to hike in the mountains) and he's over the moon about how well he's feeling now, and able to recover from strenuous exercise.
I love the cow photo; where did you find it?
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