Brief book review

I just finished The Omnivore's Dilemma. It was really good, but I don't recommend it if you want to just go to the grocery and buy whatever is the cheapest. It made me really glad I just ordered my beef and chickens.

Book Review: In Defense of Food

I finished Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food last night. It was a good look at what we should be eating and why, with some information thrown in about why we're not. The basic premise is simple: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

This is one of those books I wish everyone I care about would read. So many people are still stuck in the "It's low-fat!" rut, ignoring the fact that it's loaded with sugars and no real nutritional value, or still think butter is bad/carbs are bad, etc., and cling to every new nutrition pronouncement that comes out in the media.

As I went grocery shopping yesterday I was struck by how little of what was in the store--including the five new products that were being sampled--was real food. Food products were everywhere, wrapped in plastic with unpronounceable ingredients, or promising "Low Fat," "Heart Healthy," or one of the other claims that have appeared on labels in abundance in recent years.

Pollan looks at what has happened to the way we eat becauseof outside factors. One of these is nutritionism, thinking of what to eat in terms nutrients--protein, fat, vitamins, etc.--instead of as food: meat, vegetables, butter, etc. His book goes along with many books and studies that I have read in recent years that question much of the conventional wisdom about how we should eat. The fact that much of that conventional wisdom has come from research studies paid for by food product companies should tell us a great deal.

Pollan also talks about the importance of food culture: the way that we eat, when and with whom. We Americans do far too much of our eating in the car, on the run, by ourselves, in front of a screen, etc. We need to slow down and enjoy our food.

I've been working on improving what we eat. We still have a long way to go. And we will probably never be free from some food products. Cheez-its come to mind. But the next big step for me is to begin working on the how and when. We are almost always on the run. Dinner most nights is cooked by me, but everyone eats it when and where they will. I suppose it would help if I cleared the papers off the kitchen table!

This is one of those times I need to fight the twin demons of perfectionism and procrastination. (I have a tendency to want to be perfect or I just won't try.) We will never be able to eat perfectly. We aren't going to have a farm with our own grass-fed cows and free-range chickens. But we can grow a wide variety of yummy veggies in our garden. I can bake bread. We may not sit down and eat three meals a day at the table together, but we can at least start with dinner.

And with a little work we can eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

Pushing through

I have spent the past three days making myself move forward, push through, go and do, whatever you want to call it. Saturday was a clean up day at church and we went out for our anniversary. Sunday was church, a council meeting, seeing Bethany off at the airport, and bunko.
Today I ran lots of errands, made some phone calls, worked on my calendar, and took Jonathan to his voice lesson. I feel like I'm starting to get back in the groove.

I'm still feeling a little less enthusiastic about social events than usual, but I'm sure that will pass as my energy continues to come back.

I think that some changes that I've made in my diet are helping, too. I'm trying very hard to only eat real food. After reading French Women Don't Get Fat, I have been really making an effort not to eat unless I'm paying attention and to only eat things that taste good. Really good. Right now I'm reading In Defense of Food and it is just strengthening my resolve to stay away from things that come in a package or have ingredients that are unpronounceable or aren't "food" in their own right. I know that eating right will only make me feel better.

Food, glorious food

I like food. I like to cook it and I like to eat it. Planning meals, shopping, and cooking occupies a fair amount of my time. Food also accounts for a huge chunk of our budget. (Feeding six--or seven-- people is never cheap, but when three of them are teen or pre-teen boys, wow!)

I also like to read about food. I've been reading about nutrition for several years, realizing more and more that the conventional wisdom is often wrong. (Can anyone say butter?) I enjoy reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows to get ideas and inspiration. Books like Real Food have made a big difference in the way we eat. Sometimes it can take me hours to do my grocery shopping because I spend a lot of time reading labels.

My big challenge is to take these things I've learned and the ideas I've gained and fit them into the constraints of my available time and budget. Some things have becomealmost non-negotiable. We buy free-range organic chicken because it tastes better and is healthier. Same with cage-free eggs. We buy most of our meat from local farmers or from nearby sources. We do really well in the summer with fruits and veggies because they almost all come from our garden or we go pick them.

However, there are lots of places we could do better. I would to make my own bread, because we love really good bread, and it's expensive, but time shortages get in the way. So right now we eat mediocre bread most of the time, with good bread thrown in for a treat now and then.

I'm trying to make more soup, because it can be a great way to deliver flavor and nutrition in a cost-effective way, but I need to do better planning so that I don't need to purchase broth or stock. And I could always use more recipes!

I want to try buying raw milk, because each friend who has switched has seen health benefits in her family, and it tastes better,too, but it takes some effort. Up to this point, the changes I've made have mostly been relatively easy. I think I keep waiting for it to be more convenient.

For a while I was feeling guilty for knowing that there were things that I could be doing better and wasn't. I don't feel guilty anymore. I do the best I can without too much difficulty. I try to cook tasty meals that are reasonably nutritious. And if my kids eat the occasional frozen pizza or we share a bag of Doritos Hot Wings and Blue Cheese , overall we're still doing pretty well.