As a side note...look at these! The medical field is finding creative ways to encourage healthy lifestyle, particularly food choices.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/18/223405641/just-what-the-doctor-ordered-med-students-team-with-chefs?utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/12/221757539/no-bitter-pill-doctors-prescribe-fruits-and-veggies
Monday, September 30, 2013
The reading and class discussion of The Omnivore's Dilemna Part 2: "Grass" has given me a few thoughts. The pastoral definitely holds sway over me. I just see a field--grazing animals or no--and I feel wistful. Or joyful. Or both. And it usually makes me want to frolic. I'm also one of those people who enjoys looking at grass and the things that inhabit it at eye level. It's safe to say that I like green space and pastoral settings.
Despite all that, I have yet to notice the draw of the pasture on packages and cartons in my limited grocery shopping experiences. Low prices are far more attractive.
Despite all that, I have yet to notice the draw of the pasture on packages and cartons in my limited grocery shopping experiences. Low prices are far more attractive.
Monday, September 23, 2013
The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan, 2006) gets real disturbing around Part 1, Chapter 5: "The Processing Plant." This is how we treat our food? I had always wondered where those mysterious ingredients come from.
I had always naively hoped that xanthan gum comes from a xanthan plant (meaning a green leafy living thing, not a building). To my disappointment, Pollan lists xanthan gum as a corn product (page 116), but according to a simple Google search, xanthan gum is produced by a bacterium. What have you heard about xanthan gum, dear reader? Is the bacterium used to process corn product? Or did Pollan get his facts wrong?
Pollan also spoke briefly about TBHQ, which is used to preserve food and, coincidentally, can cause " 'nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse' " (page 114, indirectly quoted from A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives). That seems like a risky substance to be spraying onto food.
I had always naively hoped that xanthan gum comes from a xanthan plant (meaning a green leafy living thing, not a building). To my disappointment, Pollan lists xanthan gum as a corn product (page 116), but according to a simple Google search, xanthan gum is produced by a bacterium. What have you heard about xanthan gum, dear reader? Is the bacterium used to process corn product? Or did Pollan get his facts wrong?
Pollan also spoke briefly about TBHQ, which is used to preserve food and, coincidentally, can cause " 'nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse' " (page 114, indirectly quoted from A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives). That seems like a risky substance to be spraying onto food.
Michael Pollan would be proud if he knew:
My mother and I cooked lunch together. It featured her homegrown peppers.
The featured snack of the weekend was homemade granola cookies (oats, flax seed, dates, olive oil, yogurt, honey).
On Saturday morning, while strolling through the woods with my faithful canine sidekick, I harvested an appetizer. It was a return to an old North American secret, the pawpaw (genus name "asimina").
And, yes, we even had flowers at the table.
I cannot convey the immense satisfaction of these eating experiences. To harvest one's food, cook with a loved one, and enjoy homemade meals and snacks was absolutely wonderful.
My mother and I cooked lunch together. It featured her homegrown peppers.
The featured snack of the weekend was homemade granola cookies (oats, flax seed, dates, olive oil, yogurt, honey).
On Saturday morning, while strolling through the woods with my faithful canine sidekick, I harvested an appetizer. It was a return to an old North American secret, the pawpaw (genus name "asimina").
And, yes, we even had flowers at the table.
I cannot convey the immense satisfaction of these eating experiences. To harvest one's food, cook with a loved one, and enjoy homemade meals and snacks was absolutely wonderful.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Our most recent assignment was from Michael Pollan's Cooked: "Part 1: Fire."
"Fire" made my day on Monday. It was not because of the more interesting bits in which Pollan introduces his readers to various barbecue pit masters nor his occasional witty comment nor because of his long ruminations on the advent of cooking in human evolution.
Pollan made my day by making me appreciate--even more than usual--a barbecue sandwich from the school cafeteria. I had been drooling over in-depth descriptions of barbecue for an hour. The whiff of pork that my nose now caught on the way to the cafeteria was like a dream. While waiting in line for the long-anticipated sandwich, I observed the mix of races in line with me and thought about what Pollan said about barbecue historically erasing social differences. Of course, there's always a mix of races in the food lines at this school.
True, I relished my barbecue alone, while sitting at a desk. (Go, ahead: scold me, Michael Pollan.) However, I opted to solely meditate on the food while eating instead of eating while reading or watching a video.
Cooked has earned some merit in my book by interesting me enough to affect my behavior.
"Fire" made my day on Monday. It was not because of the more interesting bits in which Pollan introduces his readers to various barbecue pit masters nor his occasional witty comment nor because of his long ruminations on the advent of cooking in human evolution.
Pollan made my day by making me appreciate--even more than usual--a barbecue sandwich from the school cafeteria. I had been drooling over in-depth descriptions of barbecue for an hour. The whiff of pork that my nose now caught on the way to the cafeteria was like a dream. While waiting in line for the long-anticipated sandwich, I observed the mix of races in line with me and thought about what Pollan said about barbecue historically erasing social differences. Of course, there's always a mix of races in the food lines at this school.
True, I relished my barbecue alone, while sitting at a desk. (Go, ahead: scold me, Michael Pollan.) However, I opted to solely meditate on the food while eating instead of eating while reading or watching a video.
Cooked has earned some merit in my book by interesting me enough to affect my behavior.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Last week, our course instructor gave us a challenge: Go to the grocery store and find at least three foods. Simple, right? But there was a catch--two catches, actually. (1) We may not shop around the edges of the store, which is where most of the produce, dairy, and raw meats are. (2) The food has to be real food.
I chose to base my definition of "real food" on a few of Michael Pollan's most basic food rules in his appropriately named book, Food Rules. If it is real food...
...I can imagine it in its natural state. (Rules 7 and 15)
...it contains less than five ingredients. (Rule 6)
...sweetener is not one of the top three ingredients. (Rule 5)
Right off the bat, I found something. Everyone's favorite popcorn didn't let me down. Good ole Orville. Ingredients: (white corn) whole grain popping corn, (Original) Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn.
Next up, frozen veggies just like Mom makes them. Ingredients: corn, carrots, peas, and green beans.
While I was strolling the aisles of the nearest grocery store, a pre-recorded store advertisement came on telling customers that even though some people say it's best to shop around the edges of the store, [store name] has plenty of nutritious options on the shelves in the center of the store. One of those nutritious options was supposedly canned meats, so I headed for the canned food aisle. After some scrutinizing and a few mysterious mentions of "modified food starch," I found Double "Q" salmon. Ingredients: red sockeye salmon and salt.
So it's true. Real food can be found in big name grocery stores.
I chose to base my definition of "real food" on a few of Michael Pollan's most basic food rules in his appropriately named book, Food Rules. If it is real food...
...I can imagine it in its natural state. (Rules 7 and 15)
...it contains less than five ingredients. (Rule 6)
...sweetener is not one of the top three ingredients. (Rule 5)
Right off the bat, I found something. Everyone's favorite popcorn didn't let me down. Good ole Orville. Ingredients: (white corn) whole grain popping corn, (Original) Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn.
Next up, frozen veggies just like Mom makes them. Ingredients: corn, carrots, peas, and green beans.
While I was strolling the aisles of the nearest grocery store, a pre-recorded store advertisement came on telling customers that even though some people say it's best to shop around the edges of the store, [store name] has plenty of nutritious options on the shelves in the center of the store. One of those nutritious options was supposedly canned meats, so I headed for the canned food aisle. After some scrutinizing and a few mysterious mentions of "modified food starch," I found Double "Q" salmon. Ingredients: red sockeye salmon and salt.
So it's true. Real food can be found in big name grocery stores.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
The web is full of food-related suggestions. Today I'm adding a few of my own.
- Never skip a meal, including breakfast. Didn't wake up until noon? Eat your third meal
at midnight. - Got a headache? Eat something.
- Feeling shaky? Eat something.
- Got a stomach ache? Eat something.
- If a little voice in the back of your mind tells you a certain food will make you feel ill, listen to it.
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