A couple of thoughts from 'In Defense of Food'

I've limited my book purchases, because I'm trying not to spend money. If you don't spend money, you haven't spent it. Seems obvious, but sometimes we miss the obvious for the trees.

But I did buy 'In Defense of Food', by Michael Pollan. Not surprised by it's content, but encouraged someone put it in such simple, readable terms.



From page 39, " Yet as a general rule it's a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound "whole-grain goodness" to the rafters. Watch out for those health claims."



I couldn't agree more.



My pet peeve food rule (that fluctuates in practice as required) - is mentioned under the heading 'Don't eat anything your Great-Grandmother wouldn't recognize as a food.' page 149.

He mentions 'There are many reasons to avoid eating such complicated food products beyond the various chemical additives and corn and soy derivatives they contain. One of the problems with the products of food science is that , as Joan Gussow has pointed out, they lie to your body: their artificial colors and flavors and synthetic sweeteners and novel fats confound the sense we rely on to assess new foods and prepare our bodies to deal with them. Foods that lie leave us with little choice but to eat by the numbers, consulting labels rather than our senses.'



Perhaps this is a little more theoretical than good mantra. But it takes away my ownership of what I put in my body. Unfortunately I'm addicted to the compositions & concoctions produced by the major food players in the industry. I've become sensitive to the unbelievable contradiction between my food conscience and my palate, but in the heat of the moment, all reason goes out the window. The heat of the moment may be in a social setting, or at home when no one is looking. But that moment comes. Usually stress induced.

I'm talking Zingers, Kashi Blueberry Cereal, Coca-cola, Pancake Mix, Food cheese Product, Salsa Verde, to name a few. And of course the Tostitos to eat the Salsa Verde.

But as I read yesterday, this is about 40 years of training a finely tuned palate. I can certainly enjoy a refreshing vegetable, fruit, or other whole food. I have begun to train my palate to be tuned into the nuances of whole foods as well as organic or true-free-range products.

But that doesn't mean the battle is won. There are the family to think about, whose palattes and emotional eating habits are also well trained. No blame here, but I'm the one doing the shopping. I'm the one guiding the Food Journey. I can and have dumped bad habits before.

So I press on. Reading and working on patience. Planning & avoiding, and trying the new choices, making them the preference.