When I first thumbed through Nourishing Traditions at my in-laws’ house, its basic messages really rang true for me: what we eat should be as un-processed as possible, natural, whole, slow, all that sort of thing. Meat from an animal that lived a healthy life eating what it was meant to eat. Plants that haven’t been modified or sprayed with poisons. Sugars from fruit, honey, maple syrup. The lack of evidence for the “fact” that saturated fat and heart attacks are linked. Stuff like that.
Nourishing Traditions is rather strident in its tone, though, and unforgiving and uncompromising. That kind of attitude can make it hard to take its suggestions (commands) seriously.
I just came across this book review, and I’d like to borrow or buy the two books mentioned (In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both by Michael Pollan) — they seem a bit more of a moderate approach, arriving at similar conclusions.
The author also has this interesting post on food and finance. I would love to someday be able to buy most of our food at farmers markets and that sort of thing. Mark doesn’t really care whether he eats a block of Kraft cheese or a piece of cheddar from the fancy (real) cheese section, a loaf of store brand bread or an artisan loaf from the bakery, but I drool over such choices. (Am I a snob? or have more taste buds? or does my brain just tell me I have these preferences because of what I believe about food?)
It drives me nuts that eating well can cost so much more than eating fairly or poorly.
I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and found it very interesting, especially the part about Polyface Farm (I think that was the name). I recommend it. Your local library probably has a copy. I didn’t realize Michael Pollan had written another food book. I read the review and actually I’m not sure if I’ll bother to read the book — it sounds like it’s all stuff I’ve already thought about and mostly agree with.
As for “good” food being expensive, it depends. I assume that you already eat mostly home-cooked meals, so you won’t see the savings over restaurant and take-out meals that the author of the review did. BUT, there are lots of really good cheap whole foods, too. We eat a lot of beans, bought dry (VERY cheap) and usually cooked into soups and chilis in a crockpot (easy, too!). Lentils cook fast compared to other beans (they don’t require soaking or crock-pot cooking) and we eat lots of those. Bread is really cheap if you make your own, and you can make it how you like it. If you’re home large chunks of the day bread-making works pretty well; if you have an 8-to-5 job away from your home it’s hard to fit in the time to make bread. We have more money now than we did in the past, and now we frequently splurge on whole-grain bagels and breads from our favorite local bakery. Years ago I rarely bought “organic” produce because it was so much more expensive and harder to find; now my local grocery store has lots of organic items and the price differential is smaller, so I do buy some (but not all) organic veggies and fruit. We don’t have much local agriculture where I live, but I do usually manage to buy locally-grown carrots and potatoes all year. I have a garden in the summer — it serves as entertainment, cost-savings, and a source of healthy food.
We all make compromises in all areas of life, including diet. I think it’s good to think about the issues, though, and make reasoned choices. Good luck in your food journey!
Comment by Sarah — February 27, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
Sarah,
We do mostly eat at home. I’m getting more beans and things like winter squash and sweet potatoes for Amy, and I would like to get back in the habit of making oatmeal for breakfast or even making batches of pancakes and waffles to freeze. Once we get our basement freezer, getting some bulk meat and freezing more homemade stuff will be more feasible. It’s hard to navigate our little fridge-top freezer with the extra loaf of bread, all the meat, the whole wheat flour, the chicken stock, the spaghetti sauce, and the Amy food. (!)
I would make more bread if Mark cared — and if there weren’t store bread already in the house. Even on days I’m not home all day, it’s easy enough to make dough in the machine.
I tried getting into sourdough starter, but didn’t use it often enough to keep it nice and fresh. Maybe when Amy’s older I’ll try again.
Thanks for your feedback!
Comment by Marcy — February 27, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
I’m so glad for this post and comments. I loved Nourishing Traditions, but it was a bit overwelming and hard to implement unless you’ve got money coming out of your ears! It’s sad that a bag of apples costs three times as much as a box of Little Debbies. (And we’re not even talking about organic apples)!
I’m going to see if I can get one of Micheal Pollans books at our library. Thanks for sharing Marcy.
Comment by Tamara — February 27, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
Brandy cooks some from Nourishing Traditions. It can be frustrating to follow what she says, especially when you want something quick to eat.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma is good. We’ve both read it. It mainly shows that we _could_ raise food in America that’s nourishing if we wanted to. Thankfully, some farmers are trying to do that.
Hope you find some where you are.
Comment by Rick — February 27, 2008 @ 11:02 pm