Real Food, That's What's on My Mind

I have two blogs. This one and another one about food:  http://www.texancookie.blogspot.com/.  Today, it feels like I need to talk about food a lot so I am posting food thoughts on both.  I think this emphasis on food stems from my recent conversion to eating vegan.  I feel the need to know everything there is to know about food and I am reading more books than I thought I could ever find on food. 

The best one so far is:  Michael Pollan's, In Defense of Food. I just finished reading it over the weekend and talk about eye-openers. It was outstanding! If everyone read this book, we would have very different food policies in this country. His basic recommendation is right on the cover: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

This means eat real food not processed junk, not imitation junk, or anything that looks real but is really not. He explains how non-organically grown produce is really not full of the nutrients we think it has for various reasons. First, the soil on which non-organic produce is grown is full of chemicals, such as fertilizers, which are absorbed by the plants and therefore, affects nutritional quality.  Second, the produce itself is full of pesticides.Third, the produce is transported from all over the world and it loses nutrients in transit. 

He also recommends eating until your brain tells you you are full.  Don't think you are full only when your plate is empty.  Eat slowly.  Enjoy your meal. Eat with someone.  Avoid eating in front of the TV.

Finally, avoid eating too much meat or meat products.  Plants are better for you and if you are eating too much meat, you are crowding out plants from your diet. But even if you choose to eat meat, make sure you are eating grass-fed and pasture-raised meat. It certainly costs more, but why shouldn't we have to pay for our environmental impact?

Probably my favorite part of this book is his discussion of how the government makes food rules based on nutrients vs. real food.  For instance, instead of being able to say "eat less meat", it says "eat less saturated fat".  All because of the huge meat, dairy, and egg lobbying that goes on this country. It's sad that few people seem to know the truth.  Even sadder that a lot of people don't care to know the truth.

I was having lunch with a friend and I was recommending this book to her.  She told that she'd rather not read it because she loves eating the food she eats now and she's afraid if she reads the book, she won't be able to eat those foods.  And how does that argument make sense to anyone?  I'm afraid that's the perspective of the typical American.  How can do we change that?  That is the real question.