A Nice Reminder

I spent all day at the Santa Rosa farmers' market cooking three different squash recipes and then came home and taught a Thai cooking class tonight.  So I can't even bring myself to talk recipes right now.  But I will talk about eating.
I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by my favorite food detective, Michael Pollan.  I can't believe it took me this long to read it.  I read Food Rules more than a year ago and saw him speak on the book tour (I highly recommend searching his lectures out on YouTube AND reading the book, of course).  Truth be told, Food Rules can be read in about 20 minutes  - I like that in a book!  I'm not ashamed to say that's probably why I read that one before his others.

Generally when someone recommends a book to me, I ask, "Does someone get killed in it? Cuz if not, I'm not reading it." ( I'm a biiiig murder mystery fan.).  Turns out there's plenty of killing in "The Omnivore's Dilemma."   Chickens, cows, pigs... and eventually us if we keep eating the way most Americans do.

When I saw Food, Inc. a couple years back, I gave up eating any animals (I also recommend seeing that movie).  It lasted about 6 months. I wasn't good at being a vegetarian; there's a lot of combinations of food to consider to give you the right amount of protein, and additions of certain foods to boost your nutrition intake, and I was probably a little too lazy to take all that on suddenly, without a maybe  little research or thought.  But I tried.  I found myself, however, feeling really tired.  So I decided that my body needed some animal protein, and I believe people are built to need different amounts and kinds of protein, from none to a lot (Hi ,Mom).   I decided I would eat organic chicken from time to time, and salmon every once in a while, but eat predominantly plant based-whole grain meals.  And it seems to work for me.

I gave up beef and pork (oh, how I miss you, sausage!),  and I still maintain that, with the exception of a secret deal I made with prosciutto that if someone make me an appetizer with it, I'd have to eat it at the risk of appearing rude (snicker snicker).  Technically I also gave up lamb, but I never ate lamb anyway, so big whoop.

Reading Omnivore's Dilemma  was a great reminder of what I believe to be true about what I eat and how it affects my health.   Even more than that, I was reminded about the power I have to "vote with my fork," to support the local farms that I am so fortunate to live amongst, and to hopefully encourage others to think, learn and act in a way that brings us all to a healthier way of life.

If you haven't read it, please get in your car and hit the library right now (unless it's not open yet).  And if you read it more than a  couple years ago, ask yourself if you could use a little reminder, and go check it out again.  It worth the time.

Now I'm starting In Defense of Food, also by Pollan...stay tuned.  And I'll try to not get too "preachy."