Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.
The above statement is author and foodie Michael Pollan’s eater’s manifesto. I’m enraptured with it’s simplicity - and the difficulty of doing it in 2008.
Pollan has emerged as a clear voice in the midst of our chaotic/ironic attempt to eat. The emphasis is upon the word food here - not monosodium-glutamate-ridden, refined sugar-laden, appetite suppressants. Think of an apple. I’m thankful for the clarity and simplicity with which he addresses one of the strangest of modern dilemmas. What should I have for dinner?
It is a bitter irony. For thousands of years, most labor was for a single purpose: to get food on the table. The food provided the energy for farming, hunting and providing oneself with, guess what, more food. In fact it was such a consuming process, that God required the Sabbath. The biblical mandate for the Sabbath was a ‘counter-cultural’ statement. God declared, “you can’t provide for yourself, you have to trust Me to provide for you.”
In 2008 in America, however, we have a strange phenomenon: our primary jobs so cosume our time that it prevents us from growing or eating actual food. We spend our 40 hour week producing information, products, or ideas. When we come home to eat, we ‘just add water’ - and our stomach is silenced.
I’m not advocating anything here, just musing. Though, I am planting a garden this year. If nothing else, it’s cheaper than driving to the supermarket. I mean, the ground just provides FREE food! What a concept. Oh, and I’m swearing off fast “can-you-really-call-it-food” for the immediate future.
I started a semi vegetarian diet a month ago. I can not believe how much better I feel, and how little it costs to feed me each week!
I saw Pollan’s book at the borg book store tonight, but didn’t get more than a quick glance. It looked like it was worth buying until I saw the price…a little steep imo.
I agree completely with your capsule view of his thinking, we would all be better off if we ate real food most of the time.
Hey I officially ended my aliance with McDonald’s on behalf of their chocolate chip cookies; a somewhat sad day in my life, but you know, I’ll just bum them of em, so whatever!
By the way, though you tease me about farming, I’m proud to report to you that my corn seeds sprouted today - the first of my vegetables to peek their heads up above the soil. Go corn go!
@ michael - expensive books are why God invented the library.
@ christina - I’m really glad you are growing corn, just pray the deer don’t find out!