In defense of (not eating) food
This is Kira’s plea against eating turkey. She can offer up a defense for not eating just about anything. She says she wants to be a vegetarian. What she means is that she wants to be a pasta-candy-dessert-atarian. Not that I blame her. I too am partial to a diet that leans heavily on the most vital layer in the food pyramid: the chocolate one. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but just because I’ve got the computer set up in the kitchen doesn’t mean that I’m to blame for the pan of brownies that mysteriously disappeared this week.
Some of you may recognize the blatant plagiarism creative adapting I’ve done in the title of this piece as coming from Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food. Like the Kingsolver book I mentioned last week, it’s a must-read. Food needs defending, Pollan claims, because much of what we eat today is actually not food, but “edible, foodlike substances.” Real food he defines as something that “our great grandmothers would recognize as food.” I concur 100%, and not just because both of my grandmothers were big fans of baked goods. Most food labels these days read like War and Peace, and with a couple of kids in tow that’s just too much literature to consume in the bread aisle.
Yes, another book. What–you didn’t know this blog came with a required reading list? Oh relax, there’s not going to be a test. For all I know you’re not even looking for a fearless food defender. Maybe this guy is already working for you–
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s….Carrot-Man! He’s the strong, silent, food defending-type. Be warned though; his shtick relies heavily on pushing the veggies. (Note to self: Consider getting out more. Or at least getting the camera out of the kitchen.)
Michael Pollan said that after researching and writing his book his point could be boiled down into a few short sentences: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
It’s a worthy philosophy. I’d add only this: Brownies too.