“No Snacks, No Sweets, No Seconds – Except (sometimes) on days that start with S” – Reinhard Engels

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” – Michael Pollan

“Animals are my friends…I don’t eat my friends.” – George Bernard Shaw

I like it when things can be summarised quite simply

It’s also a good idea when buying foods to avoid things with too many ingredients, or ingredients that sound like a science experiment. e.g. bread should contain wholewheat flour, yeast, water and preferebly not much else

Organic food is good I think, little pricey though, but if demand goes up for organic then more big companies will produce it and hence the prices will drop (I’m guessing, but then again corperate greed will give us far inferior organic foods and hence the obesity rates will rise). Probably a good idea to look at the label, large companies usually have their own made up brands for marketing appeal, such as Wal-Mart’s, “Sam’s Choice” but still write their main company name very tiny on a copyright so you can recognize it as inferior food.

Only problem I found is that I couldn’t find enough organic ingredients to prepare meals… seems like there is mostly organic snacks at my grocery, like soy ice cream, granola bars, oil, cereal and whatnot. If I ate just that stuff I would definitely pack on some pounds from all those carbs! Sorry for rambling.

John is also providing free chapter downloads from “The Answer” here… http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2

I think the idea is to avoid new food creations (especially those with health claims) and stick to more traditional foods. A salad also has more than 5 ingredients, but I think Pollan would let it slip under his rules…

-Scott

My mother is reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma right now. I understand it’s very good. I just love reading about food ^-^

In the book, Pollan compares the industry average amount of fossil fuels created for the same amount of organic and industrial produce. Despite the higher cost, organic does use less fossil fuels. Until the environmental impact of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics is factored into our foods, industrial may be cheaper (even if the true costs are higher).

I was inclined to agree with you that the organic industry was worthless before reading these books. Now, despite Pollans critiques of the industry, I could see how organic would be preferable, if you can afford the cost.

However the comment about processed foods really strikes at the heart of this book. I’d say that it was his #1 argument as a change in the western diet. The question is whether we are destroying the food we are eating by processing it.

Faithful reader,
-Asia Hadley
http://www.beaconsfrontline.com