Food Rules

I am on my soapbox again! I just got done watching Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food and Food Rules) on Oprah and there is no one home to talk to about it! So, I am going to talk to you.

I find the philosophy of food and whole food so intriguing. When did we starting eating chemicals and sugar and calling it nutrition? When did we start sprinkling butter flavored "salt" on our food to avoid butter?

Pollan talks about how food was raised and sold in our great-grandmother's generation versus how it is done today. You can't argue with the facts. I guess you could argue that we are healthier, but I beg to differ! We have to take pills and supplements to get the same nutrition we obtained through food 70 years ago. I won't go into a lot of detail, but here are some of the facts that I think are interesting.

1. What we spend on food versus what we spend on healthcare (per household) has flip flopped over the last 50 years. We now spend 9% on food and 17% on healthcare. I'd rather spend more on food personally.

2. Because we grow chickens at such a fast rate (1/3 the time it should take), the chickens in the farms cannot even hold themselves up. Their bones have not developed enough to carry the weight. EWE!!! (PS - I'm not buying bulk boneless chicken from Costco after seeing that. Gross!)


3. You can buy almost 400% the amount of calories if you buy chemically processed foods (junk food) rather than produce or "whole food". Example: If you take a dollar into the supermarket, you can buy approx 125o calories on the junk food aisle, while you can only buy 250 in the produce section. Again - EWE!!!


I can't help but think...When farmers were allowed to raise actual food instead of being subsidized to raise corn and wheat, people ate more balanced healthy meals. They did not struggle with their weight and they were not plagued by heart disease and diabetes. Convenience comes at a high price if you ask me.

I think our problem as a culture is two fold. First, we have become entirely too consumer oriented. We want to rush through shopping and prepping meals so that we have more time to watch tv, play video games and consume more stuff. Wouldn't it be better (emotionally, physically and spiritually) if we took some extra time to shop for REAL food? If we allowed our children to take part in the preparation (peel potatoes, wash veggies, stir the pot, clean the dishes, etc...) and had time at the dinner table eat REAL food, wouldn't we all be better off? Parents who don't let their children help are only handicapping their children. I remember vividly standing on a stool helping my mom cook almost every meal. Guess what - that is how kids LEARN to cook! Does it take more time and energy? Yes, but that is called "parenting".

Secondly, we are so obsessed with our physique and appearance we have become an ugly ugly people. There are few normal looking people. Women are either extremely thin or at least 30 pounds overweight. When was the last time you saw a woman that had breasts and hips (that weren't purchased) that looked healthy? Not under fed or over exercised or altered by surgery? It is rare!

I always used to think it was strange that "elderly" people commented on my body/beauty more than people my own age. I can remember in high school and my young twenties feeling very strange in my own skin - because I wasn't fat, I wasn't thin...I had boobs and hips. I more than once commented that I was born in the wrong decade. I think the older people saw a "frame" that was ideal in their time that is "rare" in our time. It's called - a girl who eats! :)

If you watch old movies like I do, all you have to do is see Elizabeth Taylor or Marylin Monroe or Jane Russell in a bathing suit to see how obsessed we have become. I have never seen bones sticking out of one of those ladies. You can see their collar bone or ribs protruding from their flesh. What can you see? Real breasts, hips and what I affectionately call the "pooch". You know that part of your tummy where your uterus is that you can't ever seem to get flat (unless you starve yourself)? Yea - anatomically, you should have a pooch (if you are a girl). Where else are your reproductive organs supposed to go???

These women probably had regular periods. And while many starlets were addicted to sleeping pills in 1955- they weren't dying in their showers from NOT EATING! So then, why is it that compared to women in 1960, the average 30 year old weighs 30lbs more today? I think it is WHAT we are eating! Diet food does not make you thin, nor does it make you healthy.

Here is my personal testimonial about food in other cultures. When I was 2o I moved to Vienna. I can tell you one of my first experiences with the market was that it was small - perhaps 5-7 aisles that were half the length of the average Safeway aisle. Most people still shop at open markets. Food had rich aroma. The smell I can still so clearly smell is apricots in the summer. When I came home a year later, I remember so distinctly thinking our food had no taste. Everything tasted like dirt. The produce section doesn't have an aroma of fresh fruits and veggies. Do you even know what mushrooms, onions, cabbage, and apples are supposed to smell like? What is the difference? There are strict regulations on food production in Europe. From sesame seeds all the way to cattle, things must be grown in a healthful, sustainable and clean manner. I can honestly say, I miss the markets, I miss the taste of food, I miss the smell of food! I ate FULL fat cream, whole milk, real butter, meat, veggies, sugar and anything I wanted. I dropped 20 pounds without even trying. I did not restrict my diet. I did not change my habits. I just ate well and enjoyed every moment!

Pollan made a good point. We vote with our forks about food in this country. Every time you eat - you vote. If at least one meal a day, you decide that you will not include processed food and will eat whole food, you can help change the way we eat. Wouldn't it be great if we could feed our children more cheaply in the produce section than at McDonald's? Wouldn't it be great if we spent 9% of our income on healthcare instead of 17%? Wouldn't it be great if government subsidized small, organic, family owned and locally operated farms and ranchers rather than HUGE corporations (or China) to produce our food?

So, here are some "whole food" meal ideas. They will take more time and probably cost more. Just add one per week to your menu and as you do, you will find that you learn how to do things more cheaply.

1. Homemade pasta (ravioli are easy or German Spaetzle) with fresh mushroom cream sauce (cream, onions, garlic, white wine* and mushrooms) - Serve with backed butternut squash and a green salad.

2. Spaghetti squash with grass fed ground beef (or bison), homemade spaghetti sauce. I love fresh green beans with spaghetti and homemade french bread with olive oil and balsamic dipping sauce.

3. Lentil Soup (see blog for recipe), free range Cornish game hens stuffed with rosemary and lavender. Served with salad and brussel sprouts.

4. Homemade chili (pinto beans, black beans, navy beans) (spices: Ceyenne, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper). Add free range meat*. Homemade Mexican Cornbread (green chills and jalepenos added.

Good luck! :) My wish is that everyone find his passion for food and cooking again!