Book Report - In Defense of Food.

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollen
Key Points
Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants

Eat Food

• Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food
• Avoid foods that contain
  o Unfamiliar ingredients
  o Unpronounceable ingredients
  o More than five ingredients
  o Contain high fructose corn syrup
• Avoid any food product that makes health claims
• Shop the peripheries of the store and avoid the central areas
• Get out of the supermarket.
  
  Mostly Plants
  There are an astonishing variety of traditional diets, some low fat, some high fat, but always built around whole foods
• Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
• You are what you eat, eats: industrial meat production is bad for animals and for the creatures that eat them. Cattle fed on grains sicken and require antibiotics. Meat has naturally occurring Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated Linolic Acids (which are very good for you) but the only souce of these nutrients is green leaves, i.e. grass and other browse.
• Buy a freezer and purchase PASTURE fed animals in bulk.
• Eat like an omnivore
• Eat well grown food from healthy soils.
• Eat wild foods, including wild animals if available.
• Take supplements
• Eat like the French, Italians, Indians or Greeks
• Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism
• Don’t look for the magic bullet in traditional diet.
• Have a glass of wine with your dinner.
  
  Not Too Much
• Pay more, eat less. Cheap, industrialized food is low in nutrients
• Eat less: 3 meals a day is plenty
• Do all your eating at a table (a desk is not a table)
• Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.
• Try not to eat alone
• Consult your gut.
• Eat slowly
• Learn to cook or plant a garden.

I highly recommend this book for its thoughtful analysis of what constitutes food (as opposed to nutrition) and how industrial food has removed us further and further from healthy diets. Yoghurt is a simple product - milk and a bacterial culture - but look at any container of yoghurt in the dairy case.

Joining the CSA in 2008 was prescient; we're sticking with them and hoping to increase our green leafy ingestion.

I read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by the same author while spending long hours in waiting rooms this past spring and it's a good read too. It's just that "In Defense of Food" offers some solutions to the Omnivore's dilemma.

Buy this book if you can afford it or borrow it or get it from the library. It could change your life.

Harvey

Undecorating

In the two weeks it's been up, Ginger has not achieved his ambition of removing ALL the ornaments from our tree. It was once fairly evenly decorated, but now quite top heavy as his favourite targets have been hung higher and higher.

Tonight I'm undecorating it, but will he help? He's a cat, of course not!

Wendy (and Ginger)

Top Ten - 2008 Movies

On this list because I saw them, or saw them again, in 2008. Some on big and some on small screen.

Into The Wild
See previous post

Mamma Mia!
Wonderfully ridiculous and ridiculously wonderful.

The Court Jester
My favourite Danny Kaye movie

Gosford Park

Juno

The Stone Reader
Thanks to Joyce for this unexpected find at the Caledonia Public Library

The Stone Angel
And then rereading the book, which I appreciated more than the first time decades ago.

Charlie Wilson's War

Wordplay
Another library find, documentary about people who design and solve crosswords

Richard III
The version starring Ian Mckellern

Wendy

Top Ten - Looking Ahead

Poor blog, so neglected over the holiday season.

Everyone is doing Top 10s at this time of year, so here are 10 movies and books I'm looking forward to in 2009.

Marley and Me
Even though we know it will end in tears

Milk
Will it play in Saint John??

Doubt
With the amazing Meryl Streep

Champlain's Dream, David Hackett Fischer
New biography, excellent reviews, gift from Harvey

Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
Another Christmas gift from Harvey

The World in 6 Songs, Daniel J. Levitin

The Great Karoo, Fred Stenson
Author of The Trade, the quintessential fur trade novel, and what could be more Canadian than that.

The Sealed Letter, Emma Donohue
Wonderful reading as part of the Lorenzo series

The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway

The Gift of Thanks, Margaret Visser

Wendy

An Anniversay of Sorts

It's just about a year ago that Wendy and I trepidatiously got off the elevator on the ninth floor at St. Joseph's Hospital and were introduced to the world of cancer. We both knew what news was coming, but reality had yet to sink in (for me at least). The stunning speed with which appointments were made, tests were conducted and decision were arrived at, both impressed and depressed me. I was impressed because all the horror stories of waiting m0nths for care were brushed aside. And it depressed me because it emphasized the severity of Wendy's cancer.

So, we've made it this far. It's been a long year with many ups and downs. Another Christmas to celebrate. This year with many friends (nine for dinner on Thursday), lots of food, and a damned fine reason to celebrate. As much as having Cancer sets you apart, people have reached out in so many ways that it has given me pause to stop and think more than once.

We know Wendy's journey is not over and for that I am grateful. For every tear I've shed this past year there's been a smile, a belly laugh, a moment to cherish, a memory worth keeping.

Thanks to you all for your support this year.

Harvey

Night of the Giant Lobsters

One day, right out of the blue, Wendy announced that she felt like a feast of lobster. Now, even for people living close to the source of lobsters, they are still an expensive proposition, but ever encouraging of Wendy getting back up to "fighting weight" I told her it was a good idea. One phone call later she lined up a couple of dinner companions and then headed out to Misty Harbour Seafood. I was unable to attend because I was awaiting the arrival of some people to remove the oil tank from the garage as the last act in the saga of switching from oil to gas.

Wendy returned with the largest damned crustaceans I have ever seen. Apparently, the downturn in the economy has curtailed expensive business lunches and dinners and the price of lobster has fallen dramatically. Even the lobster fishermen were angry at the prices, to the point where they had a one day work stoppage to protest the $3.50 a pound they were receiving. Misty Harbour had a sale on late Saturday and Wendy bought two 5 lb lobsters at $6 a pound.

Even using the largest pot we owned, we could only cook one at a time. Feeling slightly guilty for the poor Lobster fishermen, I cooked the monsters. Since they were going to be supper on Sunday, I slightly undercooked them, cooled them down and put them in the basement fridge.

On Sunday I heated the lobsters in boiling water for five minutes and served half a tail and one claw to each diner. To be truthful, one of the giant claws would have served as a meal, but lobster is meant to be enjoyed. Especially with some lemon butter. To balance the meal we served steamed carrots and potatoes on a side plate. It was wonderfully messy with lots of laughing and sounds of blissful consumption.

My thanks to Jack Hill for the lovely photo. Yum!!

Harvey

Seasonal Smells

One of the December scents at our house is the delicious, sinus clearing smell of fresh curry powder. When empty jars began to arrive, complete with little notes saying "Feed Me!", Harvey knew it was time to make another batch of his Lucky Elephant brand curry powder.

Although my preference might be to have the house smell like chocolate all the time, it wouldn't be as special that way. That rich smell does permeate the place at this time of year, when Harvey, in Christmas elf mode, creates a batch of his chocolates. He normally makes 6 to 8 different kinds, using the best quality available of white, milk and dark chocolate. Some, like his version of FerroRocher, recur every year, but there's always at least one new type. Last year's Cod Cheeks are being repeated, while the new entry for 2008 uses vanilla beans from Mexico, thanks to his sister Beth.

No problem remembering to take deep breaths here this time of year!

Wendy