Food for thought

Not too many months ago, we finished reading Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma." (Here's a Teacher's Guide.) It's probably time to reread it and see how his analysis compares to that recently published report getting lots of attention these days: Commission Food in The Anthropocene:
the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems (Summary Report). Having already read the former, but only about the latter, we're inclined to go with the Food Rules summary Pollan's crafted subsequent to Omnivore and In Defense of Food:

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” 

At the moment, this household maintains membership in two food coops, one for him, one for her. The household member who spent years working in economic development has become a strong advocate for coops. The household also has account at a credit union instead of a bank. We're undoubtedly in favor of and support most, and possibly all, that's espoused in the Lancet Commission report. We've noticed, however, that several Community Supported Agriculture farms we've participated in have problems packaging vegetables in quantities that supply a household of two. The means either we don't participate, we waste vegetables, or we have to find others with whom to share our share.

CSA Pick Up at a local food co-op

Photo by J. Harrington

From what we've observed here in Minnesota, lots of folks don't like to be told what to do, even if its for their own good or the good of their family. (Notice how many vehicles exceed the speed limit or are being driven by "distracted" drivers on their cell phones.) Too many farmers, in our opinion, contribute too much nitrogen and sediment to their downstream neighbors, is another kind of issue. Pollan covers this kind of reaction fairly nicely with his three rules.

1. Eat food. Hard to argue with, but he means real food not the kind that's manufactured.


2. Not too much. Portion sizes have been a source of contention since we were kids in our family of origin. Too many of  us are undernourished while too many others are overweight. Who's holding a gun to your head to force you to eat everything on your plate?


3. Mostly plants. Even those of us who are "meat and potatoes" eaters can do better.

One of our favorite restaurants serves a delicious hamburger (with tomatoes and lettuce and onions as veggies). We got tired of eating that each and every time and finally tried their grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with sautéed vegetables. All of a sudden, we had a meatless Friday. Weeks later we got curious about the wild rice burger that had been listed on the menu since we started eating there. It's pretty good, especially if the kitchen is asked to hold the mayo. Another meatless Friday on the calendar. No one told us we had to. We were simply offered an interesting alternative to our standard fare.

local farmers market in Spring

Photo by J. Harrington

Despite living in an area with an abundance of CSAs, food coops and farmers markets, it's improbable we'll ever consider going meatless, or even limiting meat to once a month. By the same token, we can eat lots less meat and be happy and, probably, healthier while reducing our carbon footprint. But that latter should, we think, be a consequence of our diet, not a driver. Unfortunately, much of the media coverage we've see so far is all about "we have to eat less meat." That's not really what it's all about. Furthermore, we haven't even begun to look at the implications Sean Sherman's The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen and similar approaches to feeding both our faces and our souls.

Mr. D Shops At Fausto’s Food Palace

By Candace Black

For years he lived close enough to smell 

chicken and bananas rotting 

in the trash bins, to surprise a cashier on break 

smoking something suspicious when he walked

out the back gate. Did they have an account? 

He can’t remember. Probably so, for all the milk 

a large family went through, the last-minute 

ingredients delivered by a smirking bag boy.

He liked to go himself, the parking lot’s 

radiant heat erased once he got past the sweating 

glass door, to troll the icy aisles in his slippers. 

This was before high-end labels took over

shelf space, before baloney changed 

its name to mortadella, before water 

came in flavors, before fish 

got flown in from somewhere else.

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