I have been reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” from author Michael Pollan, a New York Times bestseller. In this book he follows the industrial food supply chain from the inception of corn centuries ago, to genetically modified corn being in everything from food to gasoline to medicinal products for humans and antibiotics for animals and insects. The more I think about the industrial food chain we rely on so much, the more I realize that the US FDA “approved” practices for beef, chicken and pork production and consumption are in fact very counter productive to your overall quality of health. Since the late 1980s, evidence continues to mount and directly points to the increasing trends of e-coli, mad cow and other human intestinal disease development and propensity for weight gain. This stems from the practices of raising animals for food consumption to keep pace with inflation and increased demand for “cheap” nutritionally inadequate food products and shelf stable snacks.
The old adage, “you are what you eat” truly can affect your short and long term quality of health, your overall wellness and your propensity to develop lifetime health issues. We both have been making a concerned effort to avoid processed foods, and incorporate healthy locally grown and sustainable farm fresh organic produce without all these chemicals and byproducts. I’m HORRIFIED at what I’m learning is acceptable in this country for industrial food chain produced beef, pork and chicken. Last night I was disgusted with government agencies, mass producers of product and chemical companies all involved to make food more shelf stable, and to make it cheaper for the growing masses in this country and around the world. I don’t think I’ve quite decided that I’m a vegetarian, but I will be eating meat products a lot less frequently, and will only do so if they are certifiably organic, raised in a humane fashion and not full of the crap [literally] that is acceptable in today’s FDA regulated food chain industry.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to dive deeper into the processes and practices of today’s economic driven food circles. It’s rather shocking. I’m looking forward to his follow up novel on this topic.
7 comments:
Fast Food Nation was a great book for getting this type of information as well. It really made me re-think the beef industry in particular. I will only eat ground beef if it's ground where I bought it -- never in a tube! I started looking for buffalo as well since it's still raised more sustainibly. It's so hard to totally cut out the bad stuff though, even when you're really focused on it.
It's not true that you are what you eat or else I'd be bacon. We're all about the buffalo, and shrimp these daze. I'm still gonna have a pork blade steak now and then but we've gotten alot more selective about the stuff we glom down. And as you may know, the corn lobby in America is the most powerful lobby running and also the largest recipient of corprate welfare in our country, even though they always post profits.
Pollan will be giving a lecture at Benaroya Hall in January as part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures series. Check out the info here:
http://www.lectures.org/pollan.html
This would be very informative in person. Thanks for the tip.
I don't think I want to read this book right now. I try to eat healthy food, but on occasion, I really like processed food.
The really difficult part to eating more organic food and being more picky about where your meat comes from is the expense.
It is more expensive. Holly and I just hardly go out to eat any more these days, so it's been a wash for us.
This is a great book and it has me really thinking about my eating habits. For some reason this book has made me think about my food more than Fast Food Nation did when I read that years ago.
I need to go to PCC to price out their grass-fed beef.
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