Looking for a good read for the spring? I highly recommend Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. It dives into a topic I had become increasingly curious about - our food system. Ever since the outbreak of salmonella in the spinach a couple of years ago, I've really made an effort to look for locally grown foods. Well, Omnivore's Dilemma is driving me to the Farmer's Market and organics. I have made an effort to buy organics and locally grown foods, but was okay if I needed something not grown locally. After reading this book, I am not sure I can go back to industrial agriculture. It will be difficult, but we're going to try...
Our food system is broken. We are consuming petroleum because of all the chemicals they use to grow our food, we're polluting the earth, and we're making ourselves fat because of how they process our foods. They have figured out how to deconstruct corn and make it into things that we just shouldn't be consuming. Then they're adding in all kinds of nasty chemicals and potential carcinogens that were never intended to be ingested.
Yes, I said 'they'. As in the same way conspiracy theorists use the word 'they'. Only this time, it's really smart people (food scientists) who can't help but come up with new ways to make our current food system run cheaper, and find more uses for corn. That's right, corn. And not the kind you like to eat at 4th of July celebrations. This is industrially processed, genetically modified, unedible corn grown en masse in order to feed the industrial system we've developed with the idea of making our food cheaper. Corn in your burger, corn in your potatoes, corn in your ketchup...we're practically made of corn!
Omnivore's Dilemma - It is giving us the motivation to follow through on eating healthier and being more aware of what we put in our bodies. I hope you find the same motivation to affect change in your life.
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