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How to eat less |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on November 24, 2008 @ 07:59:00 AM by Paul Meagher
The final chapter in Micheal Pollan's book, "In Defense Of Food" (2008), discusses how to eat in a healthy way. The two main themes are to eat less and to eat whole foods. With regards to eating less, Pollan discusses a potpourri of ideas and research including behavioural strategies such as reducing the sizes of your plates and cups and buying cups that are long and slender to give the illusion of more volume. At a cultural level, Pollan discusses some of the history and ideas behind the Slow Food Movement and argues that some of this thinking might be helpful in getting us to eat less. Eating slowly and deliberately, in full knowledge of the the short food chain that delivered the food to your table, replete with whole foods, may be the type of antidote we need to our current drive-through go-yurt culture. For those who can afford to, he advocates spending more on quality food and that smaller portions of high quality food eaten slowly is a proven way to eat healthy. If you buy whole foods you don't have to look at nutrition labels because 1) they don't advertise the ingredients (why?), and 2) food is about more than nutrition and will take care of itself if you buy whole foods ideally from short food chains.
In one section of the final chapter, Pollan reflects upon the usefullness of blessing your food as a way to slow down and reflect on your food experience. While he doesn't do blessings himself, he sometimes recalls a couple of sentences by Wendell Berry, to get him in the mood to eat more deliberately:
Eating with the fullest pleasure - pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance - is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehand.
To turn this into a blessing I might use, I would do these edits:
In this meal may we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehand. Amen.
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In defense of food |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on November 19, 2008 @ 09:07:00 AM by Paul Meagher
I am just finishing up Micheal Pollan's book "In Defense of Food", 2008, Penguin.
Pollan's last book, "The Omnivore's Dillemma", 2006, was a best seller. After reading this book I want to read this earlier book so I would call that a recommendation to read this one.
This is a book that critiques the foundations of "Nutrition Science" and its corresponding ideology of "Nutritionism" - the idea that we can achieve a healthy diet by making sure we get the proper amounts of nutrients indicated on the food labels. I must confess to being of this viewpoint before I read this book; now I am much more skeptical of this approach. An alterantive approach is summarized by the book's byline "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants".
By food, Pollan means "whole" foods, not foods produced from refined sugar, corn, rice or other methods that eliminate any nutritive goodness in our foods. The shift to eating foods made from refined flour, sugar, and soy allows food processors to better store their "food products" and make more money off the end products. Consumers like these "food products" but nutritionally they are bereft of much value. To compensate for the nutritive bankruptcy of their "food products", the food industry "supplements" their "food products" with vitamens, minerals, omega 3's, and other goodness; however, there is good evidence that the benefits of many of these supplements are only achieved in the context of delivery via a whole food and cannot simply be injected into a food and expected to deliver the anticipated health benefit.
Whole foods, such as we find around the perimeter of a grocery store (food products tend to reside along the inner isles), have a very complex chemistry that nutrition science is just beginning to understand. While we may think that a designed food product is complex because it has a list of 20 ingredients, it is comparatively simple when we examine list of ingredients we would find if we analyzed a leaf of thyme - a variety oils, acids, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fats working synergistically to produce their benefit to our health. Once we realize the complexity and co-evolution involved in the whole foods we eat, we might be inclined to seek them out more just as our evolutionary forebears did. Indeed, the diet of our evolutionary forebears is just the diet that we might hold up as our ideal for how to eat - we are optimally adapted to that diet. We are not yet adapted to eating "food products" (witness rates of obesity, diabetes, teeth problems, etc...) and Pollan argues that many of our western diseases are attributable to the refining and nutrutionism that has become ascendent in the western diet.
Pollan's book can be used by agricultural and nutrition entrepreneurs to anticipate what types of foods we might expect consumers will want more of in the future. It can be read as a modern analysis of the science and trends in nutrition science and offers green entrepreneurs data and insights to use in business plans. It is a very well crafted book by an authoritative voice in this area. Pollan has written a number of well-received books about food and his bibliography contains a useful up-to-date listing of resources useful for exploring many aspects of the food industry in more detail.
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Green eggs and ham |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on September 10, 2008 @ 08:00:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Poulty farmer, Glenn Jennings, sells green eggs. They are green by virtue of the use of wind power as the primary energy input to his operation.
Glenn generates enough energy with 3 wind turbines ($75,000 investment) to completely power his lay barns. “We get a lot of wind out here, especially in the non-summer months. I saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of the strong winds off the bay and haven’t regretted it thus far.” Glenn is currently working with a communications firm promote the green eggs he is producing. Along those lines, the connection to Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" comes to mind...
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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on August 15, 2008 @ 10:07:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Since the introduction of the CSA concept in 1985 by Robyn Van En, the movement has spread throughout North America and has gradually come to include some 1,200 CSA farms.
The Robyn Van En Center is located in Wilson College, Pennsylvania, which operates the Fulton Farm CSA. According to the Fulton Farm CSA page, membership is open to anyone. Members contribute their financial and/or physical support to the farm, and in return receive the following privileges:
- Weekly produce pickup at the farm: a choice selection of seasonal farm produce.
- Access to wholesome fresh baked goods and sustainably produced eggs, cheese, and more!
- Pick-your-own options: berries, cherry tomatoes, flowers, herbs, and seasonal surplus items.
- Member picnics and workshops.
- Regular newsletter and recipes.
- 25% off at the Southgate Farmer’s Market (our booth only).
The Fulton Farm plants more food than its members can use which it uses to help finance its operations. However, if there is a food shortage, it's members needs will come first.
Recently, a study was done on the best way to distribute CSA food (note: PDF link) in terms of reducing the amount of co2 and "food miles" used. It was found that the best method was to deliver foods to members rather than having members pick the food up from a central location. Significant co2 savings would also be realized (2.7 times less co2) if a Toyota Prius was used to deliver the food.
Community Supported Agriculture is an excellent example of sustainable agriculture that comes with a long list of benefits (health, food safety, environment, economy, community) over traditional methods of agriculture. CSA also appears to be an evolving practice if the study eventually leads to food being delivered by Prius-driving farmers.
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Codex Alimentarius and free-range chickens |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on August 6, 2008 @ 07:48:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Until I watched the Codex Alimentarius video lecture by Ian R. Crane on Google Video I did not know anything about Codex Alimentarius. Wikepedia defines Codex Alimentarius in this way:
The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "food code" or "food book") is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety under the aegis of consumer protection. These texts are developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body that was established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Commission's main aims are stated as being to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international food trade. The Codex Alimentarius is recognized by the World Trade Organization as an international reference point for the resolution of disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection.
Ian Crane argues that powerful "Big Pharma" interests are exerting a strong influence on these standards so as to benefit themselves. They are doing this by making life hard for 1) producers of vitamens and supplements, 2) alternative health providers, and 3) organic growers. Each of these sectors are growing and are taking dollars away from "Big Pharma" in different ways. The Codex Alimentarius is viewed as the instrument of "Big Pharma's" devious plans to control and contain their competitors.
The effect of Codex Alimentarius would be hard to discern in our day-to-day lives, however, a recent case involving a free-range chicken farmer may be just such an example. These particular free-range chicken farmers have seen an increase in their market over the years but are now being forced to adopt new practices that may prevent them from staying in business as "free-range" chicken farmers per se. One regulation involves ensuring that there is no contact between the chickens and any other animals. The concern over avian bird flu is trotted out as one of the reasons for this regulation. This containment regulation would effectively require them to pen in their chickens and thus kill this particular type of organic business that many consumers are asking for though their spending.
Some of the science on free-range chickens is worth considering. The reason free-range chickens are good for us is not simply because they are being raised in a natural outdoor environment; it is also because they have access to grass to peck on which is rich in Omega 3 oils that is assimilated into the chicken's fat composition. This results in lower levels of saturated fats than non grass-fed chickens. You can demonstrate this effect by cooking a grass-fed versus non grass-fed chicken, collecting the grease from cooking, and observing how little of the grease from the grass-fed chickens congeals when put into the refrigerator.
Organic farmers like Covey's have a hard time fighting the system. They are part of an organization that only really represents traditional poulty farming practices and have very little clout in that system.
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The problem of fruit and vegetable storage |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on August 5, 2008 @ 07:17:00 AM by Paul Meagher
Most of us like to have fresh perfect-looking fruit and vegetables to eat. To achieve this form often requires genetic modification and chemical treatments. Many consumers appear to be less put off by genetic modification in fruits and vegetables (perhaps because it is so difficult to understand the arguments), but are taking a stand with regards to the use of chemicals they would rather not be ingesting. Consumers are taking a stand by increasingly seeking out organic fruits and vegetables.
One part of the fruit and vegetable production process that often uses a chemical treatment is the storage component. The harvest period only lasts a short while so fruits and vegetables must be kept in storage until they can be sold at a reasonable price. To store them, many producers resort to chemical treatments along with some form of cold-storage. Recently, agricultural researchers at the Kentville Research Station in Nova Scotia announced a technology that stores apples in long term storage at oxygen levels below 1%. Storage in this atmosphere extends the life of apples from the traditional range of two to three months up to 8 months. This form of controlled atmosphere technology can be used to store a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Lead researcher Dr. Robert Prange points out that "Ours is a non-chemical technology and it is competing in Canada and other countries with a chemical that is added to the controlled atmostphere to keep apples firm, hard and green".
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The Vertical Farm Project |
[Food & Nutrition] |
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Posted on July 23, 2008 @ 06:00:00 AM by Paul Meagher
The Vertical Farm Project contains information, designs, and presentations on high-rise type structures for farming located in urban environments. They argue that agriculture will need to shift towards this paradigm in order to handle the food requirements for the level of population we can expect to see in 2050 (i.e., 3 billion more mouths to feed). There are also other factors leading us in this direction. Much of this work is still in the design phase so there may be a first move advantage for those willing to invest in building the first significant prototype designs.
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