a good read

I read a book last week. I actually only took an hour or so, but it was so great. It's called Food Rules. Michael Pollan wrote it, he's pretty wonderful. He also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four
Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, both are also wonderful.



It's 64 rules about food that are awesome. Here are some of my favorite things from the book:

*Don't fall for the food industry's latest scam: products reformulated to contain "no HFCS" or "real cane sugar". These claims imply these foods are somehow healthier, but they're not. Sugar is sugar.

*The healthiest food in the supermarket - the fresh produce - doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging. Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign they have nothing valuable to say about your health.

*You're better off eating the real thing in moderation than bingeing on "lite" food products packed with sugars and salt.

*It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles)

*Eat animals that have themselves eaten well. It's worth looking for pastured animal foods in the market - and paying the premium prices they typically command if you can.

*There is no such thing as a healthy soda.

*Old wives test: If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you're not hungry. Food is a costly antidepressant.

*According to the National Gardening Association, a seventy-dollar investment in a vegetable garden will yield six hundred dollars' worth of food.

*Gas stations have become "processed corn stations": ethanol outside for your car and high-fructose corn syrup inside for you. Don't eat here.


It's a really funny and great book. Highly recommended. You can borrow it from me if you want.