Food Rules #27 Eat Animals that have Themselves Eaten Well

Cows eating concrete? Fish eating other fish? If it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't. Pollan talks about how industrially-raised animals are being fed high-energy diets to cheaply fatten them up. The only problem is, cows have evolved to eat grass, and when they are fed corn and other things, they develop health issues that cause them to be treated by antibiotics. We eat this beef and our bodies build up a resistance to antibiotics. Deadly strains of ecoli and other disease may also start to run rampant. The meat is then doused with ammonia to kill the strains, or even worse, people die from ecoli contamination. Corn diets make our farm animals fat. So much of our processed food is either fed a diet of genetically-modified corn or is chock full of HFCS. We eat everything the animal has eaten, and it's not always good for us.

Pastured animals taste different and I think, better. Yes, they are more expensive, but that's because they are eating the plants and grass from their surroundings and take longer to mature (rather than getting fattened up unnaturally in 1/3 or 2/3 the amount of time). The land used for grazing the animals needs to also be rotated to give the plantlife a chance to regrow. Slow food indeed.

Food Rules #26: Drink the Spinach Water

Another bit of 'traditional wisdom'? Use the cooking water from vegetables for soups or sauces. Besides adding an extra layer of flavor, it contains lots of nutrients. It also keeps within the notion of "use everything". Smart kitchens and chefs know that is makes sense to throw away nothing (or as little as possible)! Save your veggie scraps for stocks...the same with bones from that roasted chicken or roast. If you have a composter, you can put your eggshells, coffee grounds & other non-protein scraps in it and create a nutrient-rich soil. (I will now hang my head and say we don't have an apartment composter in our tiny tiny condo, with very little room, no yard or outdoor space and 2 extremely curious cats, but I'm working on it!). I'm working on reducing what is thrown away, increasing the load of our recyclable bags and overall, just leaving less of a 'footprint'.

Food Rules #25: Eat your Colors

Yes, the saying comes from an "old wives' tale" but it's just good science, too, as Pollan points out. A range of colors reflects many different antioxidants and we want those in our diet.

Think of the color scheme a farmer's market provides: green leafy vegetables, crimson radishes, deep blue berries, golden beets, green/yellow/red/orange/purple/black tomatoes. Oh, I can't wait for summer! I've vowed to cook and eat more vegetables this year, once the season comes around. One of our staff, Jeff (who's helped us the past 2 years at our Farmer's Market stand), gave me a great idea that I plan to use this year: buy a variety of berries, lay on a sheet pan covered in parchment or waxed paper & put the pan into the freezer. Once all the berries have been frozen, put into ziplock bags or airtight containers and keep in the freezer, taking out as needed. Freezing them first before bagging them ensures you don't get a big globby mess of berries when you go to retrieve them later.

I've made a couple of batches of tomato sauce this winter, too, in the slow cooker. I used canned & jarred Italian and local tomatoes from Tomato Mountain Farm, but I'm only considering it a test run and this summer I plan to use my slow cooker to make several large batches of tomato sauce and freeze it so we have it thru the wintertime. I LOVE all the colors and varieties of tomatoes in season. Last year, one of our regular customers brought me a basket of tomatoes grown in her "yarden" and I swear I only ate tomato and mayo sandwiches sprinkled with sea salt for 3 days. I think they were the best tomatoes I'd had all last season!

Our shops are a drop off site for a couple of vegetable CSAs and it's so cool to look into the boxes that come each week and see a range of veggies. I've learned the names of several heirloom varieties I hadn't heard of before. The taste is quite extraordinary as well.

Maybe I should set another goal for this summer: to eat thru the color of the rainbow every week in vegetables! Sounds like a delicious challenge.

Food Rules #24

Pollan includes the Chinese proverb: "Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs, and other mammals]."

Hmmm...no mention of fish? Either way, I may sound like a broken record, but when choosing to eat those things on 2 or 4 legs, try to choose an option that is raised as close to you as possible, using the most humane and sustainable methods, and less of it.

I'm looking forward to blogging about tomorrow's rule!

Food Rules #23: Treat meat as a flavoring or special-occasion food

Ah, meat...I was a vegetarian in my 20s for about 2 years, but one day caved and ate pepperoni pizza. I found that I had started craving meat too often to deny myself. And I was fine with that. I figured I was a healthy person, had a pretty balanced diet and that if I was craving it then well, I should eat it. In the 15 or so years since then, I've discovered and read and seen a lot about meat & meat production. About 10 years ago I read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, and years before had read My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. Both books were key to my learning more about the commercial meat industry. They both reveal some gory details, but I did continue to eat meat. I read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and saw the movie Food, Inc. and still continue to eat meat. BUT, I feel that as a consumer I can make better, more informed choices for myself and even for the environment. I have decided to vote with my dollars, if you will, and support small producers & farmers, local foods and my local economy. As buyer for the shops, I also feel more empowered to carry the items we do - those that support these same philosophies.

Pollan's 23rd rule explains that the average American eats meat at 2 or even 3 meals a day. In many cases meat takes the place of vegetables. He suggests eating smaller portions of meat and larger quantities of veggies, which will improve our health long term. Not a bad idea, given the rate of obesity, heart disease & cancer in our society.

As I've written in this blog before, I'm only advocating what works best for me by sharing my thoughts on Pollan's Rules. I know I find certain things challenging though. And now I'd like to hear from you. So I'm wondering what you all think of this: have you seen this movie or read these or similar books? Have you made changes to your eating routines? What are you finding challenging? Rewarding?

Thanks for sharing!