The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan has rocked my world.
As a former anorexic, I’ve spent my lifetime thinking about food.
I’m no longer motivated to starve, but I try to be mindful of what I eat. I “get it” that processed food is filling and tasty, but not nourishing. If more than half the ingredients on a label are words of fifteen letters or more, I know it’s not food.
Pollan shares:
The food additive TBHQ (butylhydroquinone), used to “help preserve freshness” is a form of butane - also known as lighter fluid - YIKES! I’d despair, but grass farmers like Joel Salatin seem to have figured out how to humanely produce food to feed families. I’m motivated to seek out a local grass farmer for cultivated food. I’m sure if my Dad had the knowledge and technology we would have had portable fences and an Eggmobile. I can only wonder what my family farm would be today if we had known about grass farming techniques.
Until Pollan I also did not fully comprehend exactly how organically produced and packaged foods are distributed. I suspected that in order to mass produce and ship organically grown food, certain corporate agri-business practices have to be adopted. What I did not know is that many of these organic growers still pull and destroy “weeds” rather than using them for food, as many local farmers do.
Here again, convenience enters into the picture. Most supermarkets don’t want to deal with dozens of individual vendors offering small volumes. To meet demand, many organic farmers formed large organizations moving large quantities of one harvested food quickly. But “organic” is a word that has developed layers of meaning in the thirty-something years that people have been dealing with the term. “Organic” typically means that chemicals like TBHQ are not used. But it does not actually mean that the products were grown and raised the way farmers like my Dad did it in the mid 20th Century.
The issue boils down to long-distance distribution or local distribution. Freshly grown/raised and harvested food in season tastes better than something that’s been accumulating frequent flyer miles. That’s why I forage. In fact, the most compelling part of Pollan’s book is his section on hunting and gathering the ingredients for his meal.
What keeps Salatin’s methods from catching on like wild fire are USDA regulations, which appear to have more to do with supporting the chemical industry than protecting consumers.
Americans are used to convenience. Food is something to cram in our mouths to keep our stomachs from growling. But really it is connected to our growth and health. It also has the potential to build bonds. I still remember the silly friend who extended her cupped hand as my Dad was scooping ice cream for dessert - and he put the ice cream in her hand. That moment of humor from an otherwise serious and demanding Dad is etched into my memory. Meals were gathering times, often to strategize, sometimes to celebrate, rarely without discussion. School friends were family when at our table. Those memories impact how I eat today - especially if I am eating alone.
I grew up eating chickens that walked around and pecked grass. So do Salatin’s chickens. He just moves them around in sync with moving his cows, so that the animals continually have fresh food, their droppings land where fertilizer is needed, and everything works as nature intended. He’s working with his brain so that the animals are happy; you can taste the difference. Grass raised meat is a different product than “organic free range” meat.
Yes, “organic free range” chickens get to walk around a little bit, after they are five weeks old. They are food by the time they are two months old, so if they do walk outside at all, it’s very little. Just enough to satisfy marketing claims. And it still costs 7-10 cents of fossil fuel to deliver one cent of food energy.
I have been dissatisfied with our domestic policies for most of my life. It’s the reason why our family no longer has a farm. So I get tingly when I read about what we can be doing to feed people. Maybe there will be a food revolution. It sure beats thinking about a bunch of docile obese humans caged like corporate cows or chickens.
I’m fortunate to be both motivated and healthy enough to forage for at least a portion of what I consume. By having some idea of where my food lives and grows, I have some idea of the amount of nourishment I am receiving. I don’t know if I can fully eliminate wholesale foods from my life - but I’m motivated to switch from “organic” to grass farmed - even if I have to burn gas to do it.
Armed with this new knowledge, I am determined to avoid the worst of processed food. With any luck and God’s grace, I may never have to eat my disposable lighter - even in a survival situation.