In Defense of Food

4 March 2008

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Thank you, Michael Pollan, these are wonderful words to eat by.

I enjoyed the New York Times article Unhappy Meals, from which this book was spawned. “In Defense of Food” fills in the blanks and provides just enough structure to forewarn and forearm us.

I’ve lived through the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Weigh Down diet, the low-fat craze, the high-carb scare, liquid diets, bar diets (and of course the heady days of my mid-20s when Doritos, coffee, and vodka made up my nutrition pyramid). Funny enough, I was thinnest with the Doritos. Finally and thanks to Michael Pollan, I’m no longer afraid of butter. Or a potato. Or a buttered potato.

We’ve changed our eating habits, trading in the middle aisles of the supermarket for a weekly box of fruits and veggies from our local organic co-op, grass-fed beef, and poultry from local farms. We’ve cut our portions, increased our exercise, lost weight, gained energy, and in the process learned a few things:

1. Home, and the meals we prepare ourselves, are best.
2. Love isn’t measured in indulgence, but in care.
3. Food should cost us something.

This is a lifechange I can believe in.