Saturday, December 29, 2007


Pollan argues that the industrialization of our food chain has not only robbed us of all sorts of micro-nutrients and ruined the environment, it has also left us adrift in a confusing maze of fad-diets and conflicting health claims.

''In Defense of Food'' tries to answer many of the troubling questions raised by the earlier book. The answer is simple. Pollan boils it down to just seven words: ''Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.'' (Thanks D.)

Good NYT review of Pollan's (The omnivore's dilemma) new book. I like it because that's how I eat, and it is still surprisingly easy to do so in Lebanon, even in Beirut. Added bonus: if you eat mostly plants in Lebanon, you're sure to eat mostly local, short-supply chain foods, and benefit the smal-medium producer. Except for bread, which is all made from imported (GMO?) wheat. But if you ask me nicely I will tell you where you can buy bread in Lebanon made from local wheat.

1 comment:

D said...

I heard a interview on NPR with Pollan wherein he made a distinction between plants (by which evidently he means fruits and vegetables) and grains, suggesting that the latter have come disproportionately to supplant the former in contemporary diets. He also suggests that to the extent that one does eat meat, one choose plant-eating animals--so, grass- vs grain-fed beef, for example. I suppose the same goes for fish and that by his lights we should avoid those tasty predators that, coincidentally, tend to carry the mercury warnings.