Snowbound

Being snowbound isn't always so bad. This weekend was a cold, snowy and windy mix so it kept us indoors most of the time catching up on foodie reading and dvds.



THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA should be required reading for every American student before they are allowed to graduate High School. Most Americans have no idea what they are really eating or how it got to their table. In this book Michael Pollan lays it all bare by following, in depth, that journey for four specific meals. Anyone who has ever eaten fast food or prepared foods is in for a shocking surprise. The growing trend toward sustainability, local food and organic food is going to spread wider and deeper in the coming decade and I am one who hopes that the trend lasts forever. Big Box stores are already being forced to take notice as the organic backlash becomes the norm. We don't want all this factory farm crap. We want real food. This book helps us understand and embrace just what it is we are digesting when we put that chicken tender to our lips. I cannot recommend this book more highly.



Along the same vein is the film KING CORN, which is like a cross between SUPER SIZE ME and AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. The film follows two college buddies as they venture back to their family roots in Greene, Iowa, to discover what makes corn the king crop and an ingredient in virtually all manufactured food. These neophytes provide some real insight and many laughs as they navigate the reality of American farming, government subsidies, powerful fertilizers and genetically modified seeds. They do, however, manage to actually grow one acre of corn. The education they get along the way, however, is priceless.

It never ceases to amaze me that most Americans will spend hours shopping for an article of clothing then throw any box in a grocery store into their cart without even knowing what's really in it. I can now say with much certainty that whatever it is it probably contains corn!


Like I said, being snowbound ... not so bad!