Tens of millions of people eating simpler, more sustainably produced food (and less meat) would be better than only a few million eating organic.
"To eat well, says Michael Pollan, the author of 'In Defense of Food," means avoiding 'edible food-like substances' and sticking to real ingredients, increasingly from the plant kingdom.
"There's plenty of evidence that both a person's health -- as well as the environment's -- will improve with a simple shift in eating habits away from animal products and highly processed foods to plant products and what might be called 'real food.' (With all due respect to people in the food movement, the food need not be 'slow', either.)
"From these changes, Americans would reduce the amount of land, water and chemicals used to produce the food we eat, as well as the incidence of lifestyle diseases linked to unhealthy diets, and greenhouse gases from industrial meat production. All without legislation...
"Last week, Michelle Obama began digging up a patch of the South Lawn of the White House to plant an organic vegetable garden to provide food for the first family and, more important, to educate children about healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become national concerns.
"But Mrs. Obama also emphasized that there were many changes Americans can make if they don't have the time or space for an organic garden.
"'You can begin in your own cupboard,' she said, 'by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.'
"Popularizing such choices may not be as marketable as creating a logo that says 'organic.' But when Americans have had their fill of 'value-added' and overprocessed food, perhaps they can begin producing and consuming more food that treats animals and the land as if they mattered. Some of that food will be organic, and hooray for that. Meanwhile, they should remember that the word itself is not synonymous with 'safe,' 'healthy,' 'fair' or even necessarily 'good.'"
"There's plenty of evidence that both a person's health -- as well as the environment's -- will improve with a simple shift in eating habits away from animal products and highly processed foods to plant products and what might be called 'real food.' (With all due respect to people in the food movement, the food need not be 'slow', either.)
"From these changes, Americans would reduce the amount of land, water and chemicals used to produce the food we eat, as well as the incidence of lifestyle diseases linked to unhealthy diets, and greenhouse gases from industrial meat production. All without legislation...
"Last week, Michelle Obama began digging up a patch of the South Lawn of the White House to plant an organic vegetable garden to provide food for the first family and, more important, to educate children about healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become national concerns.
"But Mrs. Obama also emphasized that there were many changes Americans can make if they don't have the time or space for an organic garden.
"'You can begin in your own cupboard,' she said, 'by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.'
"Popularizing such choices may not be as marketable as creating a logo that says 'organic.' But when Americans have had their fill of 'value-added' and overprocessed food, perhaps they can begin producing and consuming more food that treats animals and the land as if they mattered. Some of that food will be organic, and hooray for that. Meanwhile, they should remember that the word itself is not synonymous with 'safe,' 'healthy,' 'fair' or even necessarily 'good.'"
posted by mr damon at
1:33 AM
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