Michael Pollan’s article Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch is the cover story of today’s New York Times Magazine. And it’s a long one. But it basically says that cooking at home is actually good for you. This is good to hear. I like to cook at home. He means to really cook at home, though, not just to reheat frozen things, or to assemble a sandwich (which apparently technically counts as cooking, according to the people that gather statistics on these things). In short, by letting other people process and cook for you (by buying processed and pre-made foods), you’re giving up control of what goes into them. Salt, sugar, and fat are cheap, so it’s no surprise that they end up as prominent ingredients in many ready-to-eat or reheat options at the grocery store. This is one of the main premises of Pollan’s In Defense of Food. The simple act of preparing your own food puts you way ahead. But that’s not what the vast majority of Americans are doing.
Posts Tagged ‘Michael Pollan’
Michael Pollan on Julia, Cooking on TV, and Home Cooking
Posted in food, tagged cooking, Michael Pollan, TV on August 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Re: Food Inc.
Posted in food, tagged agriculture, food, Food Inc, Michael Pollan, movies, sustainability on July 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There has been a lot written about Robert Kenner’s documentary Food Inc. already. Not surprisingly, the food blogs were abuzz before it even came out. It covers topics that I’ve been reading a lot about over the past two years: topics in books by Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, Eric Schlosser, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, et al. Sustainability [...]
Second Nature
Posted in food, science, tagged farming, gardening, Michael Pollan, vegetables on July 15, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’d really like to be a farmer. Maybe “gardener of vegetables” would be more appropriate, but I’d like to keep the option of chickens and pigs on the table for some time in the future when we have more room, some land out back to speak of. [...]
