It's a true blessing having such bookstores as Omnivore Books on Food, located just off the J at Cesar Chavez and Church Streets, to help us learn to "Speak Food." Being able to stop in and chat with the proprietor, attend the myriad of events, and be pointed to good books, old and new, specifically about food is a rare treat that San Franciscans shouldn't take for granted. Talking recipes is only the beginning as we ponder the movements and fads of gastronomy.
Of course, Nutrition is a big part of this discussion, and is an aspect that has been under the microscope for more than a hundred years. There are a plethora of "superstar" diets out there, including Jenny Craig and Weightwatchers, and "healthy food" options have been stacked on shelves and slapped on labels as wantonly as Wall Street betting on Credit-default swaps, though you won't find much of that stuff at Omnivore. Yet somehow, the instances of diabetes and heart disease have only escalated, as we have listened without question to the media moguls and health experts declare "eat more low-fat foods" (51).
What part of that statement speaks to you? The author, as an English major, looks at the words "eat more," and shudders. Reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, an Eater's Manifesto, helps him understand why. People focus on the object, only consciously ignoring the verb and it's qualifier, which insidiously becomes the subconscious desire manifest in our current health crisis, and so our culture moves from eating beef and getting filled up quickly to eating mountains of low-fat cookies and potato chips, and still wanting more.
Feeling that "Food is Culture" really helps the author understand our current problem with health and disease, and Michael Pollan hits the nail on the head. In essence, he says we are missing the forest for the trees, as we label specific nutrients as heroes and villains, regardless of the role they play in relation to each other. Can we really take beta-carotene out of a carrot and expect it to perform the same way when mixed with sugar and xantham gum? Carrots are healthy for a reason, so why aren't carrots labeled as "health foods."
In the war between Macronutrients, factionalism rears its ugly head and Omega 6 is at war with Omega 3. The very chemical that tells our brains our stomach is full is lost in the shuffle, allowing us to chant the Subway Sandwich mantra "consume mass quantities." Our food is homogenized and hydrogenated until its hardly recognizable, and the bonds between food and nutrition are broken.
This is all well and good if you are trying to make money. Pollan sites the cost effectiveness of monoculture and preserved foods versus the fresh and organic alternatives of permaculture, as well as the multitude of interests who profit from the poor health of our citizenry. Interwoven with criticisms of the various standards accepted by the FDA are anecdotes of poor scientific research and criticisms of "the western diet." Pollan states on pages 48-9, that in the 70's, despite the protests of the AMA, Harvard nutritionist Mark Hegsted proposed the nation set dietary goals by saying "The question to be asked is not why we should change our diet, but why not" (48-9)? And evidently the FDA rolled with it, without considering the Hippocratic oath, which states "do no harm."
Pollan goes further to connect the puritan ideal, which linked food to passion, to John Harvey Kellogg's gastronomical bias against protein in favor of refined carbohydrates. The result was gastronomic deconstruction, where milk became defined as "a suspension of protein, lactose, fats, and calcium in water" (31). Sounds appetizing, doesn't it? Never mind the vitamins and minerals and amino acids that are naturally occurring and beneficial in milk, much less how they interact with each other. The author still bemoans the fact the FDA declares that raw milk is unsafe to drink, and that creme fraiche is a pariah, while lean, genetically modified corn-fed pork is considered healthier than naturally raised, grass fed, free-range 'fatty" beef.
Meanwhile, the author isn't surprised that we as a culture have become indoctrinated by nutritionism. As a people, we love to problem solve, make discoveries, and analyze effects to a microcosmic level. Do we we heed the warnings of "the carbohydrate camp not to fall under the spell of the Omega-3 Cult?" That doesn't matter as much as we think, because every food theory helps feed the beast. For the health industry and everyone else involved, Pollan states “it's obviously preferable to have a scientific rationale for further processing of foods... than to entertain seriously the proposition that that processed foods of any kind are a big part of the problem" (141). That is, if making money is the priority rather than being healthy. As much as it's said that the healthcare and financial systems are broken, the Western diet is also suspect.
It isn't surprising to find out Michael Pollan is a local boy, working at UC Berkeley, just blocks away from the Gourmet Ghetto and the heart of America's Slow Food movement . As a journalist, Pollan uses his words carefully and in a dizzying manner. He toys with the language and logic used to justify the focus of nutritionism, and then uses their examples to counter their own arguments. In reference to solutions, for him it is simple: "Stop eating a Western diet" (141). He compares the results of diabetes and heart disease, as well as cancer, with the Inuit, Japanese, Indian, Italian and French methods of eating. None of them have incidence rates nearly as high as we do. It's no wonder that the Slow Food Movement is a part of his solution to counter the problem.
The author has a lot to think about. Pollan's premise is that processed food isn't really food, and the more its processed, the less healthy it is. Sure, with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the cupboard, and Hamburger Helper, and Cambell's soups, one doesn't think so much about putting food together, because its done for us, but the Kraft Site in particular has a lot of good ideas and recipes. One method that the author has early memories of is sauteing a mirepoix of celery, carrot, onion, and bell peppers before adding the packaged food, soup or sauce, to enhance nutrition and the flavor profile. Pound per pound, these vegetable additions don't cost anything at all in relation to the health benefits of increasing vegetable intake.
Which brings us to Pollan's ultimate conclusion: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants" (Inside cover). We can't say that what is actually best for us is the cellulose of the plant walls, or that the vitamins and amino acids we get from them don't need other things in the vegetables that food scientists have yet to identify. "The tradition of real, well-grown, unprocessed food" that has been established over thousands of years has developed because it works, whereas our tinkering and perfecting food with the intent of boiling it down to the very basic nutrients has thrown our culture off balance.
One thing to remember from Star Trek: even in fictional Utopias, despite the idealistic evolution of science, the food from the replicators isn't nearly as tasty or as satisfying as the real thing. Furthermore, “Don’t look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet” (177), because every aspect of real food is an essential nutrient, not only for the health of it, but for the flavor.
