Food Rules

I'm enjoying the conscious choice I've made to get more of our family's food from farmers than factories, and one helpmate on the journey is most certainly going to be Michael Pollan.  I was fascinated by "The Omnivore's Dilemma" back during my pure vegetarian days, and enjoyed "In Defense of Food" during my more recent flirtations with being a flexitarian (Lord, that's a stupid label...I'm just going to go by my Native American name: "Man Who Spares Cows Most Days").

Anyway, Pollan's new book - a glorified pamphlet really, clocking in at 137 pages, half of those populated by cute illustrations of foods, herbs, and plants - is still worth the price of admission (about $10), if only as it serves as a layman's reminder of some of the common sense guidelines we often choose to overlook - out of laziness more than ignorance.  That's certainly why I bought it.  Of the 64 "Rules" in the book, I'd say only a dozen or so were new turf for me, but to have the nagging voice of nutritional wisdom whispering in my ear from time to time is a huge helpmate.  Left to my own devices, I'd just go wrap myself into a giant Taco Bell gordita and roll into the fiery pits of hell, stoked by Colonel Sanders and Mayor McCheese.  So, I buffer the side of reason by having folks like Mr. Pollan, Morgan Spurlock, Healthy Chef Alex, Andrew Weil, and the editors of Vegetarian Times on my bedside bookshelf.

While I could easily reel off Mr. Pollan's 64 Rules right here and save you the $ -  it's really that short of a book - I'd rather tease you with a dozen of my favorites.  Oh heck, we're talking food here, so let's make it a baker's dozen.  Then, you can go out and find his book yourself to explore his explanation of these and discover the remaining 51 and their supporting statements. Again, most of these are common sense, but I find them to be catchy reminders - and in today's drive-thru world, fast and easy are two modifiers most of us seek.

1)  Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
2) Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
3) It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
4) Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of your milk.
5) Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
6) Pay more, eat less.
7) "The banquet is in the first bite."
8) "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper."
9) Don't get your fuel from the same place your card does.
10) Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
11) Buy your snacks at the farmers' market.
12) If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.
13)  Break the rules once in a while.

I'll leave you with the overarching theme of the book, one that Pollan focused on in "In Defense of Food".  Should I ever follow this with true dedications, I'd be much happier and healthier.  It sounds childishly simplistic, but within it are enough challenges to keep even the most Zen-like of eaters from nutritional enlightenment.  Ready?  Here it goes:

Eat Food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.    


Sound easy?  Would it were so.  But as mantras go, it's a mighty good one.