Why the Western Diet is Making us Sick.

Why I agree with the argument in Michael Pollans book, In Defense of Food- An Eaters Manifesto, eat food, not too much, mostly plants

Real foods are disappearing off supermarket shelves to be replaced with nutrients. Michael Pollan has coined the word Nutritionism to label this trend. He says we no longer eat meat that looks like meat or yogurt containing only milk and bacteria. Real food is being replaced with highly processed, food products gaudily packaged, loudly claiming to be fat free, high fiber, enriched, low cholesterol and the like.

The fear of fat has been with us since the fifties when the lipid hypothesis- the concept that fat found in dairy and meat products was responsible for the rising rates of heart disease and has resulted in doctors recommending low fat diets.

Pollan hastens to argue that it is not eggs, milk, cheese and red meat that are bad for us but they way they are produced.

In the large agribusinesses of today vast acres of land are tilled over for the production of corn wheat and barley, excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and even pesticides are used to raise these plants to maturity. Fed on a diet of chemicals the natural vitamins and minerals in these plants are low. These basic grains are then processed into animal feed and fed to chickens in batteries and cattle in feed lots. Because of their crowded living conditions they need antibiotics to keep them well. The meat, eggs and milk from these animals is then processed and fed to us.

In the second half of this book Pollan sets out his rules for eating, things like- don’t eat anything your grandparents or in some cases great grandparents wouldn’t recognize as being food. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients or ingredients you can’t pronounce or recognize as being food. Shop in farmers markets, buy grass fed cattle and free range eggs direct from the farmer. Organic food is not best if it has been shipped halfway across the continent. Eat lots more fruits and vegetables especially leaves as they contain omega3 fatty acids. (one thing I didn’t know) Learn to cook.

He says it might be worthwhile to infest in a deep freezer so one might freeze excess produce available in season at the farmers market or that half cow you bought from your friendly farmer.

I’ve long suspected what Pollan says is true. My back to the land/hippy streak has ensured I’ve not strayed too far, as well, my mother, who taught me to cook, produced delicious meals from scratch everyday for her lucky family so how could I be any different.

Like everyone I believed, at first, that animal fats were bad for us. But, I drew the line at so called healthy Becel margarine. Yuck. From that day forward we ate butter. Butter contains one ingrediant, cream. Compare that to Becel which contains –

Canola and sunflower oils 74%, water, modified palm and palm kernel oils 6%, salt 1.8%, whey protein concentrate 1.4%, soy lecithin 0.2%, vegetable monoglycerides, potassium sorbate, vegetable colour, artificial flavour, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E).

which one would you rather eat? Of course, according to Pollans rules, I have to search out the right butter, one that has been produced from local dairy cows grazing green grass. Having spent thirteen years has a sheep farmer I know hay fields are not subject to pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. It is simply not necessary, fertilizing is done naturally by the cows/sheeps own manure.

I know all this takes time and real food cost more. But-