In Defense of Food

I am currently reading a book about 'eating food', passed down to me by my father. There are two interesting ideas which I thought are good to note down.

First one I find it funny. As this book, in a nutshell, is all about eating food and not processed food products, the author came up with a detailed personal policy to capture imitation foods:

Avoid food products containing ingredients that are
a) Unfamiliar
b) Unpronounceable
c) More than 5 in number
d) Contain high-fructose corn syrup

He then took Sara Lee's Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread as an example and listed about 36 ingredients. a) It's got 'ethoxylated monoglycerides'. Most people are only familiar with monoglycerides. b) Ingredients that are pronounceable - try 'azodicarbonamide'. c) Exceeds the maximum of 5 ingredients by roughly 36? d) needless to say, it contains high-fructose corn syrup. In the end, it could not even be labeled as 'bread' to his standard!

Second brilliant idea is about eating food from the farmers' market. I like the idea of subscribing to a farm and receive a CSA box (community-supported agriculture) of produce weekly. When eating from the CSA box, it automatically forces you to eat what's in season. Some food found in the weekly allotment may not ever be picked and that forces you out of your dietary rut. Besides diversifying your diet, it makes you figure out what to do with them. Okay, cooking and eating culture are another big topics covered in the book. For those interested, the book is called "In Defense of Food", by Michael Pollan.

Yet to finish, but it's a good book.