Friday, March 27, 2009

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Eat food
Not too much
Mostly plants

Words of wisdom from Michael Pollan who spoke earlier this week “In Defense of Food: The Omnivore’s Solution” at Tufts University, home to the nation's only graduate and professional nutrition school, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Pollan’s haiku reminds me of a news item I heard recently. There’s a new trend – more people are eating at home. This trend is driven by the current economic situation, not necessarily by the public’s interest in good nutrition. The problem folks are facing is that they don’t know how to cook. Their kitchen is a foreign land. So they are taking classes at cooking schools – a booming business in the middle of the recession.

Since you don’t need to go to cooking school to warm up take-out or follow the instructions on a packaged prepared food, I’m assuming that they are interested in cooking with raw ingredients. It is my hope that they “not eat too much” and “mostly plants.”

On the subject of plants, June is just around the corner and so weekly farmer’s markets will return to neighborhoods in New England. Which also means it’s time to sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. First Lady Michele Obama put shovel to the soil to start a White House kitchen garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden. And Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack broke ground for The People’s Garden which will be sustainable (using composting waste from USDA cafeterias and recycling it back for use in the garden), organic and will serve the community by donating produce to local food banks.

Eating well is a core factor in good health. So these trends are worth celebrating and sustaining: growing edible gardens as exemplified by government leaders, and cooking at home as demonstrated by citizens around the country.

Bon appetit

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