Thursday, January 3, 2008 - STUFF

Wow!  Over a week this time!  Well,  I took a little vacation around Christmas and I’m OK with that, I hope you are, too.

Tonight, I’m watching the Iowa Caucus returns and that ole’ political bug that drove me for over six years to blog about politics has bit me again – I love it!  Anyway, I thought I would comment on some food things I’ve seen this past week.

My good friend once said something to the effect that she couldn’t understand the vitriol that is directed to Sandra Lee.  Well, to understand one only has to view the abomination, the food crime against humanity, the demon ipecac that is her Kwanzaa Cake.  An after-party, drunken dorm-room disaster - a store-bought angel food cake, canned frosting, sickening apple-pie filling and CORN NUT(?!?) horror topped with giant candlesticks.

For the love of God!

Yesterday, my good friend at work, an ND, excitedly told me of a new book by Michael Pollan – In Defense of Food.  Anyone who has read my blog knows of my love for his last book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  This book picks up on the theme of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, that the food we eat is total garbage and we need to pay attention to what we eat, where it comes from and how processed is it.  The theme of this book is basically, “Don’t eat anything your great-grandparents didn’t eat”.  Now, that’s too simple, I mean my great-grandfather never ate a Honey Sweet apple or prune.  That’s not what Pollan is talking about; those are natural foods, not processed (except for the drying of the prune).  What Pollan means is avoid things like, and I’m quoting from the Kellogg's Strawberry Special K Bar ingredients:

WHEAT GLUTEN, DEFATTED WHEAT GERM, MALT FLAVORING, MALTODEXTRIN, RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE [VITAMIN B1], CANOLA AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED AND/OR PALM KERNEL OIL, HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, TBHQ AND MIXED TOCOPHEROLS FOR FRESHNESS, FRUCTOSE, DEXTROSE, SORBITOL, GLYCERIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL STRAWBERRY FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN, CALCIUM CARBONATE, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL YOGURT FLAVOR, NIACINAMIDE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6).

I can’t wait to read it – I can’t wait.

Sunday, January 6, 2008 - Untitled Comment