Salvage Heart

I recently reviewed Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto for The Oregonian. Liked it. We're making an effort to eat more collards and kale, and less meat. That seems like a good place to start. And we went out to the Hillsdale Farmers' Market last Sunday, where it was clear that he who skips church shall get all the good greens. We made off with some nice yellow onions and some old apples from October.

One thing that struck me about Pollan's book is that he places a lot of blame, but the one person who comes away unscathed and blameless is the consumer. Now, that may be because until recently eating locally grown food was not much of an option. Or it may be that we are unable to relent in the face of a multi-billion-dollar ad campaign to get us to buy processed things in boxes.

Maybe. But from here on out, I think we can consider ourselves warned. Eating right (and eating real foods) can safely be lumped in with "go get some exercise" as things we now know to do. Or can't pretend we don't know to do.

I also bought goggles and a swim suit this week, and signed my oldest up for swim lessons. I don't think I can lose a Huckabee Hundred, but maybe I can lose a Conservation District Dozen.

Labels: books, food, journalism, Michael Pollan, Oregonian