This video is about an hour long but is the most interesting thing I’ve seen in a while. You may have heard of Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. His message can be boiled down to this: Eat food. Not too much; mostly plants. The things he says in this address resonate with me. I’ve been thinking a lot about my diet and how and when and what I eat. I’ve resolved to try to buy ingredients when I go to the store, and not loads of processed shite. Pollan discusses this and has a fairly simple rule for shopping: stick to the perimeter of the store. That’s where all the perishable goods are, and these are what we need to eat more of. He also says to eat only foods your great-grandmother would recognise as food. Anything else is probably an “edible food-like substance”. Chuckle and grin but he’s RIGHT. He seems to be an advocate of the local food movement, as well as organics. I’m not convinced these are anything other than fads. I’ve yet to see any real science to suggest that organic food is easier on the environment or more nutritious, but then I don’t really keep up with these things. I wouldn’t care much anyway, because I buy food that tastes good. Local food is fine when we’re talking about produce, but I don’t care if my meat is local. I can’t get excited about it.
This was a worthwhile investment of my time. I’m going to have to track down the books – there are yearlong wait lists at the libraries here so I might have to buckle and buy them. Meanwhile, enjoy the video. It’s entertaining and really very interesting. It’s also behind the cut. 
Posted by Bruce Anderson 
