Food For Thought

Oh I just crack myself up sometimes. Get it?! Pun INTENDED. So I was asked what was on my reading list this year, and "The Omnivore's Dilemma" has been lingering on that list for quite a while, but it's general thickness seemed to keep deterring me as I tend to have A.D.D. when it comes to thick books [which I sure better get over A.S.A.P. if I'm pursuing the P.H.D.]. Anywho, I cracked that sucker open the other day and let me tell you, it is an interesting read if you need something to tickle and stimulate your brain cells. Don't read it if you do not want to change your diet. In fact, spoiler alert: don't read THIS blog if you don't want to change the way you eat. The Omnivore's Dilemma is basically this idea that human beings get the chance to actually PICK their diet. Carnivores eat meat--a little limited choice wise. Koala bears [herbivores] eat eucalyptus leaves. If it doesn't taste like a eucalyptus leaf, they don't eat it. But us--we can eat both--and so we are faced with the responsibility of choosing what it is exactly we eat. Well, it turns out that given several governmental policies and changes in history and, of course our beloved capitalism we are choosing to eat a whole hell of a lot of corn. That sh** is in EVERYTHING. To quote Michael Pollan, the author, we are "walking corn chips with legs." Corn is in our meat. It's in Coca Cola. It's in most processed foods. It's even in the stuff that makes magazines glossy. Wowzas. I can't get into all the reasons that this is detrimental to us [that's why you have to read the book], but I WILL tell you that I'm trying to cut out the corn in my diet. I had gone to Trader Joe's yesterday, which was great because I love that store, and I had been looking for not a ton of processed foods, you know, just to be conscious of what I am putting in my body. And even though I was conscious of this while walking through the store, I STILL ended up with 3 or 4 items that had, you guessed it...CORN. Blech. I suppose that my body being inundated with corn just can't be healthy and really grosses me out, so I'm going to try to stay away from it. This works in my favor health wise, because just yesterday I saw some Skittles that I would normally snack on which have zero nutritional value and are well...fake. But, given my knowledge of corn and what was in them, I just imagined little mini ears of corn which let me tell you was enough to deter me.

As a birthday present to me, Oprah decided to interview Michael Pollan, the author of the book. She's so thoughtful. Well, thoughtful to rerun that program on my birthday. Thanks Oprah, especially for putting yourself out there after that whole beef law suit--that was a little risky, but you know what, you did it.