| Sunday, June 22, 2008 |
| "Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants" |
I am a huge fan of food writer Michael Pollan. He's the only person I know that can make the sex life of corn plants riveting literature.
I just finished his latest book "In Defense of Food", and I think I'm going to embark on a little experiment this summer. I'm going to give vegetarianism a try. If you've read any of Pollan's books - you'll understand why. The rapidly increasing cost of corn for bio fuels is driving up the cost of all other foods. Corn prices are rising faster than oil prices. A lot faster. That, and our primary source of protein in this country, chicken and beef - were never meant to eat a corn based diet. Cows are ruminants - they are designed to eat grass, not antibiotic laced, hormone fueled, corn feed.
Now, I'm not gonna get all militaristic about this. This is a choice for health reasons, not ethical ones. Hell, I had some awesome BBQ ribs at a friend's cookout last night, and if you offer me some grilled chicken or steak - I'll be happy to take you up on that. But at home, for meals I prepare myself, I'm going to focus on whole grains, veggies, and pasta for a few months and see how that goes.
My mom gave me Mark Bittman's vegetarian bible "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" for Christmas, I have the Moosewoood Cookbook, and I have a couple of traditional Indian cookbooks that contain mostly vegetarian recipes in them. I'm also a big fan of the food blog "101 Cookbooks", a vegetarian weblog, and Heidi's recipes are just stunning for their creativity, flavor and downright prettiness. I will still enjoy fresh eggs, and organic milk and cheeses - I could not survive a cheese free diet, and the occasional strip of bacon for flavoring may come into play - because what is life without a good piece of bacon? But I think the good old days of a huge piece of protein surrounded by skimpy sides of a starch and vegetable are over. |
posted by Broadsheet @ 1:12 PM   |
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