I’ve been slacking off quite a bit on the bike riding front just in time for the holidays. Oddly enough, I’ve been commuting by bike a bit more than usual, just not going on quite as many rides for fun on weekends. I’m not sure if the two are related.

I’ve picked up a few books by Michael Pollen that have got my brain pushed into new directions lately. Both “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” have got me to reassess my values on what is healthy. He speaks truths that the government seems to want to dance around. Eat more vegetables, less meat (though it doesn’t not encourage you to drop them), and eat less of everything.

These are pretty obvious on their face, but the sections that really changed my thought process on food were those that touched on the scientific reductionism on nutrients. For instance, science (and government policy around food) has long believed that you are able to reduce food down to its basics: fats, protein, carbs (and now vitamins along side them). It has long dismissed the way in which cultures have eaten and the combination of foods as part of the process. Pollen argues that food isn’t a series of numbers, it is a complex system that generations of people have both fine tuned and adapted their bodies to. You can’t reduce it to “I need 40 grams of fat today” without recongnizing both how you eat that fat and where the fat is coming from.

The French are the most obvious example of this. It is a culture built around butter and cream (god bless them). So why is it that they have such low rates of heart disease and are healthier than those on a Western Diet? To over generalize, they eat slower and take the time to savor foods.

In “Omnivore’s Dilemma”, Pollen spends time with each type of food production line, farm to plate. This includes Big Industrial (what you might find at a supermarket), Big Organic (what you might find at a Whole Foods), Pastoral (found at a farmer’s market), and the ultimate extreme, Hunting and Gathering.

I’m pretty familiar with the despicable practices that Big Industrial lays out so we can save a dollar a pound on ground beef, but I was pretty surprised to read about the terrible practices held by Big Organic. It seems that aside from the chemicals (not insignificant), a lot of the industry is pretty unsustainable and not all that different from Big Industrial.

The final section on hunting and gathering was pretty inspiring as well. Pollen prepared a five course meal strictly from items that he was able to forage or hunt, including wild boar and some pretty amazing sounding mushrooms. Probably needless to say, it was a multi-week process that wouldn’t necessarily be something we can all do on a regular basis. It got me wanting to forage though (and to a lesser extent, possibly give hunting another shot).

My friend Joby started a blog based on a course that he is taking with Earthwalk Northwest. He is learning a number of lost trades (to most people) like blacksmithing, foraging, and general survivalist skills. It is quite a good read for me. He put some serious time and money down for this, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit jealous.

This Sunday, Jane and I spent our first real amount of time and money at a farmer’s market. I’ve been through a few times, but I rarely have enough cash and almost never have a grocery list ready on hand. This time, we had a couple of staples that we knew that we wanted, and I planned on getting some fresh veggies for a stew or soup. I made sure to keep my options open just in case the pickings were slim.

To my surprise, the spread at the market was even better than the grocery store. I’m not sure if it is just the high fall returns or not, but I was really impressed with the selection. The prices were pretty well in line with what I’m used to spending at co-ops (read: a bit more than your local supermarket, but worth it to me). The meat was obviously a few dollars more because the farmers have much lower yields when farming sustainably by grass grassing and rotation. The general idea is to eat less meat anyways, so not a huge deal.

I feel like I’m getting on this boat a bit late, but I’m glad that I’m here. Sorry to bore you with my hippie lifestyle stories.

Some worthwhile shops and links for anyone else in the general Seattle area:
PCC Natural Markets – They pay their employees well, they pay the farmers fair rates, and they keep a close eye on where they purchase their foods (unlike Whole Foods, who will import from across the globe). Say hello to Norman in the Seward Park deli.
The Swinery – We finally have a good local meat market. The ladies were amazingly nice and let me sample pretty much everything in the shop. The prosciutto… amazing.
Seattle Farmer’s Markets – West Seattle and U District are weekends year round. No more excuses.
Metropolitan Market – Kind of a backup if I really need an ingredient. They have a pretty extensive cheese case.

Market > PCC > Metro > Safeway… at least for me.