I have just finished reading Michael Pollan's brilliant tome, In Defense of Food. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. It gives profound testimony to the notion that we are what we eat and we are eating some CRAP. He cites example after example of a population's health deteriorating only after being introduced to a diet of processed western foods.
While I enjoyed it and it definitely made me re-examine what I'm eating (and what my family is eating), some of its assertions were (forgive the pun) hard to swallow. Contained in its depths, is a narrative about how the modern American family has dinner: Mom makes (or nukes) something for herself, and dad and the kids rotate through the kitchen, nuking various prepared food items for themselves. Whole foods don't really exist, nor does the family dinner hour.
I did a quick, unscientific survey via Facebook. Most everyone said sure they eat the occasional box of mac 'n' cheese, but overall, it is the “norm” to make a home-cooked meal and sit down together as a family. I am relieved, but wonder if it is based on demographics. Because, as a couple of people responded, “Have you ever seen the crap other people put in their grocery carts??” I have seen this and done a silent head-shake too. I don't mean to be judgmental, but I kind of am …
And there is lots for someone else to be judgmental of my eating habits as well. Overall, I fancy I do pretty well. We eat dinner at home at least 4x/week (usually more) and those are usually very healthful meals and increasingly meatless in nature. Fast food is an occasional indulgence, usually when we are out, and things take too long and Tabby (or one of us) is about to melt-down if she doesn't get something to eat RIGHT.NOW. We do have some TV dinners lurking in the freezer. I tend to take them for lunch when dinner doesn't produce leftovers and there is nothing else I can slap together. But it is readily evident how infrequently this happens when I go to open one and the sucker is freezer-burned all to hell. You will also find an array of “snacks” in our pantry and I have a diet soda or two almost every day (despite knowing that it's not good for me and I really should stop).
For my own part, I am re-committing to healthy food. I am going to try my hardest to get the food-products (junk) out of my diet and our house, including making more things from scratch and using better meat, even if it means less.
Tabby had another big-girl milestone this past week … her first dentist appointment. I opted for a pediatric dentist since I had a bad first experience as a kid. Tabby has my overactive imagination and she’s had enough experience with doctors that she pretty much hates them and flips out when she even scents a doctor might be about. It really went pretty well and she professed to liking the dentist as we were leaving. We’ll be back in 6 months for another look-see.
