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In the past few years, as I’ve cultivated my love of eating into a full-blown love of food and fascination with how it effects our bodies and souls, I have done a lot of reading, an article here, a website there, that kind of thing. And in the scattered pages, I have gotten the impression that fish farming isn’t so great for us, the fish or the environment and that animals raised for meat probably aren’t treated that well and that commercial farming probably isn’t so ethical. But if there is one thing I am more than a foodie, it’s practical, so for a while now I’ve been telling my husband that someday, when we’re living the high life and have money to throw around, we’re switching completely to the more expensive organics and small-farm-raised, no hormone meats. Meanwhile, I continue to shop at my favorite mega-mart, buying boneless skinless chicken breasts by the value pack and choosing my cheap mealy tomato from the dozens of others that look exactly the same.
Well,
I can tell you, it is one thing to read a thousand-word Newsweek
article that suggests that organic farming is better for the earth and
a whole other thing to read a 280-page book the details why. Welcome to The Real Food Revival , a book about farming and ranching practices both big and small and their effect on our planet and our bodies.
I started reading this book with a pack of post-it flags to mark the important details, but by Isle 2 (as they call chapters) there were so many flags that I was afraid my book would take flight with the least breeze. That said, I’m going to try to give you my impression without this review turning into a novella.
So let’s start with the short list, things I didn’t like about this book. Okay, so there’s only one thing and it’s the old adage that ignorance is bliss. I was happily buying my convenience ingredients, eating asparagus in the dead of winter and pretending my flank steak was born in its cellophane package but no more. Now I know there are better ways to eat and shop and my conscious commands that I at least try.
Now on to what I liked: Sherri Brooks Vinton and Anna ClarkEspuelas educate, they don’t preach. As Vinton even says in the book, it’s not about making the perfect choices all the time, it’s about making better choices more of the time. They’re not trying to recruit new vegetarians, they’re providing information on more earth-friendly, body-friendly meat choices. Their suggestions are practical and doable: shop at a farmer’s market or independent grocery when possible, diversify your meat choices, read ingredient lists and above all, ask questions – about where the food came from and how it was raised or grown.
Since
reading this book, I have started the gradual process of becoming a
more conscious shopper: I have turned my occasional farmer’s market
visit into a weekly shopping spree. Here in
I’ve also started looking for recipes for unusual meats because, as Vinton and Espuelas point out, the demand for chicken, pork and beef is what spurs on the eco-disaster of industrial ranching. Coincidentally, Ted on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy just happened to grill up Tandori-Style Ostrich Breasts the other week, a meat that is both lean and produced locally. I’ll post an update once I have a chance to try it out.
I’m not planning on giving up my favorite mega-mart, where I know many of the people by name, but I’m down to once or twice a week, for pet food, ice cream and even a bunch of cilantro the other day. On a side note, though, I used to love how friendly grocery stores were: laughing with strangers I ran into isle after isle, sharing cooking tips and favorite products, a community that has faded with the rise of the harried over-scheduled lifestyle. It’s a community I have rediscovered in the isles of the curb market where recipes are again shared, smiles exchanged and a stranger in the parking lot jokingly asked if I would share my coffee as we passed.