"In Defense of Food" and simple cooking

I've often said that cooking is enjoyable. Taking time to focus on slicing, chopping, and preparing the food can be a very relaxing activity. Of course, I'm also guilty of ordering too many pizzas, eating burgers at McDonald's and even scoffing down a 7-Eleven burrito in the car. I tried some healthy(ish) cooking last night, complete with my Japanese apron (and of course a good glass of red wine!).



Cooking "real food" is definitely the healthier option, and the book I'm now reading, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), further substantiates this. It's actually a good read - Pollan, a journalist for the New York Times, writes clearly and with humour. He talks about "the American paradox"- Americans (and, by default, I'm assuming Canadians) are obsessed with healthy eating, yet they are the fattest, least healthy, nation. This is, Pollan asserts, a disease called orthorexia, which is "an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating". Pollan also makes a distinction between "real food" and "edible food-like substances". The 7-Eleven burrito would definitely fall into the latter category!

So what, according to Pollan, should we eat? Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Check out this talk (on YouTube) that he gave at Google. He pretty much summarizes the book, and you can get a sense of his style. It's about an hour long, including a question period.