101 in 1001: the June book giveaway!

If there’s one thing that has had a huge impact on our behaviour, our health and our economy in modern times, it’s food.  All sorts of food.  We don’t just consume the stuff that we grow – we eat stuff manufactured in laboratories, too.  It’s food developed by chemists that rule the supermarkets and end up in our fridges, freezers and cupboards.   The food industry is meeting the demand of our fast-paced lifestyle.  To them, they’re just giving us what we want: more time (though one could argue that we’re not saving time by microwaving a meal, we’re spending more time at the office instead).  So we microwave and order in and buy stuff because it’s cheap and then we look in the mirror.  And we see curves that we don’t like and we buy exercise equipment that we use only a few times.  And then we start complaining of aches and pains and infections, so we create a health care system that treats rather than prevents.  We eat because it’s easier than learning how to cope with emotions, with suffering and with pain.  The food industry knows this.  Deep inside, we know it too.  What’s sad is that this has only really been going on for a few decades. It’s a modern trend that’s just going to get worse if we don’t make better choices for ourselves.

The generational differences are obvious when you think about what our grandparents used to eat.  There were no frozen pizzas or microwave meals or Nutrigrain bars in my grandparents’ house.  Even if these things were all much easier to prepare or required no preparation at all, they knew better.  They also worked as farmers so that might have played a role in their choices.  I’ve found it much more appealing to eat vegetables now that I grow them on my balcony.  I see them evolve, I know where they came from.  It’s exciting.  Knowing the story of a cucumber or a tomato makes it that much more enjoyable to eat, even you bought it at a supermarket.

And then there’s this obsession with vitamins.  Unless you have a condition that limits your absorption of certain vitamins and minerals, you can get everything you need from a balanced diet.  We’re making people rich because we don’t take the time to understand how our bodies work and how to give them the right kind of fuel.

So, this month, I’m giving away a copy of “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual” by Michael Pollan.

I’m giving away this book because it’s so simple but so important.  I think there’s a food revolution happening but it’s not big enough yet.  I like hearing that food menus are changing in schools and that people are growing their vegetables, even in urban spaces.  It’s fabulous that cooperative gardening is becoming more popular and that trans-fats are being eliminated from so many products.  Great.  Awesome.  But let’s not lose that momentum.  In fact, let’s just be simple about it.  Why fight trans-fats when you can just avoid the types of products that would have trans-fats in them?

I read this book in about an hour and a half.  It’s small, it’s an easy read.  Each page has one rule about food.  After reading it, you will always scan the list of ingredients of things that you are considering buying.  You will buy more fruits, more veggies, more nuts instead of meat.  You’ll be healthier.

Keep in mind, this is a book about making eating a simple process by making intelligent decisions.  It’s not a diet book.  You can still eat sweets, but it will change what kind of sweets you buy.  After reading this, I threw out my box of Nutrigrain bars (you should read the list of ingredients on that!) and bought gluten-free, homemade cookies at the market using ingredients that all sounded familiar.

A few example rules:  ”Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce”; “Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry”; “Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored”; “Pay more, eat less”; “Eat wild food when you can”; “Eat your colors” (I love this rule, and now I organize my fridge by colour… yellow, orange, red, green, purple, white, etc.)

Of course, there’s always room for enjoyment of foods that aren’t good for us.  I’ll have the occasional Timmie’s Iced cap without thinking twice – once a month instead of once a day.  Most of all, I’ll enjoy it… slowly.  As Pollan writes for rule #49, “Eat slowly.  Eat slowly enough to savor your food: you’ll need less of it to feel satisfied.  If it is a food experience rather than mere calories you’re after, the slower you eat, the more of an experience you will have.”

I’m now reading his other book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” which tells us more about the process of food – from farm to factory to supermarket to dinner table.  I highly recommend it.

So, here are my rules if you want to win a copy of “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual” by Michael Pollan:

To enter:

• Leave a comment, any comment, on this article.  If you’re not sure what to say, why don’t you tell me about your experience with food – got any golden rules of your own?

OR

• Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/julie_laurin and send me a direct message saying “I want Food Rules!”

Deadline:  1:00 PM on June 30th, 2010

The winner will be contact via direct message on Twitter OR via email if a comment was left here.

Good luck to everyone!

Related posts:

1. 101 in 1001: May book giveaway!
2. 101 in 1001: the March book giveaway!
3. 101 in 1001: the April book giveaway!
4. 101 in 1001: Giveaway winner and another monthly challenge
5. 101 in 1001: the April round-up