Eat real food

I can probably earn more in an hour of writing or even teaching than I could save in a whole week of cooking. Specialization is undeniably a powerful social and economic force. And yet it is also debilitating. It breeds helplessness, dependence, and ignorance and, eventually, it undermines any sense of responsibility.

~ Michael Pollan

This week I saw a news headline that concerns me. A well-known weight loss company that had struggled to remain profitable during the pandemic, has made a strategic acquisition to provide their clients with access to doctors that can prescribe weight loss drugs.

Just a quick scan through the drug product monographs and adverse event records, which most people do not think of doing, confirms my need to caution.

I realize that there are people who are desperate to lose weight, people who have recently been shamed and blamed for their increased vulnerability to infection, and who have tried every dietary and fitness trend, yet failed to accomplish sustainable results.

In a world where many are influenced by mainstream news, brought to you by habitual offenders, people have come to believe in better living through chemistry. We need a quick fix - a pill for every ill.

The pharmaceutical industry wants you to think you are a victim of your genes and need medication for life. But, there is no magic pill for sustainable weight management.

If public health organizations focused on cleaning up our food supply, we would rely less on fierce pharma, for whom there is no profit in finding a cure. For them, managing symptoms and creating dependence on their products are much more lucrative.

Food Rules

When you cook, you get to shop. You get to vote if you want the pastured raised pork or the organic grain. You can get to help produce your agricultural system, and you give that up when you outsource your cooking. You become dependent on what's offered - and that's a shame.

~ Michael Pollan

According to award-winning author, journalist and food and botany expert, Michael Pollan, what we see in the supermarket is not real food. It's what he calls edible, food-like substances.

Today, we are over-fed and under-nourished. Many have lost the ability to access stored fuel, relying on fast food to function.

Real food is composed of ingredients that were naturally available in our local environment hundreds of years ago.

To access real food more people have started growing their own or sourcing from farmers who are raising animals conscientiously, saving seeds, replenishing the soil and avoiding hazardous herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers.

The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.

~ Michael Pollan

To make more informed decisions about what to eat, check out localhravest.org, EWG.org, Yuka, and Michael Pollan's excellent books.

Don’t wait for a medical emergency to start eating better.