Eating Well Is Political
Eating fresh foods grown locally and avoiding toxic processed foods is the biggest political action most people can take
I’m halfway through a book by NYT food journalist Mark Bittman: Animal, Vegetable, Junk.
Bittman starts the book by discussing how food influenced human evolution. He makes a strong case that the hunter-gatherer ancient lifestyle, which featured varied foods consumed at varied times of the year, created human capacities for creative thought as well as human health and physical capabilities. But, Bittman says, the drive for food has led to a present-day environmental, social, and for many people, personal health disaster.
From the jacket blurb (and true — in the book as well):
the frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments, from slavery and colonialism to famine and genocide — and to our current moment, wherein Big Food exacerbates climate change, plunders our planet, and sickens its people.
I’ve received my — disappointing — Zoe nutrition results and am following the personalized food recommendations that Zoe has to improve my microbiome. The most nutritious foods for me are very similar to the foods that Bittman and his colleagues like Michael Moss recommend…
