Fiasco

Have any of you read, or heard of this book entitled "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq"? It's by Thomas E. Ricks, a reporter for The Washington Post who speaks out against the war.

My mother-in-law, Debi mentioned it in conversation the other day. It was recommended to her by Oregon's Republican Senator, Gordon Smith (Debi co-chaired his Southern Oregon campaign a few years ago). Sen. Smith is a Republican who has taken the unpopular (within his party) stance of opposing the war in Iraq . He told Debi that this book, "Fiasco" helped him form his current opinion on this war.

I started reading it online, but could only get so far. It seems like an interesting read.

Food for Thought

I finished reading "In Defense of Food" as well as another book entitled "Holy Cows and Hog Heaven" by Joel Salatin which also focuses on the benefits of purchasing and consuming whole foods. Salatin is a farmer who has practiced small scale, organic farming for many years and adamantly endorses it and it's benefits on society. I think both Salatin and Pollan have converted me to the idea of buying local, organically produced produce - it's definitely not a hard thing to do here in Southern Oregon. I'm interested to find out from you your thoughts on this - do any of you frequent local farmers markets? If so, why (what are your personal reasons for doing so) and for how long have you been doing it? Do you mind forking out the extra $?
Let me know what you think.

Am I orthorexic?

So... I just finished up the introduction to another Michael Pollan book: In Defense of Food. In it, he briefly describes what he believes to be the downfall and almost extinction of food. He claims that back in the day, our diet (the food we ate) was dictated primarily by culture and tradition. In other words: we ate what our momma gave us - there weren't any nutritional guidelines on the back of the milk cartons she bought from the corner store (there weren't any growth hormone surprises in them either for that matter). He claims that we were healthier back then and reaped not only the biological rewards but also the cultural ones - we enjoyed eating for eating's sake and had a closer connection to our food and the land from which it came. It had been this way for countless generations.
Our contemporary situation, he claims is a world away from this. The "food" we now purchase in the supermarket has been through countless stages of processing, during which it's original state is drastically altered, turning out something that might resemble its original condition, but in actuality is far from it. One of his main points of concern is that during these processes, additional nutrients are added to the edible's make up - the problem being that these additional nutrients are dictated by nutritionists and scientists who's research and findings are flawed and continually changing. Not only that, but food has become a huge industry achieving billions of US dollars for those involved, changing the way that we manufacture (grow, process, distribute) and perceive it: Our food has been industrialized! He aptly names the result of this food mutilation as the "Western diet" stating that wherever this diet migrates, diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and the like are hot on its tale.
Now, this idea that Pollan promotes: the notion of returning to "the good 'ol days" of food, might seem like a highly romanticized one (one that is actually becoming easier and easier to do with the recent push for organic, sustainable local produce). However, he makes a good point by pointing out that the state of our health in the west, when compared to our well being not even a generation ago, is poor - which is kind of funny when you think about the push for "healthy" eating and good nutrition that we westerners have been experiencing over the past couple of decades.
Which brings me to my title question "Am I orthorexic?" Orthorexia: a condition in which people have an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. What do you think, do we?

Will You Join Me?

Since graduating from College a couple of years ago, I’ve grown to miss the classroom. It provided for me a place of education - a space in which learning and learned minds alike could formulate and verbalize thoughts and ideas. It is to this academic arena that I owe an eternal debt of gratitude. It provided me with an environment in which I was able to develop a great deal of my thought processes and current perspectives on the world. This blog is an attempt to find a similar space, all-be-it a virtual one in which I can share thoughts and ideas about topics ranging from politics, to health, to current news with anyone who is willing to listen and comment.

I am not an expert on anything (just ask my wife), and I don’t claim to be. Consequently there is a very good chance that a number of my postings will contain inaccuracies, and may be in need of some correction – hence you and the intention of this venture! Please feel free to join in on any discussion that takes place here and share your insights into any given topic. The purpose of this blog is not to find an absolute answer to questions raised or thoughts posted, but rather to share viewpoints and ideas in the pursuit of further enlightenment and the development of personal opinions.

I’ve recently started reading a book entitled “A Place of my Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder” in which the author, Michael Pollan yearns for, and constructs a place (a one-roomed “cabin" in the woods behind his home) in which he can view his day-to-day life from an alternate perspective. In this space he is able to concentrate (or not) on reading, writing, daydreaming… essentially learning. My wish is, with the “construction” of this blog to create a Place of OUR Own in which we can aspire to similar ideals. What do you say… are you with me?

PS – Michael Pollan seems to have some worthwhile books out there dealing with the current state of food in the US. I’ve put a couple of them on hold at our local library. Anyone heard of him before or read any of his stuff? He also has some really interesting articles on his website.