Pollan’s latest missive, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, is a 112-page attempt to distill chapters and chapters of research, guidance, advice and experience into an easy to read (and even easier to follow) instruction book of sorts – something less hefty than The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but meatier (excuse the pun) than the overly-simplified: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
I haven’t read the book yet (though it’s on my list right after I finish Let the Great World Spin), but excerpts from the book have been making their way around the water cooler of the internet, so I know what I’m in for, and I’m pretty excited to dig in.
The “rules” are based mostly on common sense – Pollan says “while most of the rules are backed by science, they are not framed in the vocabulary of science but rather culture” – and while it might seem silly to waste your time and money on common sense, I find it does actually help to see that kind of thing in black and white, on paper. It just helps reinforce the message.
Here are some of the rules:
#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.See? They make sense once they’re written out.
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.
#36 Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself (not good advice for those of us who were just gifted an ice cream maker).
#58 Do all your eating at a table.
But Pollan’s not the only one who can make rules for eating. Michelle Obama has some, I have some, and I’m sure you do, too. So what are they? Chime in right down there in the comments section and tell us what’s in your book!
image credit: tobybarnes/Creative Commons
The Local Food Hub is now working with the City of Charlottesville Public Schools and Albemarle County Public Schools to get more local, fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables into the hands of our children.
On Monday, August 31, the Local Food Hub made its first delivery of local fruit to Greer Elementary in Albemarle County, Virginia. This week’s delivery consisted of approximately 125 pounds of fresh peaches, 72 pints of fresh blackberries, and 72 ½ pints of fresh raspberries, in order to serve more than 530 children each of the two days they will serve the snack.
On Tuesday, September 1, the Local Food Hub made its first delivery of local fruit to three City of Charlottesville elementary schools: Clark, Johnson, and Jackson-Via. These three schools will receive approximately 375 pounds of fresh peaches and 450 pounds of ripe watermelon, which will serve over 800 children their morning snack.
The peaches and the berries come from Critzer Family Farm, in Afton, Virginia and were picked the morning of delivery - you don't get fresher than that! Critzer Family Farm has been an active farm and orchard for five generations. Offering some of the best “pick your own” strawberries in the spring and early summer, it’s apparent that having families on their farm is one of the most important factors in what they do.
Barry Wood of Nelson County grew the watermelon on his farm, Wood Ridge. His family has farmed in Nelson County for multiple generations. Barry has been farming successfully for almost 10 years, after moving back to his family homestead. With more than 10 acres planted, Barry grows delicious no-spray corn, galia melons, cantaloupe, watermelon and will have piles of huge pumpkins come late September.
Man oh man - are the fruits of summer here! We have so much amazing produce coming in the doors these days - it's incredible. We're working on getting this food out the door as fast as it comes in... As of today, August 3, you can find our produce at the Earlysville Market (formerly known as All Good Grocery), Feast!, Cavalier Produce, Hot Cakes Catering, and L's Burrito & Juice and many others later this week. Check out our website for the latest updates on who's got the goods. We're working on getting produce into Reid's Supermarket downtown, the Lovingston IGA Grocery, and some more retail outlets. We also make sure that a good amount of produce gets to our area's food banks & charitable organizations. Let us know where else you want to find our produce and we'll try to get it there!
Just some of the yumminess that's gracing our warehouse:
