Monday, June 30, 2008

The 11 best foods don't include corn

There's a new health blog on NYTimes.com, and the article today was "11 best foods you aren't eating." Swiss chard, sardines, pumpkin seeds. Nothing too surprising but it'll definitely make you happy there's a farmer's market/CSA near you.

Also, last night on BookTV I saw an interview with the fellow who directed "King Corn," a documentary recounting the adventures of two young men who rent an acre of farmland in Iowa, grow corn on it, and then follow that corn through its various processing possibilities, whether than be HFCS or fattening up feedlot cattle or whatever. It was like Michael Pollan on the screen, and in fact one of the experts extensively interviewed was...Michael Pollan. The film was on Independent Lens earlier in the year, I missed it but it is available through netflix, so now it's in my queue. Of course, I suppose you could buy it as well, I'm sure that would make the director happy! The website is attractive and has lots of good links, so go take a look.

And speaking of which, here's an interview with Pollan on Yale Environment360. Money quote:
The writer Wendell Berry was right a long time ago when he said the environmental crisis is a crisis of character. It’s really about how we live. The thought that we can swap out the fuel we’re putting in our cars to ethanol, and swap out the electricity to nuclear and everything else can stay the same, I think, is really a pipe dream. We’re going to have to change, and the beginning of knowing how to change is learning how to provide for yourself a little bit more.
If Pollan added a touch more values language to his writing, he could become this generation's Wendell Berry.

3 comments:

Mary said...

I'm a big fan of booktv myself--my family thinks I'm nutty to watch that! I love watching because they usually present a good mix of viewpoints on lots of subjects. I think we have a character crisis too--maybe I view it a little differenty but--I think we have lots of common ground in that too.

Mary said...

obtw... did you know corn has more fiber than just about any other veggie? ;)

rebmoti said...

Not when it's in the form of high fructose corn syrup. I have no problem with corn as a food. It's processed food that's the biggest issue, and corn is a big part of that.