Michael Pollan Has Changed My Life

A look into my "pantry" is a bit shocking these days. You won't find anything that wasn't in my great-grandmother's. No instant anything, only real food. A month ago I read Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma and I haven't been the same since. I finally understand all that went on with our food supply while I was a child and how it continues with Monsanto's ownership/patent of corn and soy seeds. I get why we are able to make almost anything from corn and soy beans. I understand what agribusiness has done to the word organic and that free range means only that there is a door that leads to the outside. I also understand that humans have attempted to change cows' digestive system from ruminants into grain eaters. It doesn't work. It's why they get sick and must be slaughtered at such young ages.

I am finally aware. There are some things that come into my life at the exact moment I am ready to act upon them. It turns out that Michael Pollan is one of those things. I have read 2 of his books, seen him on a couple talk shows, watched Food Inc and The No Impact Man all in the span of a couple months. It has all gelled together into a whole new way of looking at my food. There is a part of me that is ashamed that it has taken so long for me to become more knowledgeable about what goes in my body but as always, I embrace the change.

What does this mean for me? My kitchen has only real food and I am working hard on an attempt to eat locally (although I fudge on my coffee beans and will buy them from Mexico and Guatemala). This means most of my food shopping is done at the Farmer's Market. I am back to drinking real milk. I am off high fructose corn syrup and any sort of hydrogenated fat. I would say that I have become a label reader but most real food doesn't come with labels. My label reading is more about what is left in the pantry. I have torn out my lawn and planted food in its place. And I have never been more content with living authentically.

I am part of the Slow Food movement. The result is that I am completely present to the moment. The food I eat is a choice and I choose not to eat fast food of any sort. I am voting with my fork. I am much closer to my food sources than I have ever been before and I have a personal connection to everything I eat. I am committed to my weekly trip to the Farmer's Market.

I love watching how things are changing around me, how more people are buying locally and seasonally, the CSAs that have become a new way of shopping, more talk about grass fed animals, and more awareness of terms like organic, free range and vegetarian. Yes, Michael Pollan has changed my life and I couldn't be happier.