Big Freakin’ Hearts in Mah Eyes!!!

Just got word (thanks, Louella) that Michael Pollan is coming to Brown to give a lecture – and probably promote his new book “In Defense of Food,” which I am reading RIGHT NOW!

I’ll tell you: I love Michael Pollan so much that the news of his lecture almost made me pee (not too much, mostly water). This guy is the BEST!

[Pollan] writes: “As a general rule it’s a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound ‘whole-grain goodness’ to the rafters. Watch out for those health claims.”

Michael Pollan came into my life at exactly the right moment: I was just developing my own theories of “avoiding the barcode” because I started noticing that the ingredient lists were getting too complicated. In general, I feel like complicated things just aren’t worth my time or money, so I started crafting in the kitchen, developing my own ideas and my own recipes for healthful living.

Shortly after I had mostly cut the barco[r]de from my belly, I read a snippet on Dr. Weil’s website: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. Of course, I thought that was pretty cool… then I ran across it again: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants but this time it was on A Lucid Spoonful, a blog that muses over the cultural identity of food and the way we eat.

Then I saw a film trailer for King Corn, and I start doing a little research, and who comes up? Michael Pollan. Over and over again. So I check out Omnivore’s Dilemma and fall head over heels in love with Pollan. Aside from Justin, I think he’s the smartest man on earth.

Read it. Read them all! I’ll see you there!