FOOD...FAT...NATION'S MADNESS!!
I WAS DRIVING HOME LATE LAST EVENING [THIS IS NOW SOME YEARS AGO] AND TURNED ON THE CBC RADIO. THEY WERE INTERVIEWING SOMEONE I HAD NEVER HEARD ABOUT...MICHAEL POLLAN.
HE HAS WRITTEN 3 BOOKS AT LEAST ON "FOOD" AND JUST PLAIN "COOKING" AND "EATING."
THE TRUE STORY SOON CAME UP, AND HIS EXPLAINING IT JUST BLEW ME AWAY; KINDA FUNNY IF NOT SO SERIOUS A PROBLEM IT CAUSED.
THIS STORY IS JUST ONE SMALL PART OF THE PUZZLE AS TO OUR EATING AND THE PROBLEMS FROM “EDUCATED” PEOPLE.
THE STORY IS:
IN THE 1960s NORTH AMERICA [THE USA BEING THE MAIN CULPRIT] GOT ON THIS FAD THAT WE SHOULD PRODUCE MILK THAT WAS NOT FATTENING. SO YOU KNOW THE 2 PERCENT AND 1 PERCENT FAT MILK, THE SKIM MILK, AND GET PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE 3 AND 1/2 PERCENT FAT MILK.
NOW COWS DON'T PRODUCE SKIM MILK OR 1 PERCENT FAT MILK. HENCE BY THE 1960s WE HAD MACHINES THAT COULD PRODUCE THE LOWER FAT MILK.
THEN THE GOVERNMENT[S] SAID, "WELL WE SHOULD NOT THROW AWAY ALL THIS NICE NATURAL [BEFORE COWS WERE SHOT FULL OF THIS AND THAT DRUG] GOOD FAT THAT WE HAVE EXTRACTED FROM THE MILK; SO LET'S MAKE CHEESE OUT OF IT, AND WE'LL PUT ADS OUT TO GET PEOPLE EATING MORE CHEESE."
AND SO THE ADS CAME AND SURE ENOUGH PEOPLE STARTED TO BUY AND EAT MORE CHEESE.
BUT YOU CAN ONLY EAT SO MUCH CHEESE; THE MARKET BECAME SATURATED; THEY STILL HAD THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF CHEESE LEFT. SO WHAT DID THEY DO? THE GOVERNMENT SAID, WELL IT'S PERFECTLY GOOD CHEESE, SO WE'LL STORE IT IN CAVES IN ..... [HE GAVE THE STATE BUT I'VE FORGOTTEN WHICH ONE]. THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF CHEESE WERE STORED IN THESE CAVES. OVER TIME THE CHEESE WAS BEGINNING TO GO BAD. THE REAGAN GOVERNMENT WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
WHAT SHALL WE DO, WAS THE QUESTION, DON'T WANT TO SEE ALL THIS GOOD CHEESE JUST ROT AWAY.
AH, THEY SAID, WE WILL USE THIS CHEESE TO PUT ON THE TOP OF 4 OR 5 MORE PIZZA THAN BEFORE, TO SELL IN THE STORES; MORE OVER THEY ADDED THIS CHEESE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PIZZA CRUSTS; INTO THINGS YOU CANNOT SEE, HIDDEN IN THERE THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT'S THERE.
BRILLIANT IDEA THEY THOUGHT, NO THROWING OUT THIS CHEESE STORED AWAY IN THE CAVES.
WHAT WAS THE END RESULT?
PEOPLE BEGAN TO GET FATTER THAN IF THEY HAD STAYED WITH DOING NOTHING ABOUT 3 AND 1/2 FAT MILK, AND HAD LET THE PEOPLE JUST CONTINUING TO DRINK WHOLE COW'S MILK.
END OF STORY.
NOW YOU TALK ABOUT SILLY, CRAZY, STUPID ..... ONE SMALL AREA OF SO CALLED “EDUCATED” PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT.
YES THIS IS A TRUE STORY AND FACT. READ IT AGAIN. HARD TO BELIEVE SOME SO-CALLED "EDUCATED" [SOME WITH PhD OR WHATEVER CERTIFICATE FROM HIGH EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES HANGING ON THE WALL] PEOPLE DEVISED THIS WONDERFUL PLAN TO SAVE THE CAVE CHEESE, WHILE HELPING [MANY OTHER THINGS ALSO OF COURSE] TO MAKE US FAT AND EVEN OBESE.
IN THIS INTERVIEW MICHAEL POLLAN HAD MUCH MORE TO SAY, BUT THIS STORY ABOUT THE MILK AND THE CHEESE.....JUST CHEESED ME OFF [PUN INTENDED]; I WANTED TO LAUGH, BUT IT WAS DISGUSTINGLY SERIOUS; I JUST SHOOK MY HEAD, SHOOK MY HEAD, AND REALIZED ONE VERY GOOD EXAMPLE OF “EDUCATED” PEOPLE HAVING SO CALLED BRILLIANT IDEAS.
I JUST CAME FROM BUYING MICHAEL POLLAN'S BOOK "OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA" ABOUT THE FOOD INDUSTRY [THIS WAS BACK SOME YEARS].
POLLAN DID TALK ALSO ABOUT THE LESS AND LESS TIME THAT IS SPENT IN THE HOMES OF FAMILIES, IN THE KITCHEN, MAKING HOME-MADE MEALS. IN THE 1960s HE SAYS IN A FAMILY HOME THERE WAS ON AVERAGE TWO HOURS PER DAY SPENT IN THE KITCHEN. TODAY THAT HAS DROPPED TO 27 MINUTES A DAY. AS HE SAID, HOME MADE MEALS ARE JUST KNOWN, OR WAS KNOWN, TO BE WAY MORE HEALTHY THAN OUTSIDE MEALS.
WHAT TOOK PLACE? HE EXPLAINED THAT AS MORE AND MORE FAMILIES BECAME A HUSBAND/FATHER AND WIFE/MOTHER WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME, PEOPLE/FAMILIES SPENT LESS TIME IN THE KITCHEN. THEN IT WAS ALSO THE TIME OF "WOMEN'S LIB" MOVEMENT; NOW THE ARGUMENT BETWEEN THE SEXES WAS WHO SHOULD DO WHAT IN THE HOME.
POLLAN WENT ON TO EXPLAIN THAT THE FOOD INDUSTRY STEPPED IN AND SAID, "OH STOP THE ARGUMENT; WE'LL FIX IT; WE'LL MAKE 'READY TO GO MEALS.'" THE MICROWAVE WAS NOW AFFORDABLE BY JUST ABOUT EVERY HOME, SO IN STEPPED THE FAST FOOD MICROWAVE MEAL.
POLLAN POINTED OUT THAT TODAY 50 PERCENT OF FAST FOOD EATING IS FAST FOOD AT HOME.
IT ALL ADDS UP TO AN UN-HEALTHIER DIET IN THE HOMES OF THE AVERAGE CITIZEN; SO ALL THAT MAKES UP PART OF THE OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE WESTERN WORLD LIVING.
A FEW OF THE ENDORSEMENT STATEMENTS FOR MICHAEL POLLAN'S BOOK "OMNIVORE'S DILEMA" :---
"AN EATER'S MANIFESTO ... POLLAN'S CAUSE IS JUST, HIS THINKING IS CLEAR, AND HIS WRITING IS COMPELLING. BE CAREFUL OF YOUR DINNER" [THE WASHINGTON POST]
"OUTSTANDING ... A WIDE-RANGING INVITATION TO THINK THROUGH THE MORAL RAMIFICATIONS OF OUR EATING HABITS" [THE NEW YORKER]
"THE BRILLIANT, EYE-OPENING ACCOUNT OF HOW WE PRODUCE, MARKET, AND AGONIZE OVER WHAT WE EAT. IF YOU EVER THOUGHT 'WHAT'S FOR DINNER' WAS A SIMPLE QUESTION, YOU'LL CHANGE YOUR MIND AFTER READING POLLAN'S SEARING INDICTMENT OF TODAY'S FOOD INDUSTRY" [THE SEATTLE TIMES].
AH MAYBE WITH THE COVID19 VIRUS KEEPING US AT HOME MORE, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, WE CAN GET BACK TO HOME COOKING LIKE IT USED TO BE!
THERE YOU GO—— SOMETHING TO OCCUPY YOUR MORE TIME AT HOME!
..........
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