Hi! How’s your week going? Mine is A-okay except I have call-in jury duty and I’ve dodged the bullet all week. I have a feeling I’ll have to go in tomorrow.
I did not let myself run this morning since I take 2 days off of running a week 96% of the time. Instead I took a lil walk. It was nice 
Food has been the usual suspects – eggs, tortillas, trail mix. I’m going to start doing more full days of eats again since people ask me about my diet. Hello, it’s usually the same but if you want to see it I’m enough of a narcissist to make that happen.
Last night I made an individual serving of Muddy Buddy mix and it may be the smartest thing I’ve ever done! I would eat the whole batch if I made it, so I’m happy to get my chocolate fix and not overdo it.
Oh, and I may or may not have eaten 4 Chobani yogurts yesterday. The company sent me the new flavors to try and I had to see what they were. They put stickers over the flavors so I didn’t know what they were. Want to try them too? I might have a giveaway coming soon!
Food Tank – Books You Must Read
The Food Tank put together a complete list of “13 books on the food system that could save the environment”. <- They’re not messing around.
I normally wouldn’t copy so much info from another site, but I think their priority is getting the word out on these resources so here it is… please check these books out!
1. Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan takes back the “single most important thing [to] do as a family to improve our health and well-being”: cooking. A poetic exploration of the beauty and simplicity of preparing food, this book will help readers get off the couch and into the kitchen.
2. VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good by Mark Bittman
Mark Bittman delves into the benefits – to the environment, to personal health, and to the economy – of reducing meat consumption. Without forbidding or condemning meat, this is a great book for the environmentally-conscious omnivore.
3. Bet the Farm: How Food Stopped Being Food by Frederick Kaufman
Bet the Farm starts with an unnerving statistic: in 2008, “farmers produced more grain than ever, enough to feed twice as many people as were on Earth. In the same year… a billion people went hungry.” Kaufman delves into the problems with our food system and uncovers the financial underpinnings that motivate this dysfunctional system.
4. Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America by Wenonah Hauter
A farmer from Virginia and an advocate for healthy eating, Hauter explores the “corporate, scientific, industrial, and political” aspects of our food system in an effort to understand the problems with mainstream production and distribution systems, and how to fix them in order to incorporate healthy, mindful eating.
5. Behind the Kitchen Door by Saru Jayaraman
Exploring the food system from a different angle, Jayaraman points to the deeply troubling labor practices that exist in the food industry. With personal stories and interviews, Jayaraman unveils the low wages and grueling positions that farm and kitchen workers endure.
6. The Last Hunger Season: A Year In An African Farm Community On The Brink Of Change by Roger Thurow
Thurow spent a year with four women smallholder farmers in western Kenya to document their struggles in supporting and feeding themselves and their families. He evaluates the extent to which the work of initiatives like the One Acre Fund can help these farmers pull themselves up and defeat hunger and poverty.
7. American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half Its Food (And What We Can Do About It) by Jonathan Bloom
Focusing on food waste in the United States, this book takes the issue beyond big farms and corporations to a very personal level. A great introduction to the ways that our own actions are impacting the food system, and what we can do about it.
8. The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities by Peter Ladner
According to the World Health Organization, more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities. The Urban Food Revolution looks at the ways in which urban food systems need to change in order to become healthier and more sustainable
9. Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It by Anna Lappe
Anna Lappe’s Diet for a Hot Planet outlines the ways in which the current food system contributes to climate change, the barriers to a true reform, and what consumers can do to provoke change.
10. WASTE: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart
Uncovering waste in production and processing, the role of supermarkets in passing on wastefulness to suppliers and consumers, and consumers’ wasteful practices at home, Stuart’s book explores the many pathways of waste that exist in our food system. Even better, his book provides examples of countries where the food system is working, and offers tips on reducing and reusing our food.
11. The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! edited by Carleen Madigan
The Backyard Homestead tells would-be farmers how to farm on just a quarter of an acre.
12. The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lover’s Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World by Andy Sharpless
Sharpless argues that seafood will be the best source of sustainable protein for a rapidly growing global population. And he highlights the importance of protecting the health and biodiversity of wild fish populations.
13. The Essential Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter and Willow Rosenthal
For those without a backyard, the Essential Urban Farmer is the essential tutorial to begin growing food in cities.
by Tess Antrim-Cashin
I have heard a lot about several of these books, but sadly I have not read any of them. I’m going to try and read them all by the end of the year! I think it’s important to be well informed, even if I don’t plan on being vegan until 6pm or turning into an urban farmer… we’ll see.
Reunite the River
During my visit with Silk I learned that the company is a part of “Change the Course” a project that educates the public on freshwater issues. The company is challenging people to pledge to reduce their freshwater footprint at www.ReuniteTheRiver.com <- you can pledge there.
Silk commissioned famous 3D street artist Kurt Wenner to create this piece in Chicago to raise some buzz around the cause. Super cool, right!
(image source : The RedEye)
Question: Have you read any of those books? Thoughts?
I’ve heard a lot about the whole “eating vegan before 6:00 thing”. That’s a really interesting concept and I’d be interested to see the reasoning behind it.
Also, that muddy buddy idea (or puppy chow, which is what I’ve always called it) is genius! Although I seriously doubt that “puppy chow + single serving” will ever be used in the same sentence when I’m around. That stuff is dangerous.
Love Chobani! My fave is the pear but I don’t see it often. The books on urban farming look interesting. I have been thinking a lot lately about growing a garden with the kids.
So true! I don’t see that Pear that often. My fave if pineapple 🙂
I’m excited for the chobani giveaway! 🙂
I’m putting a bunch of these in my wish list on Amazon right now!
I haven’t read any of the books on your list and don’t plan to in the near future, as I’m finishing up the last 6 months of my law degree and then bar prep.
As for the freshwater footprint……home builders should be the ones targeted for this in California. When it takes 5 min of running water to get it hot, you know that the pipes aren’t properly insulated. For Ca that should be home building 101, but it’s cheaper to leave the pipes uninsulated. In addition, Ca homes put a forced hot air heater in the attic and put the vent registers near the ceiling line. Hot air rises, duh!
An individual serving of muddy buddy mix is a great idea! I always end up eating way too much.
I’m assuming two of those flavors are lime and coconut and if that is the case I MUST TRY THOSE! I’m Chobani obsessed and those are two flavors I’ve been dying to see. I’ll be keeping my eye out for a giveaway 🙂
Honestly Michael Pollan makes me so angry. I feel like some discussions about the food system COMPLETELY ignore practical, realistic, effective solutions to under-served and/or poor/ whatever you want to call it people. It’s not enough to put in a community garden or a food share in a city, we need to test lots of different ideas and see what works. There is also an inherent racist bias in educated white people telling poor black/ Latino people what to do. We can try and ignore it, which won’t work.
Ok rant over. I’m in a sustainability program for school and i just get so frustrated with the same arguments over and over. I’ve had enough of Michael Pollan, thanks.
But, this list looks like it has some great authors and a wide variety of viewpoints and ideas! I’m definitely going to check out some of them.
Wow, those books all sound great!! I still need to finish the run I’m currently working on. AND the Chobani looks so good, I have GOT to buy some already and see what all this hype is about!
Never read any of these, but if you like that kind of book you should check out Marion Nestle. I heard her speak last night, and she has some great stuff!
I haven’t read any of those books, but I really need something good to read this summer. Thank you for the great suggestions!
Embarrassed to say none although I’ve thought about picking up Mark Bittman’s book.
The World Peace Diet is quite an eye opener…very interesting!
I loveee Chobani! Apple cinnamon has been my favorite but I am hoping for more delicious flavors!
I love walking through the park on my non-run days. My pups loves it as well!
Thanks for the food links! I eat as healthy and whole as possible, without over devoting my time/life to food prep and gardening…I do not garden 😉 I have FRIENDS that garden! And luckily live in a agricultural area = tons of great farmers markets.
MUST try the new Chobani flavors…MUST! 😉
I want him to do a 3D painting of Ariel’s treasure cavern in my bedroom. I could totally afford to commission that myself, right? And it wouldn’t be weird to do that, either. Totally normal. haha If I ever won the lottery, I would blow it on some amazing stuff.
I hope the brown lid one is coconut. 😀
That street art is amazing!! Making single servings of dessert food has to be the smartest thing ever. I cannot handle full batches… sigh, when does self control happen?!?! I keep waiting, sooooo patiently.
Thanks for sharing these books. I’m always looking for new things to add to the kindle!
I haven’t read any, but they’re pretty much all on my list. Read the zero waste family, too! Seriously changed my life.
I just started reading Cooked. I got it from my local public library. I’ll have to check some of the others out as well. Good list. Thanks for sharing.