Michael Pollan on Oprah

Ok so I just posted a couple days ago that if your cereal is changing the color of your milk you need to change your cereal. That saying was from Michael Pollan who is a journalist and a food expert. He was on Oprah yesterday and I was SOOO excited to watch my DVR today to see it. I thought the show was GREAT!

Oprah said these two phrases that I wanted to share:

“The low fat kick made everybody fatter!”

“We ALL have to start paying more attention to what we put in our bodies. Do you know where you food comes from, what’s been added, what’s been taken out, what happens before a label goes on it?”

If you have never seen the documentary Food, Inc, you should. I watched it on Hulu and I'm not sure if it's still on there but check it out. It is an eye opener for sure. This is the description, Food, Inc. lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing how our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation.

Oprah began with a food quiz:

What is the most consumed meat around the world: beef, pork, goat, or chicken? The answer is goat. She stressed that the question was ‘around the world.’

Which food travels the furthest: grapes, tomatoes, or mushrooms? The answer, which most of you probably knew, is grapes.

How much milk vs. soda do children today drink compared to ? years ago (I didn’t catch how many years ago): the same, twice as much soda, or twice as much milk? The answer is twice as much soda. No surprise there.

Americans take in 3 million pounds of antibiotics each year, how many do livestock take in: 8 million, 11.8 million, 14 million, or 28 million? The answer is 28 million pounds. THIS IS SCARY!!!!

Michael Pollan stressed these facts:

• “Yes, we need to acknowledge the achievements of making food cheaper, but we also need to acknowledge that there is a cost to this.”
• “A lot of the food in a supermarket is not really food and does not deserve to be dignified with that label. It is an ‘edible food-like substance’.”
• “In other parts of the world there are populations eating a variety of different types of traditional diets who are not suffering from heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It is not about counting grams of fat or carbs, or how much meat or fish you eat. It’s about whole foods and minimally processed plants, animals and fungi that our grandmothers ate.”
• “Avoid food products that a 3rd grader cannot pronounce. It’s not real food.”
• “Only eat food that will eventually rot.” Oprah asked, “But I thought everything rots?!” He said he knows of these little cakes stuffed with cream, golden in color that come in cellophane bags. “Two years after I got it, it was as soft and spongy as the day I bought it. Food is alive and it should die.”
• “Do you want to pay now for groceries or pay for a doctor later? When I was a kid, we spent 18% of our income on food and 5% on healthcare. Now we spend 9% on food, and 17% on healthcare.”
• “The low-fat kick made everybody fatter! People thought fat was the only thing that could make you fat. So they took the fat out and put more sugar in. A 99% fat-free yogurt has more calories than full fat because of the sugar.”
• “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. Fries, cakes, and other baked goods are kind of a pain. Don’t deprive yourself of any pleasures, but earn them by making them at home.”
• Oprah asked, “What do you eat?!” He replied, “I cook a lot, I eat real food, cooking is the only way to take back our diet from corporations who want to cook for us. Corporations don’t cook that well, and they use too much salt and sugar. It’s not that hard, a little more time, a little more thoughtfulness, a little more money. I only buy pastured dairy, it has more beta carotene, omega 3’s, and other good stuff. I buy from farmers I know. I am picky about the meat I eat, I won’t eat feedlot meat. I eat grass-fed meat, it’s a very sustainable product. When cows are fed corn they grow faster but they also get sick, because cattle were evolved to eat grass. Eat meat that has itself eaten well.”
• Oprah: “We need a food revolution. Now people want corporations to cook for them because it all boils down to convenience.” Michael Pollan: “But if you know what it takes to make food that cheap, you lose your appetite.”
• Oprah: “But what about those that say, ‘We can’t afford to eat healthier.”Pollan: “It’s amazing that you can feed your family fast food cheaper than you can feed your family fresh produce. It’s because of our Federal Agriculture subsidy programs! We subsidize corn, soy, and wheat, but no fresh produce. We can get 1250 calories from $1 of processed food, but only 250 calories from $1 in the produce aisle. We’ve made it rational to eat badly. We need to change way we support farmers and encourage them to grow real food.”
• Oprah: “The consumer really is the biggest voice behind whether there will be real food or not.” Pollan: “This issue is very empowering, we get 3 votes a day. You don’t have to get everyone of them right, but if you get one right a day, buying sustainable food or food that’s humanely grown, whatever is important to you, as long as you vote with consciousness, things will change.”

My AH HA moment while watching this show was the fact that most Americans eat out at least 4X a week. I am guilty as charged. When I go through the drive through I've been thinking that if I get a grilled chicken salad or sandwhich I am eating clean. Well, it is the best possible choice on the menu but where do you think they are getting their meat from? Watch Food, Inc and I guarantee you won't want any meat at a drive thru again.