New Feature: Thursday’s Real Food resources
Ed. Note: Today’s entry is a new feature that I’m introducing on Almost Fit. If you enjoy this site, please consider sharing it with your friends and subscribing. Thanks.
In the months since I’ve started writing this blog, it has become clear that many of us would love to eat real food, but these days its hard to even tell what real food is. Sad to say, packaging messaging on food products means next to nothing thanks to the industrial food production houses that now brand everything as Organic, or even worse, Natural (which literally has no meaning in terms of food quality).
With that in mind, I am going to start sharing the resources that I’ve found for eating real food. I’ve been addicted to books on the subject for quite some time now, and thought I would share with you some of the latest additions to our food library. I’m going to address the core books that I have read on the subject over the next few weeks including titles by Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food, Omnivore’s Dilemma), Nina Planck (Real Food), Will Clower (The Fat Fallacy, The French Don’t Diet Plan), Mirielle Guiliano (French Women Don’t Get Fat), and many others. I’ll also start sending out links on the subject, as the Web is full of great resources. But in the mean time I’d like to share a few new titles that I’m excited to get into.
The books in the photo arrived in the mail today, and I can’t wait to get past my current work deadline to really dig into them (believe it or not, I consider reading books like this a reward for working my day job).
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, is a well-known staple of information on eating real food, but up to this time I’ve been borrowing a copy from a friend (Thanks E.! — You can have your book back now!). It was definitely time to order our own copy. I can’t wait to mix flour into the binding of this book through use in the kitchen.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a new book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois that I’ve read good things about on Wise Bread in this article: Book Review: Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day. As many of my friends know, my standard joke about quitting my day job to pursue another passion often includes “baking artisan breads” as the retirement career of choice, in a dream world. I know its not all that glamorous (and quite frankly looks like a TON of early, early morning work, as a job), but it represents that “when I retire I’m gonna’ ” vision that we all have (or should have).
And finally, Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor and Katherine Whiteside is probably the one I’m most excited about. The description says, “From the owner of the famed Le Gamin restaurants, a guide to living as the French do, with simple elegance and effortless charm.” The book is beautiful, with recipes that sound incredible and descriptions of everyday things that enhance the flavor of life.
If you’re interested in purchasing a copy, please consider using my Amazon links, here, which will roll a couple of pennies my way (literally) if you decide to purchase them:
- Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living
- Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
I’m hoping to set up links to Powell’s Books soon as well, but for now here you go. I will give a full report on my impressions as I get to them.
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I’m going to have to google artisan bread now as I have no idea what it is.
healthranker.com Says: 17.04.08 at 4:08 pm
New Feature: Thursday’s Real Food resources | AlmostFit.com…
Excellent print and online resources for identifying real food, rather than the industrially produced faux foods that we are used to….
Thanks for providing these resources. Everyday I am constantly amazed at what I am learning about what really is in our food!
@Andrew: Don’t do it…even the knowledge of it can drop your metabolism…
@Heidi: I am amazed as well. I am currently glued to Nina Planck’s book - it is simply incredible, the things that we eat without realizing what’s been put into the foods we all accept as “healthy enough”. It truly is fascinating!
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[…] cup of coffee I was pointed to an excellent resource for figuring out what real food is. As I mentioned recently, I’ve found that sifting through the massive, slanted messaging that surrounds us to try to […]
Can you make artisan bread like this? In only 5 minutes? | AlmostFit.com Says: 07.05.08 at 3:31 pm
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Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going to check out those books on French cuisine that you mentioned. There’s something about France that absolutely captivates me! I’m dying to learn more about their cooking. It’s so great that you’ve actually been there! I was wondering, do they drink much milk there?
Sally Fallon’s book, “Nourishing Traditions” is an excellent one indeed. That book was responsible for turning my life around nutritionally. Ever since then my passion for seeking out real food has grown tremendously.
@DG: Joie de Vivre really is excellent, though I have been too busy in the last few weeks to really get into it. But even just flipping through I can already tell this is a book for the heart.
On France, I must say it was life changing to visit. I have never felt so connected with a place, for a variety of personal reasons, and for the obvious beauty. The milk question is a good one; They eat a lot of cheese of course, much of which is unpasteurized (and lo and behold - they are fine!), but I honestly am not sure on milk itself. Milk is a huge subject for me right now, which I’ll be exploring here on AlmostFit very soon.
Sally Fallon’s book is having the same effect on us. We have just signed up for a course with a local woman who teaches how to eat whole foods and locally farmed products on very little money - from the looks of it her method involves a lot of homemade foods rather than packaged store bought, and so forth. We’re really excited to take her course — I’ll report back on that too!
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