Books: Food, Inc.

March 31, 2010 | Advertising,Books,Economics,Education,Ethics,Family,Food,Health,Journalism,MSM,Politics,PR,Research,Safety,School,U.S. government

I just finished reading Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food is Making us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer — And What You Can Do About it, edited by Karl Weber and compiled as a companion piece to the movie, which I also just watched. I actually watched the movie (by Robert Kenner) first, not realizing that was the correct order of things.

I’ve read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, watched King Corn: You Are What You Eat, a documentary by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, and read quite a bit on food, the food industry in the United States and food safety (or lack of it). Food, Inc., gathers much of the information out there and puts it all in one place.

In any case, if you eat, you might be interested in this book and film. The film was done first. The book contains information from people who weren’t in the film. Schlosser says the film and the book are not just about food. They’re also about threats to the First Amendment and the corrupting influence of centralized power.

Contributors include (listed in order they appear in the book)

• Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal from 2001 and the movie in 2006
• Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food
• Robert Kenner, director of this and other documentaries
• Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, producer of organic yogurt
• Humane Society of the United States
• Peter Pringle, a British investigative reporter and foreign correspondent
• Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association
• Robert Bryce
• Anna Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund
• Cool Foods Campaign
• Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers; Alexa Delwiche, who worked as a researcher for UFW; and Sheheryar Kaoosji, a research analyst for Change to Win
• Pesticide Action Network North America
• Muhammad Yunus
• FoodFirst Information and Action Network
• Michael Pollan
• American Community Gardening Association
• Joel Salatin
• Sustainable Table
• Marion Nestle
• Sherri White Nelson, Heifer International
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Preston Maring

I think the information provided by this book and film is very important, though not half as fun as reading Barbara Kingsolver’s take on food issues in her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I’m reading now. In fact, her book was written before Food, Inc., and I wondered, hey, did they read Kingsolver? Because if they didn’t, they should. But sure enough. She was listed in the “to learn more” section at the end of the book.

Critter, 2

March 30, 2010 | Iowa

Remember the critter in our barn, the one that turned out to be an ermine? Yeah, it didn’t make it. I was surprised at how small it was. I thought maybe it had a nest. But this one can’t be fully grown, can it?

Sign of Spring, 2

March 29, 2010 | Iowa,Spring

We saw these ducks cross the street, so we went back to see where they went. Not sure how far away from home they are.

Little pink (and green) birdhouses for you and me

Iowa,Spring

We had some birds trying to build a nest in my clothes-dryer vent, which we cleaned so it closed properly. Running the dryer also chased the birds away … for now. My husband asked my son what we should to to “get rid of all these birds.”

My son, ever the humanitarian, said, “Let’s build them some birdhouses.”

So a spring project was born.

Eggs

Family

Sign of Spring

March 27, 2010 | Iowa,Spring

I saw the first Winnebago on the road yesterday. It’s like seeing the first robin in these parts.

Knock knock

March 26, 2010 | Family

Who’s there?

Shut the door! I need my privacy!

Yes, we’ve reached that stage. There’s been chattering here and there lately about “privacy.” And one of my daughters walked in the bathroom this morning and closed the door. We were all done with the “getting ready” part of the day. She had already used the toilet, washed her hands, brushed her teeth, etc. I said, “Hey, whatcha doing?” She opened the door, looked at me, smiled and said, “Oh, I just need some privacy.” And she closed the door.

Even more shocking though? I was in the shower, and someone KNOCKED ON THE DOOR. I thought, “Oh, crap. Did the UPS guy make it all the way in here? He usually leaves the package on the back step or, at the most, inside the kitchen door. Why would he come in here? Oh, crap.” Yes. All that went through my head in .025 seconds.

Then the door opened.

“Mommy?”

Well, that’s not the UPS guy. (And if it is, I’m in Big Trouble.)

It was my other daughter. But you know what? She KNOCKED ON THE DOOR! Red Letter Day, y’all. Just in case you don’t remember how I never took showers, I now can take a shower and (sorta) have my privacy too.

Warning

March 24, 2010 | Iowa

This sign hangs in my local coffee shop.

Spring?

March 23, 2010 | Family,Iowa,Spring,Weather,Winter

We’re getting antsy. We are SO ready for spring. During spring break last week, we had a taste of it, then another shot of winter, then a touch of spring again. I hope we’re almost there.

The temperature was past 50 degrees on Thursday.

It made the beer taste even better. Remember my sun dogs? Yeah. This is my beer dog. Woof.

We had bikes.

And bubbles.

And flies. Don’t forget the flies. We opened the barn door, and they practically swarmed out of there.

We can see the snow fence again.

And the benches.

We were feeling pretty good. Then, bam. The next day we got snow. Boo.

But things looked better on the weekend. Temperatures were still low — in the 30s but creeping up to barely 40. But the sunshine was wonderful.

We had soccer.

And the start of flowers. Did you hear that? I think those are angels singing.

And follow the leader.

And swings and sunglasses.

And bikes.

Come on, spring. Can’t you see we love you? Pull up a chair and set a spell.

Post-Library

March 22, 2010 | Books

We’re done! It’s ready. We can use it. Yay!

Going through my books, many of which have been in boxes for years now, is like seeing old friends again. I have always turned to books, and I’ve been collecting them for a few decades now. I’ve hauled them halfway around the world and back.

When we moved to Norway, I sold my car, motorcycle, furniture, collections of trinkets, our house. But I took my books. I think I’ll probably be buried with books. They help tell the story of my life. They help me remember what I’ve been through and what I’ve learned along the way. I have books from places we’ve visited and lived. I laughed when I ran across Dealing with People You Can’t Stand. I should have read that one more than once. But I almost never read a book more than once (not counting children’s books). I’ve read 1984 and Catcher in the Rye twice. That’s it. Maybe once I turn 70 I’ll start reading everything I’ve read again. Until then, I have too many I want to read every day. I always feel like I’m running behind.

I have Kurt Vonnegut to thank for getting me to read authors who are alive. There for a while, I was trying to catch up with authors who kept dying. There would be another obituary, and I’d say, dangit! I haven’t read her/his book yet. So that would be the next book I’d read. And so on until I was only reading dead authors. It was when Vonnegut came to Tallahassee when I was living there that changed all that. I didn’t get to see him (which I still hugely regret), but the thing is I wanted to. I was like George Bailey, “I want to read live authors again!”

Some of the most memorabe gifts I ever got were books. A teacher gave me his boxed set of J. R. R. Tolkien books when he learned what they meant to me. I have yet to read those books myself, but I remember hearing the stories from my father. I had him for a teacher in the fifth and sixth grades, and he read those stories to his students, a little bit at a time. A friend and colleague gave me Mystery Train by Greil Marcus. As I read the book, he’d ask who I was reading about. Then he’d give me a tape with that musician’s album on it. When I was done, not only had I read a great book, I had an amazing collection of music.

You want to impress me with a gift? Give me a book that means something to me. Or to you. Or to both of us.

So tell me.

1) What are five books every good library must have?
2) What are five authors every good reader should read?
3) What is one book you would give as a gift and why?