It's How We Eat
More gems from cornman Michael Pollan
TD: Finally, what did you mean in writing that we’re not only what we eat, but how we eat, too?
Pollan: At the end of the industrial food chain, you need an industrial eater. What you eat, and how you eat are equally important issues. There is a lot of talk and interesting comparisons drawn between us and the French on the subject of food. We’re kind of mystified that they can eat such seemingly toxic substances -- triple crème cheeses and foie gras, and they’re actually healthier than we are. They live a little bit longer, they have less obesity, less heart disease. What gives? Well, according to the people who study this: It’s not what they eat, it’s how they eat it. They eat smaller portions; they do not snack as a rule; they do not eat alone. When you eat alone, you tend to eat more. When you’re eating with someone there’s a conversation going on, there’s a sense of propriety; you don’t pig out when you’re eating at a table with other people.
So the French show you can eat just about whatever you want, as long as you do it in moderation. That strikes me as a liberating message. But it’s not the way we do things here. We have a food system here that is all about quantity, rather than quality.
Wow, we are on to something. I keep a squirely kitchen here in Kreuzberg. My cash goes towards more important things, like Faberge eggs and -- well, you can't put a €2 coin in a G-string. And one of the disconnects I've been experiencing pretty consistently is German disgust with it. Berliners pull no punches, even when they're enjoying your hospitality, and it has been brought to my attention that LIDL is a resort rather than a rule, and that I should get more produce into my diet. I've even had Norwegians complain about the low qual of my food selections. Norwegians!
Blame my circumstances if not my upraising: I was kept up since birth by nonpareil Amero-Italian cuisine, and only the styrofoam-coated reality of university life has corrupted me from the food dream Pollan is describing here. Germany strikes a balancing act between France and America, with a well-studied lean towards the former. The only places where Germans deviate from the situation described above are the same places that the French do: Western corruption and fast food. The further you steer from that corn-fed DMZ, the faster you're passing me on the bike lane.
The rest, I would chalk up to beer casualties. I'm way single-cause when it comes to nutrition. Whereas MP Michael Gove is quick to point out the starches. Yo man, we all gots starches.