Category Archives: social

refresher course

In full recline and in between picks, scrapes, and suction I ask the hygienist when her profession was first conceived. She did not know. Hint: The answer was on pg. 1 in the textbook manual. "I had other things to concentrate on back then. I’ll ask the Dentist when he drops in…" Let’s not. He may not know either and you’ll end up embarrassing the guy. She swivels her chair round to a keyboard and Googles it.  1913

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now reading

In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto

For those not concerned with Orthorexia, this read is distilled by Michael Pollan to the following: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

In 1973 the IMITATION food label rule was TOSSED OUT(!) What to do now? Avoid foods products containing ingredients that are A) Unfamiliar, B) Unpronounceable, C) More than five in number or that include D) High-Fructose Corn Syrup. None of these characteristics, not even the last one, is necessarily harmful in and of itself, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed to the point where they may no longer be what they purport to be. They have crossed over from foods to food products. Market practice: Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Stay out of the middle.

The book is a continuation of Every Thing You Know (about food) is Wrong. Recall The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by same.