OLS Week #8 - Slow Food Convivium

So what, you ask? A plate of garlic green beans? Hardly a meal. Actually this serving for six was my contribution to THIS groaning table of potluck goodies all made from local ingredients.Last night was the July meeting of our local Slow Food Convivium. When we arrived in the hall there was a live band playing. and the local aquaculture group was providing oysters at the far end of the hall. On our table was a plate of delicious goat cheese from Flat Point Farm and some roasted local veggies and dip. As we were waiting to take our turn at the buffet, a local farmer announced to the hall (I think there were 500 in attendance) , that he would be slaughtering chickens this weekend and you could come to table #10 to reserve a chicken for pick up on Saturday. Once all the tables had been called to the buffet and we had eaten our fill, we settled back to listen to the speaker for the evening, none other than MICHAEL POLLAN himself !!His latest book, In Defense of Food, was the subject of his talk. In a nutshell he said, stop thinking of food as nutrients ... the science of nutrition is NOT a science ... all we REALLY know is that the Western diet causes people to get sick ... eat food, but not too much of it and when you do, eat mostly plants ... the leafy parts.

And as a a send off he gave us 5 rules of thumb to use when making food choices.

#1 Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
#2 Avoid food products containing ingredients that are A.) unfamiliar B.) unpronounceable C.) more than five in number, or that include D.) high fructose corn syrup
#3 Avoid foods that make health claims
#4 Shop at the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle
$5 Get out of the supermarket whenever possible