The Film Bender

Another one I’m slow to post...this was from September of last year.  Again, better late than never...

Recently I went on a food binge; sort of.  It was a binge on food documentaries.  I browsed the streaming selection of Netflix and a few documentaries caught my eye.  Several hours later I was downing vitamins & had sworn off processed foods and meat.  Well almost, but the arguments presented were more powerful than I expected.  Here’s a rundown of what I watched & some of my thoughts:

• Forks Over Knives.  My favorite of the 3, this focused on health benefits of a “whole foods, plant-based diet.”
• Good: presented strong facts based on research conducted by sources that felt credible
• Bad: it was a bit vague on some details.  Ex.: no mention as to whether or not fish contain what they present as harmful protein
• Hardest hitting point: rather strong evidence that high consumption of meat can aggravate/accelerate some types of cancer
• Watch if: you are skeptical of vegetarian or vegan diets.  This piece does a good job avoiding the humanitarian motivation in favor of health & science
• Food Matters spent significant time describing the benefits of nutrition, the body’s ability to heal itself, and the fallacy of “a pill for every ill”
• Good: grounded in the single stance of “nutrition,” this provided good detail on what the subjects believed. Ex.: Niacin to treat depression
• Bad: did little to develop the credibility of those presenting their ideas.  A bit too much conspiracy theory and “well this worked for my cousin”
• Hardest hitting point: after years of denying Prozac actually increased risk of suicide, Eli Lilly filed for a new patent--citing that the new drug did not cause these side effects (http://www.narpa.org/prozac.revisited.htm)
• Watch if: you’re into the emotional side of things, or have particular interest in nutritional treatment of cancer
• Food Inc is probably the most widely known food documentary.  It focuses on the influence & detrimental impact of large agriculture businesses.
• Good: the deep research into multiple industries (beef, chicken, corn) brought out common, important, believable themes
• Bad: I’m not won over by the humanitarian appeal, so some scenes were a bit lost on me (growing up in a rural setting numbed me I suppose)
• Hardest hitting point: the development & transportation of corn, much of it used to feed animals, accounts for a significant portion of our nation’s fuel consumption
• Watch if: you have a strong concern for animal rights, or an interest in understanding how agribusiness works

In sum, watching these 3 films did impact my diet.  More greens, more fruit, and a bit more thought to where my food comes from.  While the points made in these films are occasionally drastic, the changes necessary to adopt their principals are minimal.  I’d encourage anyone to watch with an open mind and consider what one’s diet is doing for their body.

Michel Ruhlman at The Butcher & Larder

I wrote this up waayy back in October, shortly after Michael Ruhlman visited Rob Levitt's butcher shop to discuss hits latest book, Twenty, and share the merits of cooking.  Better late than never...

Michael Ruhlman, author of many great books around the subjects of chefs & cooking, recently made several appearances in Chicago to promote his latest book, “Twenty.”  He’s always done a great job getting his hands dirty in the kitchen, then explaining complex elements into easily understood concepts anyone can comprehend.  I’m a fan, so I was clearly in when given the chance to hear him speak at The Butcher & Larder.  It was a scene of ~25 folks intently listening to Ruhlman discuss Twenty, chefs he’s worked with, and the importance of cooking.  Rob added commentary along the way as he made sausage that would eventually become part of Escarole soup (from Twenty).

The candor conveyed by Ruhlman was impressive.  He showed passion to get more people cooking--”cooking well is living well.”  He stated that people don’t think enough about cooking; that most people let a recipe do the work for them.  This mindset allows them to think that cooking is difficult, when it really isn’t (I was nodding my head here).  His way of framing it: “It pisses me off that so many people can’t roast a chicken.”  Touche.  It shouldn’t be so hard to get folks to pull out a pan & invest a bit of time into cooking, but it is.  His books “Ratio” and “Twenty” aim to break down the “cooking is hard” attitude by providing concepts that are easy to grasp & apply across many dishes/recipes/tasks.  

His talk was great; he said a lot of things that were quite insightful.  The trouble is in spreading the message--sure a lot of food-focused people understand what he says and see cooking as an essential, obtainable exercise...but what about those that view the kitchen as a daunting arena?  Someone who believes that cooking is difficult isn’t likely to pick up a cookbook and believe that they can cook.  It is yet to be seen how far-reaching the food movements currently underway can be.  While it’s unclear whether or not cooking hatred can be overcome on the broad scale, Michael Ruhlman has certainly provided materials to be a catalyst to change.