If you have been reading my journal entries for a while you might recall me writing about a book called the "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Well I have been plugging away at the book and all I can say is this is a must read for everyone. It really makes you think twice about what we are eating. Burnsy and I have been having an on and off debate about nutrition in conventionally grown vegetables vs, organic vegetables. Burnsy believes(ed)  that there is no nutritional difference between the two. I differed. Here is a quote from the book

    Some intriguing recent research suggest otherwise. A study by University of California-Davis researchers published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2003 described an experiment in which identical varietis of corn, strawberries, and blackberries grown in neighboring plots using different methods (including organically and conventionally) were compared fore levels of vitamins and polyphenols.  Polyphenols are a group of secondary metabolites manufactured by plants that we'verecently learned play an important role in human health and nutrition. Many are potent antioxidants; some play a role in preventing or fighting cancer; others exhibit antimicrobial properties. The Davis researchers found that organic and otherwise sustainably  grown fruits and vegetables contained significantly higher levels of both asorbic acid (vitamin C) and a wide range of polyphenols. 

The recent discovery of these secondary metabolites in plants has brought our understanding of the biological and chemical complexity of foods to a deeper level of refinement; history suggest we haven't gotten anywhere near the bottom of this question, either. The first level was reached early in the nineteenth century with the identification of the macronutrients- protein, carbohydrate, and fat. having isolated these compounds, chemists thought they'd unlocked the key to human nutrition. Yet some people (such as sailors) living on diets rich in macro nutrients nevertheless got sick. The mystery was solved when scientist discovered the major vitamins- a scond key to human nutrition. Now its the polyphenols in plants that we're learning play a critical role in keeping us healthy. (And which might explain why diets heaving in processed food fortified with vitamins still aren't as nutritious as fresh foods.) 

So with that being said I think Burnsy is on the organic side. But wait.... Is organic really as good as it sounds? Nope. How is organic berries shipped from South America better for the environment? Is shipping berries in a 747 6,000 miles really any better for our planet? The book does a good job going into detail about industrial organic factories, many of which are owned by our conventional industrial farm companies. Your "free range" chicken you buy from whole foods might not be as 'free range' as you think. The only thing I can really say about food that is 'safe' is buy local organic from the farmers market. 

 Well thats enough rambling about food for today. But really read this book. I am a little more than half way through and its great. The weather sucked today. I had to ride on the trainer today!! Ahhh!! 1st day of the year, so i guess its not to bad and half my work out was shoveling the wet and very heavy snow from the driveway, so it wasn't to bad. 

Take care.