The biggest idea I took from the paper is that a lot of our problems come from "overthinking" food and trying to out-science nature. I think I'm going to continue maintaining that sentience is like the worst thing to happen to human beings. To get biblical on it: that's what I think the apple was. Sentience, then we started being more aware of misery and counting things and desiring things that we can't have. I think it makes us both less happy and more happy.
Healthy soil=healthy food=healthier eaters of food. That is, if you're eating foods from soils. Don't get me wrong, it's a struggle even for my gastronomically self-righteous ass. I grew up on processed sugar filling processed sugar. I crave it sometimes. Then earth guilt in the voice of Gaia from Captain Planet yells at me and then I think about my health....lame. I WANT HOSTESS. Fruits cool too. It's an adjustment. Most of the time the not-food-food looks disgusting when I think about what's in it.
I apologize to the world for the three days I detassled seed corn. Here's the thing. Not only does it lead to the corn rape that is using corn for everything, monocropping the nutrients out of the soil. It also paid shit. It's like child slavery.
I'm glad I am a reform Jew. There's a very fine line between ingenuity and corruption. Both involve thinking outside of the box. For example, if I use raped soy (this is how I define using foodstuffs in not their food ways) to eat a cheeseburger. Technically, I'm not mixing meat and dairy but it just looks sketch and to me, feels like cheating. However, I can transfer to the concept of "ethical Kashrut" and eat maybe not Orthodox Union Certified foods but foods that aren't pork that are environmentally and worker-friendlier foods. Junk like that.
So those are some thoughts on a book. It was decent by the way. Well researched, pleasant to read. Also, the cover was tactilely friendly. Some kind of faux-vellum.
