The gospel of real food

The cholesterol in butter, whole milk and organ meats is good for you, nothing short of brain food, while industrial food makes you sick.

That's Nina Planck talking. Modest, funny, spiritual godmother to farmers markets from New York to London, she came to Seattle to promote the paperback edition of her bestselling book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why and stayed an extra day to have dinner at the Volunteer Park Café with a group of foodies put together by Michael Hebberoy of OnePot. (More on Michael and his leadership of the so-called "underground restaurant" movement in upcoming posts.)

A former vegan herself, Nina Planck created a big stir in the New York Times earlier this month by arguing that pregnant women, newborns and nursing moms were ill-served by a vegan diet. Cradling her 8-month-old son, she called skim milk "an abomination," lard a virtual miracle food, and statin drugs dangerous because they block vital enzymes.

Things like the "Fat-Free Half & Half" sold at Whole Foods are neither natural nor healthy, she says. On her website, she explains:

I belive the conventional wisdom on traditional foods is mistaken. The so-called diseases of civilization - obesity, diabetes, heart disease - are not caused by real food. The diseases of industrialization - as I call them - are caused by the foods of industrialization.

And we all have dinner: bruschetta with chèvre; braised brisket with cabbage and carrots; hot biscuits with raw Jersey butter; lemon loaf with berries and cream: a generous meal full of the satisfying flavors that come from fresh, local ingredients, free of industrial taint...and enriched with animal fat.

Posted by Ronald Holden at June 27, 2007 10:48 AM