Mark Bittman's Food Matters implores us to eat more healthily and more wisely. Reduce the amount of animal protein and by-products in our daily diet, and reduce the damage we inflict on the world with our omniverous consumption.
Great. Guilt for the gut. But I have had a creeping awareness of my own consumption. I used to brag about how cheap the eggs I bought were; then I realized those hens had horrendous living conditions. Now, thanks to Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) I pop for the extra few bucks and buy cage free, never free range. My son has sworn off cattle that is raised inhumanely; the only time he eats the beef I buy is when we buy it at Whole Foods. So now we stumble over the very teeny tiny tip of the culture wars that are fought inside households. My husband has been an Atkins convert for five years now. Not that he's any skinnier at all, he just swears that a high-fat high-protein diet is the way humans were meant to eat. And I, like Bittman, want to eat more grains, legumes, and less animal.
Years ago when we were married I was grateful he wasn't committed to keeping kosher. Now he's exploring smoking his own bacon. And I'm buying whole wheat flour tortillas.
Do any of the rest of you out there have similar dilemmas?
