I can’t believe we’re still in the month of January. For some reason (or a few: waiting on b-school responses, hasn’t been above freezing point for more than 20-minutes the entire month, a new boss at work whom I think is incompetent), this month has felt excruciating long. But there were plenty of opportunities to bury myself in a couple good books....
Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
I joined a book club this month (and hosted the first one, so my food expenses were a little higher than I’d planned) and really enjoyed discussing this book that was chosen. I’ve had In Defense of Food on my shelf for awhile, but this seemed more intriguing to me, and I already wrote about it once here: "The True Cost of a Dozen Eggs". The book is a kind of social history about how we eat and how we decide what is okay to eat and what we should eat (the referenced dilemma). What I took away was:
1. A better understanding of just how much corn is in our diet.
2. That dietary choice is essentially made for us by US industrial food system, agricultural policy and subsidies.
3. Organic is great, but sometimes "big organic" doesn't solve any of the problems inherent in our food system.
4. Our current food system makes it really hard for us to truly see all of the ecological and moral inputs.
At the end of the day, it also made me want to know a lot more about our public policy around agriculture. So, anyone who has any good recommendations on how I can learn more about the farm bill, pass them on!
Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant
The other book was a library selection which I picked up after realizing how poor my knowledge was of some of the holidays I’ve been celebrating now for two years (the Guy is Jewish – I am not). And yes, that’s Anita Diamant, author of the Red Tent, which seemed a little strange to me. But I suppose no stranger than my own divergent interests – writing, business, agriculture... I digress. This has been a fantastic read – SO easy for a non-Hebrew, unaccustomed, unfamiliar like myself. The style never feels pedantic or infantilizing in any way. I feel so much more confident just in experiencing these traditions and cultural norms. The way I think about it is now at least I know what I don’t know. Which is a great start. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in knowing more about the Jewish culture they’re experiencing, whether it’s personally or tangentially. It organizes beliefs, societal structures, customs and holidays in a way that’s easy to wrap your head around.
The World Atlas of Wine by Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson
This is one of those enormous coffee table books that I fell in love with one day browsing around Barnes and Noble. I suppose it’s meant to be a general wine-lover’s reference, but I’ve decided to read it cover to cover. I read a page a day while I’m having my morning coffee-and-oatmeal, based on the theory that you can become an expert on anything with consistent learning everyday (cued from another book on my bookshelf: Talent is Overrated). It makes me want to start my own winery… not a bad early morning daydream…
Next month’s book club selection is Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth & Happiness. Anything else I should be reading next month?
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