Comments on: What would Michael Pollan do?

By: bibliochef

bibliochef — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:50:19 +0000

Hiya. I have a review of Pollan’s bookcoming out onmy blog this month (finally) and discovered your blog (which will get a mention) in touring the blogosphere for some ideas to put in… . I like your site a lot. Though not jewish I do “cover” religion some times on my site.

Bibliochef from Cooking with Ideas at http://www.cookingwithideas.typepad.com

By: Carly

Carly — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:26:05 +0000

I totally feel your pain on this. I do my best. I always put rules of hospitality first. If a friend has gone through the trouble to make a meal for me, I eat it, and it’s a gift. Sometimes I’ll eat a bit less or not eat certain parts, but I never show disrespect to the person who prepared it.

Especially considering most of the people who invite me to dinner know my eating habits. I don’t want someone thinking they can never invite me to dinner. I also have been teaching a “Sacred Eating” workshop series with my spiritual group, and many members have jumped on the bandwagon, which totally helps!

When it comes to meals at restaurants, I hardly ever order meat — unless it’s a restaurant that I know gets their meat from sustainable, ethical sources. I also look for the most seasonal thing on the menu. And of course, my favorite restaurants are ethical and sustainable. I’m blessed to live in Washington, DC where this is a growing trend in the restaurant industry!

By: Leah Koenig

Leah Koenig — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:59:48 +0000

This is such an interesting “dilemma” (pun intended), Alix. Like Nicole, I was recently happy to find organic eggs and milk in my parents’ fridge after years (years) of my subtly and not-so-subtly urging them to make the switch. http://www.lilith.org/blog/?p=46

But I’ve been to many dinners at well-meaning friends’ apartments where I’ve had to bite my tongue when they pull out a box of Chips Ahoy or an iceberg lettuce and pink tomato salad.

One trick I have tried with some success is bringing food gifts to my hosts that I would want in my own kitchen. Like a really nice bottle of real maple syrup or a bunch of fresh, local arugula to make a salad. This way I can introduce them to foods they might not naturally gravitate to without inhernetly judging them.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:22:24 +0000

I go through this every time I visit my parents for the weekend or have dinner at my in-laws’ house. In addition to the food being canned, frozen, processed, etc., it’s just terrible. Who wants to eat boiled ham and unseasoned bread cubes passed off as stuffing? I especially don’t want to do it when the ham is from a factory-farmed pig and the bread is Wonder Bread.

Like you, I suffer in silence. There’s just nothing you can do. To say something or to offer to cook would be perceived as rude, and I have enough problems to deal with without throwing all that family crap into the mix.

The most I can do is invite them to my house when possible and cook for them. I felt vindicated when my mother in law told me she bought organic ground beef for the first time this Summer.