The meat exception
March updates (a month already?!)
Hard to believe it’s been a month already—but I guess trying to get a magazine issue out, juggling a bunch of freelance projects, prepping for a baby, and a little break for Mardi Gras makes time shrivel.
All of the above also mean there’s not a whole lot to report currently. So, without much ado, let me return to the question I started considering last month: what to make of the (quite compelling) arguments that “industrial” food—and even processed food—has, despite decades of villainization, quite a lot to recommend it.
The tl;dr from last month: yes, some processed foods are just fine. What do you gain by eating them? You potentially save time and money without hurting your body one whit. And also, importantly, you leave space in your diet for high-tech meat substitutes that are undeniably processed.
More on that below the fold.
February Photos
Upcoming events
Nothing public, but I’m speaking at a conference next week (March 12) in Champaign, Illinois—so if you happen to live up that way, give me a shout! And then on March 31, I’ll be speaking to a group in Memphis. Same applies!
A few years back, when the idea of “lab meat” first made the rounds, my initial reaction was—hmm, I don’t think I’m very into that.
I am, in general a fan of Michael Pollan’s simple “food rules” (to remind you: “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much”), and Pollan quite specifically calls out meat-substitutes. And substitutes in general: why eat something that’s pretending to be something else? Alicia Kennedy has also made interesting arguments that, hey, there’s a long cultural tradition of veganism that doesn’t require anything from a lab. Why not eat that way? My own conversion toward being pro-lab meat came about through several steps.
