Who's Rational?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdGWfXetWOHXEToIi53gHPc9xFjGlhDfQ7bH9wY7yIhTL508a2RpURtkbZww-PbGTbpfCO3NjXd50CnnwmL5-EW8CUYET4CUH4fs2rEJj18xDMH_LGKposFEkgVqaol4YwNYD4CTDW37W/s1600/moss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdGWfXetWOHXEToIi53gHPc9xFjGlhDfQ7bH9wY7yIhTL508a2RpURtkbZww-PbGTbpfCO3NjXd50CnnwmL5-EW8CUYET4CUH4fs2rEJj18xDMH_LGKposFEkgVqaol4YwNYD4CTDW37W/s320/moss.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><i>Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us</i> by Michael Moss provides an overwhelming insight: big food companies know much more about how humans choose food than anyone else (including academics). If any people still think that humans "intuitively" or "instinctively" choose to eat the foods that their bodies actually "need" -- they should read<i> Salt Sugar Fat</i>! Potato chips and soda aren't nature's most perfect foods, but they are carefully designed with the purpose of meeting a human's strongest cravings for (yes) salt, fat, and sugar. So are lots of other processed foods. Broccoli, we just aren't that into you. Our instincts stink. It's a good read with lots of data.<br /><br />I was thinking about several other books with coordinating insights about the issue of how humans choose what to eat, and how unlikely it is that our instinctive choices can help us achieve healthy lives, desirable body weight, and avoidance of nutritional maladies like diabetes. Also how hard it is to achieve these ends through rational self-control. Or government intervention. Or medical treatment.<br /><br />First, I thought about a book that's really not about food at all: <i>Thinking, Fast and Slow</i> by Daniel Kahneman. Decision making in the many humans the author has observed is far from the calm rational process that many people believe in -- especially diet prescribers! The last thing you heard, a major event that impressed you, or someone who was manipulating you have a much higher impact on your conclusions than you would prefer to believe. Overlay this with the evidence of direct manipulation of your love of certain flavors in <i>Salt Sugar Fat</i>. OOPS.<br /><br />Next, a very frequently quoted book: <i>Mindless Eating</i> by Brian Wansink PhD. As I read it a few years ago, I constantly thought about how the food industry had already learned what Wansink's research revealed. They kept their insights mainly secret and used their knowledge to make people eat more. In contrast Wansink presented his research studies as a set of insights that could help one create a strategy to eat less. Yes, we suck up more calories if there's a huge bowl of M&Ms than if there's a smaller one. We'll eat much more from a self-refilling bowl of soup because our eyes are fooling us. If someone takes away the piles of bones, people will eat more chicken wings because they lose track of what they are doing. Wansink's experiments are cited (often out of context) frequently, but reading the book really shows you how little control you have even when you think you're paying attention.<br /><br />The book <i>Why Some Like it Hot</i> by Gary Paul Nabhan is about evolution (though not going all the way back to our prehistoric ancestors and not particularly applicable to most urban westerners). He discusses traditional foods in some relatively isolated areas where the native people over time adapted to the available food supplies, and he describes how a change, usually a forced change, to a western and modern diet has harmed them, especially by causing obesity and diabetes. Among others, he explores the foods of the eastern Mediterranean island of Crete, Native American foods in parts of the southwestern US, and native foods of Hawaii. He describes some efforts where people have reintroduced foods of their recent ancestors. His research theme: "how food reflects the interaction between biological and cultural diversity." (p. 2)<br /><br /><i>The Omnivore's Dilemma</i> by Michael Pollan tackles similar themes from a different angle. His exploration of what the term "organic" has meant at various times offers an alternative view of what people think they are doing when they think they are rational.<br /><br />Science applied to nutrition is not new. <i>Perfection Salad</i> by Laura Shapiro describes the well-meaning but often misguided efforts of the late 19th and early 20th century women to create the new discipline that they titled "home economics." Shapiro illustrates how their efforts paved the way for mass-produced and highly processed foods to be accepted into the American diet, and how the longest-lasting achievement was pathetic "home-ec" classes that may recently have at last disappeared from junior high schools. (I sure remember Miss Gordon, our home-ec teacher!) These well-meaning advocates of scientific nutrition 100 years ago or so also tried to change lower class eating habits in American cities, especially among the very poor and immigrant communities, but people preferred to eat what they liked, not what someone told them was good for them. One amusing thing: how the same type of reasoning is going on now, and probably has never stopped since the era covered by the book.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAQAUDccpo5LjqHtQ4Pf6RtzYfK0iB54gKrlVFmLVq5rE46dyZet8LOUNI9NRZL4caGy6ZErmrg1ei4rREVDm3dGKBNRJ5xAngoi4Uyvz54sBaIs4wWgYmeJeBQ60TFb0WYxymIjUVjDL/s1600/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAQAUDccpo5LjqHtQ4Pf6RtzYfK0iB54gKrlVFmLVq5rE46dyZet8LOUNI9NRZL4caGy6ZErmrg1ei4rREVDm3dGKBNRJ5xAngoi4Uyvz54sBaIs4wWgYmeJeBQ60TFb0WYxymIjUVjDL/s320/books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>When I read libertarian arguments about the freedom to choose whether to drink a 32 ounce soda or not, I wonder about the rationality of the writer. When I read about people who think they are on a "paleolithic" diet because their food choices become so rational and evolutionarily sensible, I suspect that they don't know about actual food history. Same for the fad for "intuitive eating" and a number of other claims about how our bodies can guide us to health. (<i>Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism</i> by Sarah Conly as reviewed <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/mar/07/its-your-own-good/?pagination=false">here</a> sounds as if it has a lot of relevant material, but I haven't read it yet.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Who's Rational?

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss provides an overwhelming insight: big food companies know much more about how...

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Food Books I'm Not Going to Read

The <span style="font-style: italic;">Atlantic</span> has a review of several recently-published foodie books: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/the-moral-crusade-against-foodies/8370/">The Moral Crusade Against Foodies: Gluttony dressed up as foodie-ism is still gluttony</a> by B. R. Myers. The author is very turned off by the foodies and their poses, as the article's title suggests.<br /><br />A few of the many foodie-writer crimes attested:<br /><ul><li>First: "these people really do live to eat" -- and often to overeat, writes Myers.</li><li>Despite lip service to the contrary, they are often cruel to animals, and go as far as to participate enthusiastically in cruel slaughter of animals they are about to eat. One example: "Steingarten tells of watching four people hold down a struggling, groaning pig for a full 20 minutes as it bled to death for his dinner."</li><li>Foodies don't respect food traditions of others, especially when the traditions involve avoidance of specific foods: "Most of us consider it a virtue to maintain our principles in the face of social pressure, but in the involuted world of gourmet morals, constancy is rudeness. One must never spoil a dinner party for mere religious or ethical reasons."</li><li>Moral or ethical consistency is lacking, despite professions of same. An "affectation of piety does not keep foodies from vaunting their penchant for obscenely priced meals, for gorging themselves, even for dining on endangered animals—but only rarely is public attention drawn to the contradiction." They nevertheless claim moral superiority to those who merely eat to live: "the guilty smirkiness that once marked [their] default style has been losing ever more ground to pomposity and sermonizing."</li></ul>There's lots more. I accept the conclusion that foodie writers are a sorry lot. I'm not a big fan of most of these writers anyway -- though I think the author is too hard on Michael Pollan and maybe Alice Waters. I think that the interesting writing about food these days is in blogs and in fiction. I've tried some of the reviewed writers' earlier books or articles (Steingarten, Severson, Bourdain), and for the most part had already lost interest in what they have to say. Now I feel really free to skip them.

Food Books I'm Not Going to Read

The Atlantic has a review of several recently-published foodie books: The Moral Crusade Against Foodies: Gluttony dressed up as foodie-ism ...

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"Food, Inc."

<img alt="http://www.foodincmovie.com/img/site/movie_poster-large.jpg" src="http://www.foodincmovie.com/img/site/movie_poster-large.jpg" /><br /><br />We finally watched "Food, Inc." I've read way too many of the sources to find it surprising -- especially Michael Pollan's books and articles. Despite my familiarity with many of the details, I found many really good issues discussed in it. Impressive: seeing moving pictures of feedlots, CAFOs, slaughterhouses, chicken houses for hundreds of thousands of chickens, and farmers ruined by Monsanto.<br /><br />I don't like extremists or fanatics, so I would have liked to see a broader range of organic farmers and innovators against mass production. I am suspicious of the claim that Joel Salatin's methods can scale upwards. And I'm ultra-skeptical about the interview with the CEO of Stonybrook Farms (now part of a big agriculture corp) and his pride in the mass-market organic yogurt sold at WalMart. But I have a distrust of hippies who got rich on their hipness, which might be misplaced.<br /><br />In general, I wish the authors had a vision for how to feed all the people on earth without some of the mass market methods. This is an issue that's frequently avoided. Yes, we put Mexican corn farmers out of business with cheap corn and NAFTA. And it was bad for their economy. What next?<br /><br />I think my shopping habits already conform to the authors' goals (and yes, I know not everyone can afford to shop the way they suggest). But I think the points about the food industry, lack of regulation, persecution of farmers (such as those who re-use seeds and are pursued by Monsanto), and the corruption of the regulatory process are all very important.<br /><br />Lenny says the "veggie libel" laws are the worst offense revealed in the film. That term refers to laws that prevent people from criticizing foods, food manufacturers, or growing processes; a set of related laws also prevent people from suing food industries when they are harmed. Oprah's successful defense against being sued for libel against hamburgers around 15 years ago is the best-known example.<br /><br />On the whole: good film.

"Food, Inc."

We finally watched "Food, Inc." I've read way too many of the sources to find it surprising -- especially Michael Pollan's...

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Johnny Appleseed Day

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqU9JPyBHRxJqBc8KB-HL2FgS80LKEve6D-4YTOpIbtQRksbi1m3-3m8_z-x3LafO7dYqiTqyNNIHEmRwwy7GsxbyLMQu-Vyu2z9Pwox-b4-8gXBjbj_rJnixaEuNe3Z7tmXjWR9FfORo/s1600-h/chapman2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5054117910340893010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqU9JPyBHRxJqBc8KB-HL2FgS80LKEve6D-4YTOpIbtQRksbi1m3-3m8_z-x3LafO7dYqiTqyNNIHEmRwwy7GsxbyLMQu-Vyu2z9Pwox-b4-8gXBjbj_rJnixaEuNe3Z7tmXjWR9FfORo/s320/chapman2.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>John Chapman, shown in the photo, is a friend of ours, and a physicist. Everyone calls him just "J" -- you will see why in a little while.<br /><br />J's great-great-great-grandfather Frank Chapman was a seed farmer. He grew seeds and dried them to sell to other farmers to plant and grow crops.<br /><br />Frank was born in Massachusetts. After he grew up, he moved to a new farm in Maryland. Frank had a brother who sometimes came to visit him in Maryland. His brother's name was John Chapman, just like our friend.<br /><br />The brothers Frank and John Chapman lived a long time ago, when the American land was being turned into farms called homesteads. Farmers wanted to plant good things on their new farms. One of these good things was apple trees. John Chapman sometimes got apple seeds from his brother Frank's seed farm. He planted apple seeds on his own farms, and sold young trees to these homesteaders.<br /><br />You can probably guess what everyone called John Chapman? He was known as Johnny Appleseed. The J. Chapman we know calls him Great-great-uncle John. The stories about Johnny Appleseed start on the frontier in the year 1797. (He lived from 1774 to 1847.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ1o8AZwZGlUwZVVzKnQ2qm_jfbMdbiFHl1tNvyoAhio47ZJMGfcZ3jx8uSjKocgz5XEvVP_eLgDvQ5HNUmdhQj-8cHmnY0EmL8I1_m91Y4X9IWbSbb5-xbVrKwPZMHH0vEmHAdGpB20E/s1600-h/johnny.appleseed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5054117906045925698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ1o8AZwZGlUwZVVzKnQ2qm_jfbMdbiFHl1tNvyoAhio47ZJMGfcZ3jx8uSjKocgz5XEvVP_eLgDvQ5HNUmdhQj-8cHmnY0EmL8I1_m91Y4X9IWbSbb5-xbVrKwPZMHH0vEmHAdGpB20E/s320/johnny.appleseed.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" /></a>During Johnny Appleseed's life, a lot of people were moving west from places like Maryland and Massachusetts. Frank's family moved west too. They kept on working as seed farmers, selling lots of kinds of seeds so that other farmers could plant crops. Our friend J's great-grandfather -- Johnny Appleseed's nephew -- lived in Indiana. He was also a seed farmer and also named Frank. Sometimes Johnny Appleseed came to see his nephew in Indiana.<br /><br />When Johnny Appleseed was an old man, he came to see the Chapman family for the last time. A year later, Johnny Appleseed died in Ohio.<br /><br />Many of the stories about Johnny Appleseed are true: throughout his life he traveled around, planting apple seeds, growing little trees, and selling the little apple trees to homesteading farmers. Johnny Appleseed didn't live in just one place, and he liked to wear old clothes. He made money, but he seems to have given it to people that needed it. He helped a lot of people. If he visited a farmer, sometimes he planted some apple trees or some seeds to say thank you for a good breakfast or dinner and a place to sleep. He also knew a lot of Indians who lived on the frontier, and he was their friend too.<br /><br />Our friend J says that the oldest son in his family is always named John. Johnny Appleseed was the oldest son in his family -- his brother Frank and his many other brothers were younger. J's father and his son are also named John. So you see why he is called J -- that way he knows when people are talking to him, not to one of the other men and boys named John. But his real name is exactly the same as Johnny Appleseed. They are both named John Chapman.<br /><br />March 11, the date Johnny Appleseed died, is celebrated as Johnny Appleseed Day. I posted this information a few years ago on my children's story blog, so it's a simple story. If you want a complicated version, see Michael Pollan's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-View-World/dp/0375760393/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267999540&sr=8-1"> The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World</a>.

Johnny Appleseed Day

John Chapman, shown in the photo, is a friend of ours, and a physicist. Everyone calls him just "J" -- you will see why in a littl...

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