Healthy Eating, Healthy Earth

New York Times science writer Jane E. Brody has been writing about nutrition for more than 40 years. Her latest discovery is Michael Pollan's new book, "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual." Within its digestible pages (not literally, but rather literarily), are 64 principles for healthy, sustainable eating.
 
The ideas behind his tips are nothing new: (1) those who eat the "Western diet" of heavily processed foods, meat added fat, sugars and refined grains have higher rates of cancer, heart disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes; and (2) those who eat a more traditional diet have lower rates of these diseases. And here is a third added by Brody: "Our economy cannot afford to continue to patch up the millions of people who each year develop a diet-related ailment, and our planetary resources simply cannot sustain our eating style and continue to support its ever-growing population."
 
But what drew Brody to Pollan's book is its sensibility and reader-friendly and inspirational nature. These are all small changes any of us can make to our lives that can make a big difference to our waistlines, our health and to the planet's well-being. Here's one example:
 
“Cooking for yourself,” [Pollan] writes, “is the only sure way to take back control of your diet from the food scientists and food processors.” Home cooking need not be arduous or very time-consuming, and you can make up time spent at the stove with time saved not visiting doctors or shopping for new clothes to accommodate an expanding girth.
 
Although the most wholesome eating pattern consists of three leisurely meals a day, and preferably a light meal at night, if you must have snacks, stick to fresh and dried fruits, vegetables and nuts, which are naturally loaded with healthful nutrients. I keep a dish of raisins and walnuts handy to satisfy the urge to nibble between meals. I also take them along for long car trips. Feel free to use the gas-station restroom, but never “get your fuel from the same place your car does,” Mr. Pollan writes.