Day 36

26. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food
27. "Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs and other mammals]."

These two rules essentially address the same concept: the less meat in one's diet the better.

I'm conflicted on this concept. On one hand, I get the idea that, as Americans, we tend to believe that a meal = one big honking piece of meat and some other stuff, which is not only misguided, but actually completely backwards. Human beings aren't meant to eat so much meat, and until the combination of rising affluence of the United States and completely whacked-out federal subsidization of the meat industry, we didn't. It was too cost-prohibitive.

(Side note regarding that chart: Michelle Obama's crusade for healthier childrens' diets completely baffles me. What is the point of her campaign when at the very same time US government tacitly supports this massively unhealthy way of thinking and eating through its subsidies?)

And according to this totally bad-ass article from the New York Times that EVERYBODY should go read RIGHT NOW because it explains exactly what is so toxic about the overly meat-dependent diet, Americans eat twice the daily recommended intake of protein, and almost all of it from animal protein. World meat consumption has also doubled since 1961.

So I'm also all for reversing that way of thinking. I mentioned earlier that I try to make a habit of asking myself if there is just one vegetable I can add to every meal. By the same token, before preparing each meal, I ask myself if there is any way I can make it without meat. I also strive for and tally my "vegetarian days," days where (duh) I eat no meat whatsoever. Actually, today looks like it's shaping up to be a vegetarian day. An apple, homemade granola and yogurt for breakfast, salad and homemade pasta for lunch, and leftover huevos rancheros for dinner. Go me!

So, I totally, totally get that that's important. But, on the other hand, there comes a point in observing this rule that I can no longer see eye to eye with Pollan.

Pollan claims that vegetarians, as a rule, are "generally healthier," than meat-eaters, and I'm sure this is true. I'm sure there's a study out there somewhere, that proves it. Here's what I know: I was a rubbish vegetarian. I ate too much bread and cheese, too little protein. I also was (and am, if I'm going to be completely honest) not nearly creative enough or generous enough with my use of fruits and vegetables. In the words of my co-worker, who could not have said it better than me: "I was a vegetarian for a while - I got so fat and so tired."

So Pollan specifically advocates only eating meat in about two meals per week, leaving a whopping 19 vegetarian meals to figure out every week.

Now, for me, reduction in my consumption of meat came naturally for me, especially in the beginning, before I had had a chance to stock up on meat from local, non-industrial sources, because of the observation of Rule 30 (Eat animals who have themselves eaten well.) I thought maybe, as a more mature and thoughtful eater, that I would be better at being a vegetarian than I was as a teenager. That might be true up to a point, but I could also see a dozen bad vegetarian habits that I was falling right back into.

So, now that I've been to the co-op and the fancy local deli and I have an ample source of acceptable meat, I've slackened the reigns considerably. My personal goal is to have at least two vegetarian days per week, and eat meat with only one meal the rest of the time. I don't always succeed, and when I don't I'm not too hard on myself, but I think it's safe to say that this is the goal; this is what I find reasonable.

I had to be so lax about The Rules, especially in the middle of a project dedictated to observing them as strictly as possible, but I really think I'm in the right here. When I began eating meat again at age 20, I felt the effects immediately. I was less tired, more focused, had more energy. I didn't feel weighed down all the time.

I'm not one of those people who are all, "your body will always tell you what to do." In fact, I have not observed that to be the case at all. My body doesn't speak very clearly most of the time. So when it DOES, I feel obligated to listen.

After all, Pollan himself says in his introduction that food science is still relatively new. "Nobody knows what's going on deep in the soul of a carrot to make it so good for you," and, by that same token, nobody must know exactly what is going on deep within my body that makes meat so important to my health. But I know it's true. So on this rule, MP, you and I are just going to have to part ways.

Day 13

8. Avoid food products that make health claims.
9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low fat” or “nonfat” in their names.

I get these rules, for the most part. As Pollan points out, "only the big manufacturers have the wherewithal to secure FDA-approved health claims for their products, and then trumpet them to the world. Generally it's the products of modern food science that makes the boldest claims." Sure. That checks out to me.

Which is not to say that I haven't been tempted. Many a time I've walked down the cereal aisle, picked up a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and thought, "Look! It says 'made from whole grain' right on the box. It's totally healthy! JUST BUY IT!"

At moments like these I have to take a step back and think to myself, "Leigh. Look at it. It's Cinnamon. Toast. Crunch. That's all you need to know. Put it back on the shelf and step away from the processed sugar-bomb."

("But... but... 'heart-healthy'...")

These sugary, addictive spoonfuls are totally the Devil's food.

I'm also mostly okay with the no no-fat rule, because, as Pollan points out, "Removing fat from foods doesn't necessarily make them non-fattening." I've been hip to the whole swapping-sugar-for-fat trick for longer than I've been able to shop for myself.

"Mommy, mommy," said little Leigh, "It says low-fat - it's good for you! Why can't we buy it?"

"Because, sweetie, that just means it has more sugar."

So I'm down with the low-fat/no-fat moratorium, with the obvious exception of, you know, dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt. I mean, that just goes without saying - you're not going to make me drink whole-fat milk and eat whole-fat yogurt, are you Michael Pollan? Because that would be awful. And what's the harm of buying cheese made with 2% milk? That just seems healthy to me.

Except, actually, Pollan calls out yogurt specifically. "Check out the label on low- and nonfat yogurts," he says. "They typically contain more sugar per ounce than soda."

This is utterly devastating news, as I really, really love Stonyfield Farms' nonfat vanilla yogurt.

I was also kind of surprised to read Pollan's indictment of yogurt. Why didn't I notice that? I thought to myself. I'm usually so good about not getting conned by high-sugar "health foods." So I checked out the Stonyfield Farms labels again: their nonfat French Vanilla yogurt indeed has 25 grams of sugar, which, admittedly, is a lot a lot of sugar. But it is still less than eight ounces of soda. (side note: holy sh*t! An eight oz. Coke has 27 grams of sugar!?!? I think I got diabetes just from reading that label). And it is also less than the 29.9 grams the full-fat version of Stonyfield's French Vanilla contains, along with a whopping 230 calories, compared to the 140 calories in the nonfat version.

What the hell, MP? Am I missing something? It seems clear to me that the nonfat version is the better choice.

But you know what? Whatever. These are your rules, it's your book. And my plan was to follow your rules, not make up my own rules about which ones of yours make sense. And I know that may seem blisteringly pedantic, and in real-life I probably would have said to myself, "Psh, forget that," but for the purposes of this project, we're gonna go with it.

Besides, 25 grams of sugar is still a lot of sugar, no matter what you're comparing it with.

But here is where I will make an exception: when it comes to plain yogurt, skim milk, and other dairy products where sugar is obviously not being added, I'm still going to pick the low- or nonfat option. I just can't think of a reason not to. And it's better this way: now I'm compelled to buy nonfat plain yogurt and sweeten it myself with honey, thus following another rule (Number 37 - Sweeten and salt your food yourself) in the process. A win-win.