Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma is really an excellent book. Customers at market last summer had been recommending it so much that I found myself a little resistant to it, like to the tune of "Marsha Marsha Marsha" I would hear in my head "Michael Pollan Michael Pollan Michael Pollan.'' Anyway, I got the book for Christmas, and it is as good as they said. I already lent it to my friend Dana (though I promised to lend it to Corny -- I will Corny!!) or I'd quote you from it, but you can get a good sense of what he's about from his articles in the NY Times like this one.

I've been procrastinating working on the CSA materials -- the flyers etc. -- for this year, but I've been mulling. And anyway it's always a struggle to decide how to explain the CSA in the flyers and posters in a way people will understand. For one thing, people sign up for the CSA for lots of diverse reasons -- great tasting veggies, super fresh, good for your health, know your farmer, local, support for small farms, organic, good for the environment, community building, and more. Which one to emphasize?

Anyway, reading the Michael Pollan book helped me grasp to me that all those things aren't really separate at all. They're all different perspectives on the same thing. Your taste buds are designed to be a guide to telling you what you should eat, so the fact that our veggies taste so good is correctly connected to the fact that they are grown in healthy soil and are super fresh and are, in fact, very good for you.