Food-related reading

I actually started blogging because I needed to vent about healthy eating and the good restos we went to, and started up my blog aloimeansyummy. While the blog has gone into hiatus, we've settled into a nice rhythm of cooking and eating better - no more fast food, no canned meats, more fruits and veggies - at least if we can help it. The number of restaurants we ate at were severely whittled down to a few. My daughter has gotten a few eyebrow raises when she opens her sushi lunch, or when she says "no thank you" to a Jollibee or McDonald's burger at birthday parties.

You may remember Super Size Me which jolted people to rethink a fast-food diet because of its severe health problems. Here's a new film you may be interested in. If you're like me, who awaits the Oscars to find more good stuff to watch, then you probably know that Food, Inc. was nominated as Best Documentary. P.S. If you have high-speed internet, you can watch the Food Inc. here. Here's the summary:

From cruel and unsanitary conditions in cattle and chicken farming to the presence of corn syrup and sodium in many foods, this indictment of the American food industry examines the ways in which large corporations dominate the marketplace and affect the quality of what we consume.  

The film has built upon the research of many other books, which I am now putting on my TBR list. The official site for the movie has an interesting reading list too. Some of the books I'm interested in are:

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. However, he rapidly moves behind the counter to the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavour company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns". Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--faeces in your meat. [Via]

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan: ‘You’re not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from….brimming with ideas’ - New York Times [Via]

Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe. I've read this already and blogged about it before. This book was my first eye-opener about "eating intentionally," has lasted so long on the shelves (it celebrated its 20th anniversary edition) has such great influence and has given rise to a movement. I feel everyone should read it. Also, find out more about The Small Planet Institute's work and more of Lappe's books! 

Full shelf! It's wonderful that renewed attention is given to the issue of eating right, and understanding the bigger context of food, hunger, and nutrition. Any books you recommend that you feel are must reads? I'd love to hear from you!