The Conscious Kitchen

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Janelle Sorensen

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Allow me to be humbly forthright - when I started reading Alexandra Zissu’s new book, The Conscious Kitchen, I thought “I know all this stuff. Reading this is going to be as enlightening as loading the dishwasher.” I’ve been researching this type of information day-in and day-out for over a decade – I thought I’d read it all.

Boy, was I wrong.

This book unearthed a slew of disgusting details about the American diet I was previously blind to. For example:

• Conventionally raised poultry are given chlorine baths (a practice banned in the EU) in an attempt to eliminate salmonella, E. coli, and other bacteria.
• “If the shrimp in your supermarket display glisten unnaturally, or if they taste soapy even after being cooked, they have probably been treated with STPP, or sodium tripolyphosphate, the suspected neurotoxicant used to prevent drying…” (as quoted from Taras Grescoe’s book, Bottomfeeder.)
• Most decaf coffees are made by soaking the beans in solvents like methylene chloride – which is also used as a paint stripper.
• Most vanilla flavoring is either made from petrochemicals or derived from a by-product of the paper industry.

Seriously? Ew, ew, and more ew. How has our food become so unappetizing? And how has the American population become so apathetic about it? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that the majority of people are unaware of the chemical ubiquity in our food supply and are simply uninterested in learning about it. We live in a culture where the KFC Double Down, two pieces of fried chicken with bacon, cheese and mayo stuffed in between them, is an eagerly awaited sandwich.

This cultural mentality is precisely why The Conscious Kitchen is so important. We need to raise our individual and social consciousness about the way we eat and Alexandra Zissu spells out exactly how to do it. Beyond the foul facts like those I mention above (which certainly compel one to want to eat better), the book is a comprehensive guide to revolutionizing your kitchen. As the tag-line on the book says, it’s a “new way to buy and cook food – to protect the Earth, improve your health, and eat deliciously.” The Conscious Kitchen is filled with easy tips, tasty recipes, resources for further learning (and shopping), and more.

One of my favorite features are “The Lists,” which are sliding scales of choices in each category that rank products from best to worst. So, even if you can’t always afford the best option, you can at least look for the second-best (or wherever else on the scale your priorities and budget allow).

Surprisingly, given its size, The Conscious Kitchen covers everything from fundamentals like meat and milk all the way to better beers and energy-efficient electric grills (and it’s small enough to fit in your purse so you’re never mystified at the market again!)

Kudos to you, Alexandra Zissu! And my sincerest public apologies for my private ruminations of hubris. You raised my consciousness well beyond my kitchen!

Want to learn more? Tweet with Alexandra on Thursday night at 6pmPST/9pmEST during our #healthychild Twitter Party. We'll be talking about revolutionizing food with some of the country's experts and we have amazing prizes! RSVP today.

Related Reading:

It's Not Just My Food Revolution