So amazing.
And I will be clinging to her for the rest of my life, obviously.
In its endless, glorious variety.
Modern industrial food is literally killing us.
In the United States, 42.5% of the adult population suffers from obesity. Nearly three-quarters (73.6%) is overweight. Six out of the top seven leading causes of death are diet-related.
Our food is ruining our lives, and then ending our lives early. But why?
The catastrophic decline in food quality began more than 200 years ago with breathtaking improvement.
The Industrial Revolution, which would transform the lives of billions, was really a series of smaller, mutually reinforcing revolutions: The industrial energy revolution, the industrial transportation revolution, the industrial chemicals revolution, and so on. One of these was the industrial food revolution.
From around 1800 to about 1950, all of the major food problems that had plagued mankind for centuries were largely solved by industrialization, at least for people in the minority of countries that industrialized during this period. Famine, food-borne illness, lack of food variety, basic nutritional deficiencies among the poor and other problems were largely eliminated for millions.
Agriculture machinery, chemicals, railroads and trucks, factory assembly lines, refrigeration, pasteurization, homogenization, sterilization and other industrial-revolution innovations drove down the cost of food, and increased nutritional safety and variety. Lower food costs, plus supermarkets and household appliances meant people no longer had to spend most of their time paying for, acquiring or preparing food. Combined with advances in medicine, lives became longer, healthier and better.
And then, roughly in the 1950s, the industrial food revolution started harming human health on a massive scale. Here's what went wrong.
In the United States, 42.5% of the adult population suffers from obesity. Nearly three-quarters (73.6%) is overweight. Six out of the top seven leading causes of death are diet-related.
Our food is ruining our lives, and then ending our lives early. But why?
The catastrophic decline in food quality began more than 200 years ago with breathtaking improvement.
The Industrial Revolution, which would transform the lives of billions, was really a series of smaller, mutually reinforcing revolutions: The industrial energy revolution, the industrial transportation revolution, the industrial chemicals revolution, and so on. One of these was the industrial food revolution.
From around 1800 to about 1950, all of the major food problems that had plagued mankind for centuries were largely solved by industrialization, at least for people in the minority of countries that industrialized during this period. Famine, food-borne illness, lack of food variety, basic nutritional deficiencies among the poor and other problems were largely eliminated for millions.
Agriculture machinery, chemicals, railroads and trucks, factory assembly lines, refrigeration, pasteurization, homogenization, sterilization and other industrial-revolution innovations drove down the cost of food, and increased nutritional safety and variety. Lower food costs, plus supermarkets and household appliances meant people no longer had to spend most of their time paying for, acquiring or preparing food. Combined with advances in medicine, lives became longer, healthier and better.
And then, roughly in the 1950s, the industrial food revolution started harming human health on a massive scale. Here's what went wrong.
This mole, which is called mole chichilo, is the speciality of a tiny town called Tlalixtac de Cabrera where I had this. That thing in the middle is tamal. So good.
This was super delicious, and reminded me of the kind of horchata they make in El Salvador, which is made with roasted morro.
Pound cake with mango on top.
Look! A rainbow! ;)
This restaurant in Oaxaca called Praga has a pretty good menu, but their nachos contain American cheese.
In this edition of Mike's List: They want you to move so bad they'll give you cash, a house or a special visa! Plus: home food printing, 3D-printed vitamins, catching crooks with cookies, and more! Get the newsletter here.
Nick Jaynes, a mutual follow on Twitter, is using the picture I took of my kitchen in Oaxaca as his Zoom background. Love it!!
I bet @MikeElgan didn't believe me when I said I'd make his kitchen my Zoom background. pic.twitter.com/FkLgKwZzII
— Nick Jaynes (@NickJaynes) May 11, 2021
So much fun. I love the climate here.
The wind was high and gusty, with rain and lightning on the horizon, supercharging the atmosphere with electricity.
My daughter-in-law, Nadia, gave my son, Kevin, a Spanish ham for his birthday in March (specifically a jamón serrano).
It's the gift that keeps on giving. He's sicing ham on every social occasion -- including, I learned on Instagram, a Mother's Day picnic.
Considering his final frontier, 90-year-old Star Trek star William Shatner recently decided to boldly go into an Los Angeles studio and turn himself into a ghost.
Shatner spent five days recording a StoryFile, a type of interactive video created by a company also called StoryFile. Portions of the recording, which were captured by 3D cameras, will be “tagged” using StoryFile’s proprietary system. Later, Shatner’s ghost will be beamed to his family members, to fans via the internet, and possibly to museums and entertainment venues. People will be able to ask Shatner’s ghost questions. StoryFile’s system will “play” the answers, creating the illusion that William Shatner lives, even long after he passes on.
Welcome to the new spiritualism.
A hundred years ago, the idle rich of Europe and America indulged a fascination with the great beyond. A quasi-religious movement called Spiritualism, which began in the 1830s and rose in popularity during times of great trauma, such as during the U.S.’s Civil War. The movement peaked in the years between 1918 and the early 1920s, when Spiritualist ideas spilled over into mainstream popular culture.
The rich and famous went nuts for conjuring the dead 100 years ago. And now, they’re at it again.
Shatner spent five days recording a StoryFile, a type of interactive video created by a company also called StoryFile. Portions of the recording, which were captured by 3D cameras, will be “tagged” using StoryFile’s proprietary system. Later, Shatner’s ghost will be beamed to his family members, to fans via the internet, and possibly to museums and entertainment venues. People will be able to ask Shatner’s ghost questions. StoryFile’s system will “play” the answers, creating the illusion that William Shatner lives, even long after he passes on.
Welcome to the new spiritualism.
A hundred years ago, the idle rich of Europe and America indulged a fascination with the great beyond. A quasi-religious movement called Spiritualism, which began in the 1830s and rose in popularity during times of great trauma, such as during the U.S.’s Civil War. The movement peaked in the years between 1918 and the early 1920s, when Spiritualist ideas spilled over into mainstream popular culture.
The rich and famous went nuts for conjuring the dead 100 years ago. And now, they’re at it again.
In the courtyard of Criollo.
The taste and texture are more like a tropical fruit.
Amira and I met up with Jackie (another hardcore Oaxaca enthusiast) for dinner and a couple bars last night. So much fun!
With a side of potato chips!
We came back to the US just to get vaccinated, and now we're heading "home" to Oaxaca. We'll be there two more weeks, then back to California for a little while -- then off to Europe!
Had this delicious cheese on a crunchy roasted tortilla with very spicy and delicious salsa at a market food stall inside the market at Ocotlán de Morelos, Mexico. The husk was literally on fire when they served it.