I checked out Garden of Eating from the library. I tried looking through this forum for threads discussing this book and couldn't find much. Anyone have old threads bookmarked? I am curious what other people here think of it.
I just started reading it yesterday during DS's nap, so I haven't read it very closely yet, nor have I tried any of the recipes. I do find it interesting how the authors base their diet on research on early human diets and the health of humans living in different early societies. Their argument goes something like this:
1) Which human societies were the healthiest? (and therefore, which should we emulate)? Their answer is that hunter-gatherers had significantly better health than all other human societies (such as herders, primitive farmers, and modern societies) and therefore we should strive to emulate hunter-gatherers.
2) What did these healthy people eat? Their answer is that the hunter-gatherer diet lacked the products of herding and agriculture (grains, legumes, and dairy); included both animal and plant foods, with an emphasis on plant foods (they estimate 70% by weight); and was relatively low fat (due to lower fat content of wild meat, and lack of vegetable oils and butterfat in the diet).
How does the Garden of Eating differ from NT? The biggest conceptual difference is that the authors seem to consider only hunter-gatherers to be healthy enough to emulate. I suppose they feel that if you are trying to be healthy, you might as well try and copy the "healthiest" diet as closely as possible. On the other hand, NT-style traditional diets would also include the diets of herders and primitive farmers. These groups, such as the "primitive Swiss" described by Weston Price, seem quite healthy in comparison to modern people, even though they lived on foods that hunter-gatherers would not have eaten, such as (in the case of the "primitive Swiss") bread and dairy products. Dairy products and properly prepared grains are mentioned as optional foods in the Garden of Eating, but they are relegated to an appendix.
It also differs from NT in that it has a more single-minded focus on which foods traditional societies would have eaten, rather than how they prepared those foods. I didn't see much of a discussion of pre-agricultural food preparation, storage, or cooking techniques, but maybe I missed that part? I do really like all the emphasis on traditional food preparation techniques in the NT book. The Garden of Eating does recommend cooking most foods, but it was not clear to me whether the authors believe that hunter-gatherers cooked most of their foods. Also, didn't hunter-gatherers ferment some foods? How did they preserve fresh foods, other than by drying them?
I liked how the Garden of Eating has very specific dietary recommendations including how much meat and fruits/vegetables to buy and eat. They also include lots of information about kitchen storage, meal planning, and shopping, and the book is very well organized and easy to use! These are all practical features that I found lacking in the NT book (though it is quite possible that there is something I missed in the NT book; I haven't read it closely). I also like the emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I think it is easy to read the NT book and then to get so caught up in the soaking and fermenting and entrail-eating that you forget to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables.
I just started reading it yesterday during DS's nap, so I haven't read it very closely yet, nor have I tried any of the recipes. I do find it interesting how the authors base their diet on research on early human diets and the health of humans living in different early societies. Their argument goes something like this:
1) Which human societies were the healthiest? (and therefore, which should we emulate)? Their answer is that hunter-gatherers had significantly better health than all other human societies (such as herders, primitive farmers, and modern societies) and therefore we should strive to emulate hunter-gatherers.
2) What did these healthy people eat? Their answer is that the hunter-gatherer diet lacked the products of herding and agriculture (grains, legumes, and dairy); included both animal and plant foods, with an emphasis on plant foods (they estimate 70% by weight); and was relatively low fat (due to lower fat content of wild meat, and lack of vegetable oils and butterfat in the diet).
How does the Garden of Eating differ from NT? The biggest conceptual difference is that the authors seem to consider only hunter-gatherers to be healthy enough to emulate. I suppose they feel that if you are trying to be healthy, you might as well try and copy the "healthiest" diet as closely as possible. On the other hand, NT-style traditional diets would also include the diets of herders and primitive farmers. These groups, such as the "primitive Swiss" described by Weston Price, seem quite healthy in comparison to modern people, even though they lived on foods that hunter-gatherers would not have eaten, such as (in the case of the "primitive Swiss") bread and dairy products. Dairy products and properly prepared grains are mentioned as optional foods in the Garden of Eating, but they are relegated to an appendix.
It also differs from NT in that it has a more single-minded focus on which foods traditional societies would have eaten, rather than how they prepared those foods. I didn't see much of a discussion of pre-agricultural food preparation, storage, or cooking techniques, but maybe I missed that part? I do really like all the emphasis on traditional food preparation techniques in the NT book. The Garden of Eating does recommend cooking most foods, but it was not clear to me whether the authors believe that hunter-gatherers cooked most of their foods. Also, didn't hunter-gatherers ferment some foods? How did they preserve fresh foods, other than by drying them?
I liked how the Garden of Eating has very specific dietary recommendations including how much meat and fruits/vegetables to buy and eat. They also include lots of information about kitchen storage, meal planning, and shopping, and the book is very well organized and easy to use! These are all practical features that I found lacking in the NT book (though it is quite possible that there is something I missed in the NT book; I haven't read it closely). I also like the emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I think it is easy to read the NT book and then to get so caught up in the soaking and fermenting and entrail-eating that you forget to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables.
!)
I'm almost there, eh? (One post closer now!)
What you say about soil health Toraji is very interesting as I remember thinking when I read about the rural swiss in N&PD that the cows must be getting lots of minerals from the glacial fields where they graze.
) Lots of people are grossed out by entrails. Personally, I have no problem eating liver, heart, tongue, and fish roe, and I used to eat brains a lot as a child, but I'm too picky to eat fish guts, fish heads, and bugs (DH, bless him, loves chicken feet and fish heads though, and I'm sure he would be happy to try a properly prepared specimen of one of the kosher locust varieties if one were offered)
Personally I doubt she would have got that fat in primitive times myself.
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