Recent reading

[luzula]

Yes, these are truly all the books I have read since my last reading post. *facepalm*

The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka (1975)
Borrowed from my crush. This was an interesting view on organic farming from the Japanese perspective. Not all of it feels applicable ("you only need to flood the fields for a short time, not the whole growing season!"), but the basic principles of no artificial fertilizer, no pesticides or herbicides, and as little plowing/digging as possible do seem the same as in Western organic agriculture, and I like his focus on trying to use ecological processes to minimize manual work. Very cool that in Japan you can grow rice for the summer season and cereal for the winter season and thus get year-round crops, and he describes an interesting way of doing that which minimizes weeds without excessive manual labor. Such year-round cropping is not possible in Sweden, not only because of cold winters, but also because there's too little light in winter. Is his method now wide-spread in Japan or not, I wonder? The philosophical aspects of the book are interesting, but I find them somewhat contradictory. You can't both say "nature is unknowable to us!" and "I know the way of farming according to nature, and if you deviate from it you will go wrong". I also wonder about his claim that vegetables which are closer to their wild relatives are always healthier--what about cases where there are toxins which are bred out of the wild version, which we are better off not eating? And finally I find him somewhat joyless on the topic of food, where he claims that you should just eat the food in as close to a natural state as possible and not do things to it just to make it more tasty. I want my food as tasty as possible, thanks!

Konsten att sköta ett äppelträd by Görel Kristina Näslund (2019) [The Art of Managing an Apple Tree]
Lots of good info on growing apple trees! I'm eager to try grafting next year.

Comments

[luzula]

Hmm, interesting. Different food is tasty for different people, so does that mean that the same food is absorbed more fully for the people who like it better?

[seascribble]

Well....take it with a grain of salt, because I cannot find the actual study now that I'm looking, just people referencing it.

"Glassner cites a study in which "Swedish and Thai women were fed a Thai dish that the Swedes found overly spicy. The Thai women, who liked the dish, absorbed more iron from the meal. When the researchers reversed the experiment and served hamburger, potatoes, and beans, the Swedes, who like this food, absorbed more iron. Most telling was a third variation of the experiment, in which both the Swedes and the Thais were given food that was high in nutrients but consisted of a sticky, savorless paste. In this case, neither group absorbed much iron.""

From here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eat-drink-and-be-merry/

And "“When we enjoy the food we are eating and stimulate dopamine, we actually digest and metabolize it more effectively,” says Storch. “When we’re relaxed in response to having a pleasurable eating experience, our nervous system goes into rest and digest mode, which allows us to fully break down and utilize the nutrients from the foods we eat.”" from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/get-your-vitamin-p-why-pleasure-matters-when-it-comes-to-what-you-eat#the-psychology

The association between enjoying food as it relates to diet choices and actual nutritional intake seems pretty strong (e.g., old people are more likely to maintain nutrition if they enjoy the food/experience of eating), based on skimming the research abstracts that came up when I tried to find the Swedish study though.

[luzula]

Hmm, interesting. I wonder though how they differentiate between the effect of enjoying the food, and the effect of one's body being used to that kind of food and perhaps having adjusted to it over the years?