Don’t Eat Anything That Doesn’t Rot, an interview with Michael Pollan

Liked this bit a lot:

“One rule that I found really helpful is to shop only around the periphery of the supermarket. If you look at the layout of the average supermarket, the fresh whole foods are always on the edge. So you get produce and meat and fish and dairy products. And those are the foods that, you know, your grandmother would recognize as foods. They haven’t changed that much. All the processed foods, the really bad stuff that is going to get you in trouble with all the refined grain and the additives and the high-fructose corn syrup, those are all in the middle. And so, if you stay out of the middle and get most of your food on the edges, you’re going to do a lot better.”

I note that my precious Claussen pickles can be found only on the periphery.

China’s Olympic goal: Turn smoggy sky blue, by Jim Yardley

“For Beijing’s estimated 12 million residents, pollution is an inescapable health and quality of life issue … fine particle pollution has been exacerbated by a staggering citywide construction binge that shows no signs of letting up … the city will never be able to clean itself up if surrounding industrial provinces are not cleaned up, too … Beijing literally traps and attracts pollution. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Beijing depends on strong winds to disperse pollution. Yet winds also draw pollution into the city.

Beijing now has more than three million vehicles and is adding roughly 400,000 new cars and trucks each year. Beijing’s reliance on cars and trucks leaves the city’s air with few reprieves. As in other cities, heavy trucks can only enter at nighttime. Diesel exhaust is so severe that Beijing’s levels of PM2.5, a tiny particulate deemed potentially harmful to health, is highest between midnight and 3 a.m. … Beijing’s problems are compounded because the city’s public transportation system was ignored for years.

On Aug. 5, environmental physiologist Jon Kolb measured a rating of fine particulate pollution, or PM10, at 200, roughly four times higher levels deemed safe by the World Health Organization … Beijing’s biggest problem is PM10 and other particulates, which are often the byproduct of construction, industry and cars.

Levels of PM10 remain well above both national and World Health Organization standards. In 2004, the concentration of airborne particulates in Beijing equaled that of New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta combined, according to the United States Embassy in Beijing.”

Last week, or was it the week before last?, the air quality in Beijing was so bad that it shocked even a jaded old timer like me. From the 26th floor of my apartment building I couldn’t see a very brightly-lit building that stands about 100 yards away. I reflected on the situation and smoked a cigarette to clear out my lungs. :-)

*Apologies to Willie Nelson

Given my recent tooth trouble and the excellent comments to this post, I decided to get a toothbrush/waterpik combo. The only one available locally was the “Oral-B Oxyjet Center,” which I bought for around RMB1500 (US$195). Seems expensive until you realize that it’s less than half of one payment my dentist makes monthly on his Mercedes. (Typically you’ll pay a 50-150% premium over US retail for certain things in China — in this case I paid about a 70% premium.)

Anyway, I always considered myself a good flosser and brusher, I always thought I was doing a pretty thorough job cleaning out the old mouth. But you’d be amazed at how much stuff comes out of the nooks and crannies when using the waterpik. It’s like a cascade of tiny bits and pieces falling into the sink. I call to my wife while pointing into the sink: honey, come quick and look at this! I’m not saying this to be gross; it’s my way of persuading you to get a waterpik.