How Cooking Can Change Your Life - Michael Pollan
2024 ж. 4 Мам.
4 181 685 Рет қаралды
Renowned activist and author Michael Pollan argues that cooking is one of the simplest and most important steps people can take to improve their family's health, build communities, fix our broken food system, and break our growing dependence on corporations. The event was chaired by Tim Lang, professor of Food Policy at City University London.
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I started cooking 90% of my meals when covid hit and lost 65+ pounds. I wasn’t cooking hip healthy foods. I make pizza, burgers, pastas, bbq, chicken wings, or whatever I was craving. This guy is spot on. My food taste better and I feel better when I cook myself. We need a home cooking revolution and that would solve so many problems the USA has.
I like this. A homecoming revolution is something I think most of America can agree on
i would love for to cook for me caroline, nobody loves me
Unfortunately it's time consuming and some of us are too busy
@@JechtNH Claims time issues while on social media. 😉
@@cheezheadz3928 i browse youtube on toilet, you got me
“How cooking can change your life” ~Walter White
Walter* I was also watching breaking bad stuff and I was recommended this..
The only reason I clicked on this video was to make this exact comment.👍
Was going to comment the same thing lol
Gold.
jesser we need 26TB of methámfétámýn
The ONLY problem with cooking your own food is that 'going out to eat' isn't fun anymore. You realize how awful restaurant food is once you're use to home cooked meals.
Yes…totally get it. I have been cooking most of my meals for years way before the pandemic. And basically I I only go out for specialty meals or events …and to really nice places
Sad but true.
I be disappointed everytime
How is that a problem?
Doesn’t apply if you live in a large metro like NYC, Chicago or LA with some if the best restaurants in existence lol.
“You create an anxiety... and then you create a solution.” -- Really, there are times when it seems that marketing should be considered immoral, if not criminal.
Women stopped cooking and started working in marketing and advertising.
It is immoral. I am surprised that not many people understand this. All those persuasive ads are just twisting the facts by using "monumental" terms to present their product in a appealing manner.
@@RohanMeshram you piiihmimmmmmmhhmmmonmmmmmhmjmmrmomrmmlomtmmmkohmjmjomjmrmjmmnhmmrommmmmmmmmkmhomhmmhmmh
It's Capitalism, morality doesn't enter into it. It's profit ueber alles.
For the most part it’s more like “draw attention to a problem and create a solution” - but the government seems to enjoy creating problems
Ten years ago, I was unpacking our groceries and a couple of my kid’s friends who were visiting walked over and gawked at me. One of them, awestruck, said “you guys buy ingredients!”. It was then I realized that very few people actually cook these days. Coming from a family of European immigrants, I’d never experienced anything else. Even during college, my roommates ate crap and I made good things. Soon I was cooking for the house.
Didn't think to teach the rest of the house how to cook?
My parent never cooked much but once I went to college I learned to cook my own food. Its so much better.
"We recoil at social engineering by the government, but for some reason we accept it by industry."
Phenomenal quote! Of course, the government has to socialize their intent, industry not so much.
American culture is almost fully influenced (engineered) by corporate interest. We talk about "real estate" more then we talk about having a "home"
Government would not force social engineering, but industry has a collusive effective monopoly on the food supply. Lazy (or poor) people will not (or cannot) spend time and money on cooking food when u can pop down maccies and get a burger for a pittance
this one was absolutely spot on
It's a dumb quote. The reason people recoil at the government doing it is because their actions are backed by force and violence. No one is forcing you to watch ads or consume garbage food.
I see this all the time: People have difficult jobs, they come home , they are hungry, they hate shopping, they hate cooking. Their spouses hate shopping, hate cooking. No one prepares a meal. Result: Anger, upset, misdirected at spouse, and bad eating habits.
A sign of a society not functioning properly.
Cooking and baking is excellent stress relief. Blast your fav music, podcast or quiet your house, focus on the task and you come out with a tangible accomplishment. It's wonderful.
I cook myself a full breakfast every morning. Then I have some nuts and dried fruit during the day and that's it until dinner. I look forward to getting into the kitchen each morning. I enjoy the process of cooking. I also do the cleaning and enjoy that, too.
I find myself dancing in the kitchen with music while I feed the dogs and make my evening meal. I've always cooked, but now eat much healthier, and feel better since going to mostly all plants nearly seven years ago.
@@aarondyer.pianist 👏👏 Amazing
Agreed although I hate cleaning up after. I usually do the cooking and my wife does the cleaning.
@@jaredschmidt8013 That's a great setup. I do all the shopping/cooking here and neglect the cleanup sometimes. No humans to share the tasks or pleasures.
What a breath of fresh air to read all these comments. So many people cooking at home from scratch.
I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner (Monday to Friday). I prep my meals and take them to work with me during the week. Saturday is date night out with my girl and Sunday’s call for family dinners. I thank my Italian immigrant grandmother for teaching me how to cook
“You don’t have time for cooking, you’re too important” DAMN that hit 😂😂😂
I hate cooking
I have been cooking professionally for many years; still can feel excited to cook at home ! My opinion is that we need to start teaching children about food and preparation to take ownership about good nutrition!
big companies are not supposed to look after us, their aim is to make money. We are supposed to look after ourselves, no one else.
Even corporations and fat cat executives have a moral and legal obligation not to hurt people with their products.
My mom looks after me
@@MargaritaMagdalena good mom
I did keto for about two years. Although I don’t do it anymore-it taught me a lot about how the food industry puts salt and sugar in EVERYTHING. The health food aisle is full of foods packed in sugar-cane sugar and honey. The only way I could cut sugar out of my diet was to cook from scratch. And I discovered how many foods I ate that were based on convenience.
I absolutely love cooking. I find it recreational. To me, it is a mixture of art and chemistry + some traditional theoretical knowledge and craftmanship. I enjoy feeling the textures, smelling the ingredients, listening to the food processing and watching the metamorphose when heat is applied. Cooking is should be a joy never a chore!
I don't know too much, but I'm learning. With my schedule I find it nice to cook once every 3-4 days. I make a whole bunch and take it for lunch and then the next evening. :)
Unfortunately for me it is a chore, I get zero pleasure from it.
@@hilarygibson3150 The cleanup that comes afterward is a chore that I hate, but the actual cooking itself is super fun.
Please explain more coz I’m struggling to find joy in it , it’s only fun to cook smth new only
@@1saretathink about it this way, cooking is one of the few activities you can do that will actively engage all 5 of your senses, I personally find that when I'm using all 5, or even 4 of my senses actively, I'm very in the present, there's no thoughts running through my head, it's just me and whatever I decide to create. That's pretty therapeutic, it's what meditation aims to get you to as well, just being in the present, doing what's needed in the present the most.
I got to meet Mr Pollan waiting to board a plane from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. He was very kind and a total gentleman. His work has literally changed my life by opening my eyes to so many things about how we eat as humans these days. I was super excited to thank him for this and he seemed happy to hear it.
I read a passage of his book for a class “anthropology of food” and he came off as totally pompous. He was basically saying that you should only eat things you grow and grown at a farm. That’s something that most people can’t afford because now it’s so expensive and he came off very judgmental of those who don’t.
@@startledmilk6670 "Should" doesn't necessarily mean "must". I don't think he comes off as judgemental here, actually the opposite.
@@startledmilk6670 I think you may be misinterpreting his message. He's definitely not judging you if you can't afford to eat healthy food. It's our industrial food system that is the problem, not the individual. If we changed the way we produced food as a nation, everyone could eat healthier and it wouldn't be unaffordable at all.
@startledmilk6670 He was only telling the truth. Too many people are offended by someone telling the truth. Your assumptions about him are very incorrect...lol
Michael Pollan 8 years ago- "How cooking can change your life." Michael Pollan today- "How magic mushrooms can change your life!"
His next book could be 'Food for Thought: Cooking with Psilocybin' 😁
context?
@@imanafdar if you look up, he is doing alot of content on mushroom now. Just youtube his name with mushrooms.
So he's 2 for 2?
@@markbrower1146 for westerners who swing from one fad to fad, or as they like to think of it, "epiphany" or "truth" to another, may be. For the rest of the world, where russet poptato monocultures filled with pesticides too toxic to walk in are NOT the norm, it's not much of a profound realization at all.
Real food, cooked at home, saved my life. I've lost 80 pounds in one year, no longer need diabetes meds, no longer need high blood pressure meds, no longer have acid reflux, no longer have sleep apnea, went from an A1c of 11.1 to 6.0 in six months, and best of all I feel strong again and about twenty years younger. I hit the gym three times a week for one hour - that's it. And I'll be 70 next year. YOU CAN DO, TOO!! I'M TALKING TO YOU!! I'M NOT KIDDING. Things to beware of: Any "diet" - you will definitely lose weight on any of them, but absolutely none of them are sustainable. Work out a nutritional program for your self that you can be happy with for life. Also, avoid sugar, processed foods (pretty much the isle sections of supermarkets), sugar, additives such as antibiotics, hormones, GMOs, sugar, trans fats (for those items that still have it), sugar, and any of the following in more than small, occasional amounts: potatoes, bread, alcohol, fruit juices, and anything that has sugar (often hidden with weasel-word names - learn them), anything that was not available to your great-grandparents, and anything that contains more than two lines in the ingredient listing or contains words you can't pronounce. Things you thought might be bad for you, but are indeed very good for you in reasonable amounts: coffee, nuts, berries, nonfat milk, chocolate (NOT the brown sugar candies like Hershey's and Snickers bars, but REAL chocolate, containing at least 72% cacao - 90% or more is even better), and our old best friend: water - and lots of it. BEST OF LUCK!! I HOPE YOU GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT - YOU DESERVE THEM! Maybe I'll bump into you at the gym!
+mikerossscuba Thank you for sharing such an inspiring story!! Your story touched me so much that I'm going to make healthier changes to my life, and share your post with my friends.
+mikerossscuba Potatoes aren't good?
mikerossscuba Congratulations Mike! Thanks for sharing.
I believe you.
Great post!! Congrats on your transformation and restored health, and thank you for sharing your VERY motivating story. I really needed to see this.❤❤❤❤❤
When I discovered the problem with processed food while still working, I started cooking on weekends - pot of soup and maybe some cabbage or chili to last the week. Make part of a salad and top with tomatoes when its time to eat. It is much cheaper - but maybe not as "cravable".
@The Morning ⭐️ Not the way I make it - fresh veggies including some greens, frozen roasted tomatoes from the garden or low sodium canned, homemade chicken broth, you know, stuff like that. How do you make it?
Nowadays even home cooking is much easier compared to our grandparents. I work in morning market selling fresh ingredients like coconut milk, chilli paste, mix herbs. The chicken already chopped , fish scale and intestines already removed, you just basically bring the fresh ingredients home, wash it, marinate and just cook it. Usually those ingredients alone take time to prepare. Some greens like chives and curry leaves we just grew it at home in small pots.
nice, I smoked 4 chicken leg quarters and a two pound pork roast Saturday ...total cost $15, 8 for the food, 7 for the charcoal/chips...now I have food for a week and it is so delicious...people never factor how much money they spend when they don't cook...they stand around saying "no access, no healthy options" and more BS....ok, do you have Wal Mart ? They sell all the good stuff these days
@The Morning ⭐️ not to the level something outta a can would be...chili is just ground beef, beans and spices, soup? depends on which one, but it can be as basic as veggies, salt and water blended or not...kinda a troll remark from you
@@normansyawal2163 not exactly...it's about taking what you do have and just making it work...that's cooking, granted you have access to some items now that you didn't before, but salt and pepper pretty much season anything...really cooking is a mentality, I try to get my friends to cook but it's just "not their thing"...
"Eat anything you want, just cook it yourself." Well said, thanks for the video!
Brilliant. Not only is cooking at home a joy for me, my kids love me for it and it has become the big event for them. My daughter asks me starting at 6pm, “what are we having tonight followed by every 10 minutes, is it ready”? Learning how to dice a cucumber, cook a hamburger, perfect basmati rice, baked fish, eggplant casserole - have taught me how to be a better person, through focus, precision and health. Amen Michael Pollan!
The big plus is that I know what’s in it
As an Italian I suggest a solution: produce new grandparents. The italian food industry since 1861.
Chynk from Asia here..... U mean pass down the art of cooking and Italian cuisine?it's kind of funny a Europe that used to pride it's cuisine as a cornerstone of its culture and place culture and cuisine art and literature etc over everything as the highest level of enlightenment and development of the human existentialism to such a proud and arrogant extent.....would need to rely on the old generations to keep a culture that's dieing. I guess the younger generations nowadays are only interested in becoming the new social media influencer or tik tok sensation peddling the mundane and mediocre
I think it is an wonderful idea which sounds weird at first. If I have some children and retire when they are earning enough, then I can devote myself to cooking for them and their children. That way I'm still being functional and contributing to the economy. And my children and grandchildren can enjoy healthy delicious food even when they are super busy. I think we can make it a thing that you go to your parents or grandparents house to have a meal rather than McDonald's.
@@Kaiwizz Exactly!
Funny, I guess all we can do is be like them.
People are having kids too late for grandparents to be alive these days
Haven’t needed to see a doctor for anything in last two years since I started cooking at home. It’s comforting when you trust the cook.
This is a fantastic video. We've been eating about 90% clean for the past two years. I've started going to the gym. I've lost almost 120 lbs and most of that was because of the diet. Looking back, I'm amazed how I never saw how I was slowly killing myself with the food I was eating.
Well done for your efforts and achievements, even if I am reading your comment 7 years on, but I am taken how the word 'clean' and 'clean eating' has evolved into a 2020s meaning, in that what YOU eat is 'unclean' just because it might be different to my 'better' choices. I am sure that was not your meaning, but interesting nonetheless.
Congratulations damn i weigh 113 at 5'9
Congratulations Dan! Just noticed you made this comment 7 years ago. Hope you’re doing great!
@@legendkillersshittyduffleb932 u weight 8lb more than me lol almost same height
@@ayyotube5224 shoot do you like being your height and weight
After reading Michael pollan... it changed my life. I have made the effort to cook every night for my family
He changed me too. i cook from real food. Its amazing what people believe food is nowadays.
kslice Michael Pollan has changed my life immeasurably for the better
Im European so i don't have the same bizarre processed food problem, but Michael Pollan has changed my life nonetheless
does he have a book on that ?
I learned to homecook from my dad and since I moved to my own place I cook almost every single day, I now will literally feel sick and tired if I consume fast food or "trashy foods" ; For people that don't cook themselves I have one tip for you ; you don't know how bad you feel now eating crappy foods until you cook yourself and mind your eating habits. You WILL feel an enormous difference in energy levels and overall wellbeing
It’s all in your head
Completely agree! I can’t eat fast food/junk food now. It’s wild. It makes me nauseous/ digestive issues because I’m so used to healthier stuff now.
Hello, if you don't mind, can you list like 3 common and easy meals you make on a daily basis🙂. I want to get better at home cooking.
I feel lucky to come from a household to where my mom and father cooked dinner every night, when we traveled we packed our food with us, we always had a garden and chickens. We never ever relied on fast food. Those habits have now been handed down to me and I couldn’t be more grateful. It blows my mind when I eat lunch at work, it’ll be my sandwich and maybe some fruit and veggies with some other stuff in it, but all of my other coworkers everyday go and pick up any fast food joint they can get their hands on. Lol could never imagine downing a 2000 calorie greasy fast food meal for lunch.
I'm going to start quilt-making soon. Thanks Michael for restoring my faith in cooking. I cook every day from scratch, more and more as I get older. I try to grow whatever I can in my backyard as well. My Mother taught me everything I know and I really appreciate her lifelong efforts to bring the best food to the table every day.
I don't know how you live NOT cooking the majority of your food; not only is it healthier, but it's significantly cheaper....
people lack foresight
i never learned how to cook at home, and i live a very busy life. it’s hard to find time to learn & cook. so it would be very easy to just keep buying take out forever, i could definitely afford to. obviously i’m here though, trying to change that.
@@nathan___gage Honestly the only thing that really saves time is food delivery (like uber or from the restaurants themselves). If you’re doing take out, in the time that you spent finding and going to a place, waiting for the food to get cooked, then commuting back to your home, you could have cooked a healthy and cheap meal possibly even faster if you know how to cook.
@@JoeARedHawk275 absolutely. plus it’s super financially irresponsible. $10 * 2 meals * 30 days = $600/mo for one person… vs. $300/mo for any groceries you could possibly need for one person
@@nathan___gage i think it could be budgeting your time more wisely? If you have just 3 hours out of an entire week, you can meal prep your bfast, lunch, and dinner for at least 3-5 days out
I was raised in a Sicilian household and from my earliest childhood memories everyone was in the kitchen cooking. When I was older and started living with roommates or girlfriends, I realized how odd that was as no one knew how to cook anything but toast, fried eggs, mac and cheese, etc. I still find it weird that people don't grow up cooking. I've always wondered what the long-term health effects there are from not cooking at home and a diet that consists of food ordered to-go, at restaurants, fast-food joints, and frozen foods.
Long-term health effects = cancer, tumours, gut diseases, and maggots/parasites on your guts.
Covid, cancer, heart disease, rampant obesity, the end of the culture and the country as it sinks in unpayable health care costs...I was same in college as you..roommates ate garbage, I was doing roasts, chicken, burgers, pasta...I did it because I like to eat great and not pay much for it....I'd sure love to spend time in Italy and see how it really is in Sicily food wise
Thank you for this. Here is the vision for my family.
I could hear this man talk about any topic for days, the sweetness in his voice and the way he breaks down every bit of information is amazing, I regret not knowing him until now.
Cooking is meditation for me. I have been cooking from the age of 12, which was imbibed by my mother who always said it will benefit in accepting food served by others and stop finding faults in other people’s food. Another thing she taught me was praying while cutting the vegetables which increase the purity of the food when we consume. Since then I loved everything that I ate and relished it.
Food "cooked on the stove" is the key to good health!
+gorilla twist Only partially right. Fresh, clean and untainted foods like organics for example. And much more fresh fruits and veggies. Over cooking veggies is bad BTW.
A crockpot of slow-simmered tomato-bean chili and a fresh homegrown garden salad is the key to good health. It's too easy to fry food on the stove. A crockpot meal can be more nuanced and layered.
Cooking brings comfort… cooking for others brings joy… seeing the smiles bring satisfaction
This is a fantastic take. Food is a big part of our lives, and you could say it’s our whole lives. Unplugging from processed foods and harnessing my cooking has been a big liberator for me, a sort of spiritual task. I can tell how I’m doing mentally by what I reach for food-wise. I’m frustrated with how our society is going right now. I take that frustration out on what I eat: not letting the big food corporations get my money or my health.
It's amazing listening to Michael Pollan. Such an excellent communicator.
Michael Pollan is astoundingly insightful and comforting while educating us so importantly. National hero
I grew up in one of the most extremely dysfunctional households you could have found half a century ago in the US. There was no responsible parent in the house doing the daily cooking. There was an older brother or sister doing this and that keeping my twin sister and I alive until we could send for ourselves which was about six years old. It might have been sooner had I been tall enough to reach up and operate our gas burners (no auto lighting either - kitchen matches was the way). Anyway, there I was, from six years old to the present cooking my own food for myself. Who knew that it would be a great health blessing in disguise? Give me $20 even today and I can buy the fixings for better eating (to MY taste) than I can get with $100 eating at any restaurant.
Wow! I’ve never heard of the speaker before, but I’m so impressed. Great video. So glad it came into my feed.
He is so respectful to society. Empathised with people
Nothing new to me really, I've studied this subject for few years too but what makes this so big is that Michael here has balls to stand up and speak about it. I bow to you sir. Hope everyone could see this video, it's very important!
Thank you for this comment neckbeard, you've truly added something of value to the conversation!
@@deepseathriver6400 While yours has added nothing, mouthbreather.
Michael Pollan, how wonderful that you go there! This is all so true. We have lost something when we just thing about getting `FED` as opposed to being `NOURISHED`!
So true! I'm making most of my meals becasue I'm on sick leave. Even I make cookies and cakes. I refuse to use seed oils except olive. I only use fat from bacon or roast meats. I've lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks and I cant walk due to busted leg. Cooking in wheelchair is difficult but the food tastes so much better. My friend bought me takeout and the taste of canola oil was revolting
I used to eat out a lot. I would get sick on a pretty regular basis. Probably like 3-4 times a year. Then I had the idea one day that I have no idea who's hands were in my food and if they were clean or not. It totally changed the way I think about food. I avoid eating food not made by me as much as possible.
so hows ur health ?
@@violakarl6900 I never get sick. I could probably still make better choices of what I'm eating. I really wish I had the time and motivation to grow my own veggies. I get eggs from my cousin who has his chickens free range. I eat grass fed beef. If I buy stuff from the store I only go for organic. I don't really think it's possible to feel better than I do. Except for the occasional rough night of sleep everything is good.
Started cooking as a child with my Mom and sisters, love to cook, have cooked every day for over 50 years. Just finished garlic butter steak bits for tomorrow's brunch with our kids and their families. Of course biscuits and eggs, too..
I thought I couldn't love Michael Pollan any more, and yet he proves me wrong! Thank God for men like him!
Once I learned to cook in my late twenties well I love it…it is a creative outlet..you make your family and yourself happy..you feed them they smile they laugh..it’s great..but people need to learn how to cook..otherwise for most it’s a chore like it was to me..it took to long to make dinner..then it didn’t taste that good…then I had to clean up! Not worth it …take out! But once I learned short cuts and watched cooking shows and now KZhead..it’s great,,try it!
Been teaching about the microbiome globally! We need to take this serious and change our lives/culture! Make and eat fermented foods! It's easy and so important! Walking barefoot on clean soils, grasses and sand grounds our health on another level. Just returned from teaching in Australia! Sad to see that they have picked up a lot of our bad habits (fast-foods etc), in America but their is also a consciousness arising! Let's do it!
I do not agree w/ eating anything we want - as long as we cook it - but i do think i understand his point.
Giant kitchen is one of the most important hubs of a home. If you wanna cook but the cleanup is a pain, get a good dishwasher, not a cheap one... Invest, it will do the work. Theres a tool for everything, use em, it makes things easier. (I like the hand tools, they're often fascinating machines.) Freezer... freezer freezer freezer. If you're like me, single, you'll have leftovers youll be eating for days or weeks and it lets you buy in bulk so you save a bit of money.
If an expensive dishwasher can clean an iron pan better than I can scrub it with steel wool, then I will look into purchasing one... I remain skeptical on that note.
@Andrew Couto Right. I’ve found over the years that a dishwasher ends up being more work than actually doing the dishes.
Wow, this seems so obvious but man it really hit me how I have fallen into this myself. Returning to the simple things of life is the answer.
As a Dutch person who cooks every day and only orders something maybe two times a month, I find this cultural habit fascinating. I dont know any better.
Inderdaad, alles wat wij vanuit Thuisbezorgd kunnen bestellen, is niet persee vies, maar thuis koken is overduidelijk lekkerder en gezonder :)
@@anu1776 dat ook, maar ik kook ook gewoon elke dag. Thuisbezorgd is heel soms. Het is toch niet zo moeilijk om wat pasta te koken, tonijn er doorheen te gooien en saus op te warmen? Denk ik dan. :)
This maybe true for you, but I only see my Dutch roommate to maybe fry some eggs and everything else is takeout or instand food I assume. I don’t even know how to afford that but it’s also a thing here in the Netherlands.
I remember watching a documentary on potato chips, Lays or Pringles etc not really sure. The amount of research/time/money spent to design/engineer the most tasty, addicting chips was incredible...(so you buy more). Similar to drugs - not real/natural - that shouldn't become our norm - back to basics.
what is this called?
@@drewskii4513 Crave-ability
There ain’t no Lay tree or Pringle tree so they can get lost. I’d say no more than 15-20% of stock on regular supermarket shelves is actual food.
As a store manager I can tell you the oils leak from the bags of chips onto the shelves and even goo gone cleaner and elbow grease doesn’t clean the shelves. Imagine what that is doing to your body.
🇨🇦our family spends a lot of time and energy cooking. Our son 25 loves to cook.
From a professional chef working 10 to 12 hours 6 days week I still cook from scratch most meals takes 20 minutes at most it's all about prepping things the day before
Then it's not 20 minutes. Most things you bake take 30-1hr. Are u microwaving leftovers.
@@zebunker 🤣
Cooking is an orchestra of beautiful things
This is enlightening. McDonalds fries was the only thing I'd eat from there. Not anymore, though.
I make fries at home all the time. I use an air fryer. Also, I make animal style fries at home with cooked tomatoes and american cheese. I also believe in eating what you want, cooking at home, and slow down and chew. I just am tired of doing dishes. Also, dog food is easy to make and my pup love yams. I also regrow a lot of my plants. Easiest ones. celery and onions. Always good to have fresh.
I’ve always enjoyed cooking for myself, it’s one of those few things I always find joy in not the mention my ability to get something exactly how I want it is great
water is your best friend. I felt blowed and did the "water diet" (just drink tons more water than usual in accordance to your weight) and in one week you will notice a huge difference
Thank you Michael, for adding insight into the food system. Spring is a great time to get back into the kitchen, and the farmers market will be here soon in MI! Thanks again for your work.
For me cooking has been Zen for 50 years😃 Sensual, often exotic/erotic, sociable - do it together with friends over a glass of wine sometimes ... am a gourmet and a hobby cook, and at 72 my health is near perfect. However, I am also on a 16:8 fasting regime,not intentional, purely accidental. Never get hungry, and each meal is a feast. Not going to stuff my face with anything purely for psychological deficits.
I bet you see the difference as well compared to other folks your age!
@@MusicloverX88 Not in my circle of friends 😃
Michael Pollan's videos and books have been fantastic sources of information for me regarding nutrition and diet. He is so right!
7:14 ...they create an anxiety and then create a solution. I think that story and that line might be the most important part of the speech. Marketing and the media is controlling your minds.
Listening to Michael Pollan is so soothing
I am listening to this as I am cooking a meal. Cooking is my favorite form of art.
Great lecture! It is indeed true that if you do more homecooking you will be way more healthy. My parents always did home cooking and I'm rarely sick, and other kids from my school ate alot of fast food and sugar, guess what, almost sick monthly and some even had diabetes! Which was rare at the time, but now a days it isn't anymore
holy cow! no more ready meals for me, will spend the time to cook. thank you for sharing
YOU'RE SO RIGHT.. it makes me wanna cook my own meal
I love cooking. I made it a part of my daily routine. Soon as you make it apart of your daily routine its so rewarding, especially if it turned out delicious. Even better when others think its delicious. Just cook your own food. It only takes an hour. Cookings even easier if you throw it in a slow cooker.
Having just spent four hours of my Saturday making my mom's amazing cabbage and pork stew, I have to say that I'm conflicted. I do actually like to cook, and I'm good enough at it that I far prefer my own cooking to take-out and ready-to-eat grocery store meals, but there just isn't time. I turned down an invitation to socialize this weekend because I have too much housework to get done before Monday. We need shorter working hours, is what we need. I only work the normal 40 hours a week, and I don't even have kids or pets to look after, and yet, between work and sleep and managing a simple one-person household, I have practically no time left over to actually live my life. Wtf? I'm only starting to cook again because my poor body has been so neglected over the last two years that I've gained 20 lbs and I feel like I've aged three decades - so I HAVE to cook now. But it's seriously eating into my "free" time.
I have the exact same problem. I want or have to cook but when I do my free time is eaten up. There are several possible solutions to this problem and I'm still trying which is the best. 1.) cook more and keep the rest in the fridge or freezer for later. When you put sides and mains extra in the fridge you can later combine them new. 2.) cook with fresh ingredients but make it fast with what you have f.e. microwave 3.) buy additional kichen helpers like air fryer and instapot
I’m sure your friends need to eat at some point. You can go to them or have them come over and cook and eat and if they are good friends then clean up together. I had in the past went to a music festival and grilled on a grill grate in the ground and then buried the hole after. Cooking can be a social situation and taught to others.
You can prepare a meal in 20 min or so, you don't have to spend an hour cooking every time. In fact I am only eating cheese, bread and raw vegetables today cause its 30C and i am NOT turning on the stove 😂
@@EssentialBlue Oh, I absolutely cook massive batches and freeze portions for later - otherwise ALL my time would be eaten up by food preparation. This way I only really have to cook twice or three times a week, and just add a salad or an easy side or something the rest of the time. Even then, I feel it takes too much of my time. If I had a bigger freezer, I could reduce that to twice monthly, I think. But alas.
@@bmotroll2768 The friends idea sounds good on paper, but it would not work with my friends. Just gathering that often is a logistical nightmare, what with our work schedules and travel limitations, and then we have the food itself. One of my friends can barely boil an egg, another is a perfectionist who never has anything ready on time, a third can't boil an egg AND is a giant mooch to boot. Plus there's the dietary differences. This idea is one can of worms I'm not opening for anything. I'd like to KEEP my friends, is why.
This is incredibly insightful. I'm enjoying listening to every word.
I teach university courses; this is the level of expertise and authority that I strive to get to in my field of expertise...
Excellent and enlightening lecture Mr. Pollan!
Excellent speech. Salute
I started on the Mediterranean diet a couple years ago. It has been a great boon to my health (absolutely stopped arthritis in my hands, also lost 15 pounds without at all trying, etc). I am by no means super conscientious on the diet aspect (which foods for instance), but started cooking and as I cooked I had to learn how to cook. I also learned to use herbs and spices, to roast veggies, and all sorts of things that made food taste better.
a really good speaker. he was very concise with his arguments and points
Jeez, this guy can crunch out the words. Fortunately, good words.
I, or my spouse, cook about 18 meals out of 21/week (a few less for my spouse who buys lunch many work days). Sometimes that's cereal & fruit or fried tempe & vegetables, but usually its something like a homemade soup, a tofu-veg stirfry or beans & peppers burritos.
thank you so much for sharing your gifts with our world, I am a mother of three beautiful children and honor most of your rules........ so wonderful to feel your backing and i am a advocate for sharing this information with all who will listen.........
AMAZING! Great presentation. Love you Michael!
Thank you for this talk and this video.
His work is phenomenal.
Bravo! That is one of the most important things for children to learn. My daughter loves cooking & always has. She makes meals from scratch every day. I heard a friend of hers who's 17, asking her how to cook pasta. Imagine not knowing how to cook pasta. But, very common with young folk I see.
Well I hope someone showed her how to cook pasta! It’s a start!
Fantastic talk, BRILLIANT, simple, impactful.
As an Italian-American, it's our tradition to cook our Nana's dishes. My kids learned too. We don't eat fast food or drink sodas. It's farm to table for us. 😋
My every waking moment is spent either cooking or thinking about cooking. I usually dream about cooking as well. My father's father and my mother's mother were both restaurant owners and cooks, so I guess it's just in my genes. I am teaching my sons to cook also. I tell them that chances of finding a wife that can cook properly these days is dim, so their only hope for eating proper and delicious food is to cook it themselves.
That sounds unhealthy
I'm only 16 & i live in a household that forces me to only eat processed foods. I want to eat better so bad, but there is no ingredients in my house that will allow me to go back to the basics and it is quite depressing because i'm always sick. my body doesn't respond well to that food at all and i feel like it is slowly killing me, and making my health deny earlier then it should as i age.
The first step is to be aware of this, the next won't necessarily be easy, but you'll have to make it work for yourself. Since you are 16 you can work to buy the food you need to be healthy, if you have parents that understand then go grocery shopping with them and just start by buying fruits and veggies. If you need help with ideas on what to buy message me :)
You have the right, the obligation to take care of your body as best you can. After all, you only have this one body, right? keep that in mind when discussing this with your parents. Calmly tell them how you feel about junk food and explain that you'd like to eat healthier, I'm sure they'll understand & help you.
Just drink more water. The more water you drink the more toxins gets flushed out of your body
Most importantly, keep being aware of what matters to your body. It is a relatively short period of time that you will be on your own and able to make and implement your own decisions. You can then choose your food and your lifestyle and be rewarded with the healthier body you deserve and live a happier life. (And, yes, drink more water as dannyazzawi suggested, it will help that little bit that matters - also eat as much fiber as you can to move the food along faster in your digestive system leaving less time for toxins to absorb.)
run... and go work on an organic farm
Wow, so inspired!
Excellent. Thank you.
"This is traditionally how marketing works: you create an anxiety, and then you create a solution." Maybe I'm crazy, but this feels awfully relevant during these pandemic times.
Processed foods are "sneaky". I had not thought to check the ingredients on the bottle of store bought ketchup in my frig. High Fructose Corn Syrup is the second ingredient (right after some form of processed tomatoes). KETCHUP! New item on to-do list: Learn to make my own ketchup using my own home-grown tomatoes.
It’s why some kids always want ketchup on their food.
Cooking is a form of stress relief for me after a day of hard work
Thoroughly informative .
That's pretty profound dude. "There's a Wilderness inside of us as well as out there"
This is one of the best videos i've seen lately! =)
I sent this to my husband so he can have a better understanding of why I change the raisin bread he loves to sprouted organic raisin bread. Thanks for sharing
Great input, also great follow up questions!
Informative presentation indeed. Would anyone happen to know what resource(s) he gets the "Even poorer women who cook have better health outcomes than wealthy women who don't" quote comes from? Brilliant take-home point. Would love to read the paper in it's entirety.
6 years later, ^^ To be honest anything concerning food and a "healthier life" is to be taken with a grain of salt, since stress is also a very important factor.
It could have been a proper expirement, but it was probably a multiple linear regression. For example: health = cook + wealth + other variables.
This was Amazing
Michael Pollan rocks! Such a good speaker and story teller. I love to cook. Not particularly good at it, but gosh it’s fun, and I prefer my home-cooking to almost any restaurant food, though a local taqueria has my heart too. Making my own meals is also a way I can ensure I’m eating gluten-free, and a great way to feel connected to other cultures by using spices and recipes.
Love this!