Reefer Madness and the 100-Mile Diet

Reefer:

I actually bought this book a couple of years ago, after reading and loving Eric Schlosser's other book, Fast Food Nation. It sat on my shelf for a long time. I forgot about it for a while, and it also got bumped down the line a few times for borrowed books (friends and the library) that need to find their way back sooner. I started the 100-Mile Diet before leaving for Italy, but I didn't want to bring it with because a) it's a friend's book b) it's hard cover c) it's autographed. It seemed like an all around poor choice of a book to bring traveling. So Reefer Madneness got it’s moment, on vacation. (watch me get sent for "random" drug testing again. ;) ).

The book is actually three essays, linked by the topic of the American black market. The first one is on the craziness that are marijana laws in the States. This is actually what I thought the whole book was on, but in hindsight, the big black American dollar bill on the cover maybe should have tipped me off. I really enjoyed all three essays in the end. The second essay is about strawberry production in California, and specifically the cheap, often exploited, ofter illegal immegrant labour involved in harvesting the berries. This essay has links to the 100-Mile Diet, and I suppose Fast Food Nation also. Not only do I recommend it, I own it, so if you want to read it, just let me know.

Diet:

I expected to like the 100-Mile Diet, but I liked it for even more reasons than I expected too. I enjoy books/lectures etc. on this sort of topic, but I wouldn't have guessed how much reading the 100-Mile Diet made me appreciate food. It's not a doom-and-gloom book and instead sents a positive message about improving the way we eat, and connecting to your food source. It's also very well written and quite funny. It's written by two young people living in Vancouver, and I found myself wrapped up the story of their lives. There are recipes at the start of every chaper, and a couple of fun quotes. My favorite, mostly because it makes me think of my league team, is this:

"If you wish to make an apple pie truely from scratch, you must first invent the universe".
- Carl E. Sagan.


Unfortunatley, the best I can do is recommend this book. I borrowed it far too long ago, and I need to give it back.

My current read is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, so far is sweet.