In the tradition of Michael Pollan's bestselling In Defense of Food
comes this remarkable chronicle, from a founding editor of Edible Baja
Arizona, of a young woman's year-long journey of eating only whole,
unprocessed foods--intertwined with a journalistic exploration of what
"unprocessed" really means, why it matters, and how to afford it.
In January of 2012, Megan Kimble was a twenty-six-year-old living in a
small apartment without even a garden plot to her name. But she cared
about where food came from, how it was made, and what it did to her
body: so she decided to go an entire year without eating processed
foods. Unprocessed is the narrative of Megan's extraordinary year, in
which she milled wheat, extracted salt from the sea, milked a goat,
slaughtered a sheep, and more--all while earning an income that fell
well below the federal poverty line.
What makes a food processed? As Megan would soon realize, the answer to
that question went far beyond cutting out snacks and sodas, and became a
fascinating journey through America's food system, past and present. She
learned how wheat became white; how fresh produce was globalized and
animals industrialized. But she also discovered that in daily life, as
she attempted to balance her project with a normal social life--which
included dating--the question of what made a food processed was
inextricably tied to gender and economy, politics and money, work and
play.
Backed by extensive research and wide-ranging interviews--and including
tips on how to ditch processed food and transition to a real-food
lifestyle--Unprocessed offers provocative insights not only on the
process of food, but also the processes that shape our habits,
communities, and day-to-day lives.
