Misleading Traditions

I wrote a little about Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions a fortnight ago or so. Although it has taken me a while to return to this topic and my disappointment in the book, in the meantime Rose has written a good review. I agree with Rose's criticisms of the book.

Now I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, the difference in quality of the two foodie booksreally stands out. The appeal of Nourishing Traditions is that it is quite possible to my mind that she is right about the benefits of soaking grains. But her evidence is not, I suspect, "the latest independent and accurate scientific research" as the back cover claims. When so many of her claims are incorrect, I'm left wondering about the advisability of cooking her recipes when they appear to differ in technique from what I've already learnt elsewhere.

Weston Price may have made some very interesting discoveries. He overstepped his confidence thereafter and made some very romantic assumptions about cultures which he visited.

Buying a book is a big treat these days and I'd thought that Nourishing Traditions would be worth it. I should have left it for the library to get and bought Kingsolver's book instead. Beautiful prose, no neurotic conspiracy theories. Not surprising from the author of The Poisonwood Bible, a novel I adored.