Great Books: The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved

The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved (2006), by Sandor Ellix Katz, is a book from a time before "food sustainability" was a mainstream conversation in the United States.

This book fundamentally changed my outlook, not just on food, but on life.

Great Books: Ishmael

There are many lists of "Great Books" out there, but this one is mine.

The criteria for my list are simple:

These are books that have changed my thinking the most; have opened me to new ways of thinking; have framed important problems better than I've heard them framed before; or they're simply books that I want to share widely.

Carolina Slaw, Fermented Foods, and Fermented Drinks

Two new podcasts:

https://player.fm/series/the-urban-farm-podcast-with-greg-peterson/ep-357-alex-lewin-on-fermentation

https://player.fm/series/the-urban-farm-podcast-with-greg-peterson/ep-362-alex-lewin-on-kombucha-and-fermented-drinks

And a nice photo essay/recipe!

https://www.mountainfeed.com/blogs/learn/alex-lewins-fermented-carolina-slaw

If you have questions about any of this, please ask in the comments section below!

Alex

Take Back Your Health Conference: May 19-20 in Pasadena

I'll be speaking at the Take Back Your Health Conference in Pasadena on May 19-20.

About...fermented drinks!

(Unfortunately, the website doesn't always work right in Chrome--if you are having problems, try copying and pasting this link into a different browser: https://tinyurl.com/takeback2018 .)

There are too many interesting things happening for me to list here. Do check out the page if you're curious.

There's a special sale going on today, so you can save a few dollars!

Mexico Retreat! And Predictions for 2018!

Two orders of business:

1. Fermentation Residency
2. My Predictions for 2018

---

[UPDATED TO REFLECT NEW MEXICO DETAILS]

First, my coauthor Raquel and I are hosting a Fermented Residency in Monterrey, Mexico, from April 21–22, 2018.

You can work side-by-side with us, together fermenting everything we can get our hands on. Also a chance to experience the Monterrey area, and taste some local food and drink, including the legendary pulque.

Space is quite limited, and we expect it to fill up.

If you would like to hear more, please email us today at:

Mexico@FeedMeLikeYouMeanIt.com

---

Second, since it's January, I wanted to share with you some of my predictions for 2018! If they come true, then you'll think I'm terribly clever—and if not, then hopefully you'll have forgotten about them by the end of the year…

In no particular order, here they are:

• Greater kombucha variety! In particular, 2018 will be the year that high-alcohol kombucha makes a name for itself as a healthy, gluten-free, low-carb, and delicious alternative to beer. Also, the smaller, regional kombucha brands will continue to grow in importance, providing more options to kombucha drinkers.
• More natural wines and beers. Biodynamic wines, natural wines, unfiltered beers and wines, sour beers, and so on will continue to grow in popularity. Super-bitter IPAs, super-oaky Chardonnays, and massive red Zins have lost their novelty, for me and I suspect for others. When I have a glass of something, I now prefer something a little less engineered, a little lower-alcohol, a little less predictable, and a little funky.
• More mainstream rejection of the low-fat diet, the cholesterol scare, statins, and other health ideas based on outdated, incomplete, or bad science.
• Continued increasing interest in the human gut microbiome, and how it relates to not only digestive health, but also the health of the immune system, the nervous system, and other major systems in the body.
• Continued consumer demand for more–naturally produced food from mainstream sources, including mid-tier and even fast-food restaurants; markets and supermarkets; and school lunches. Better to be part of the control group rather than the experiment group.
• Health coaching. Health coaches can help us identify and deal with chronic health issues of all sorts and severities, and help us navigate the various health care resources at our disposal, as well as the bewildering array of specialized diets that claim to be able to cure our ills. In many cases, changes in diet and lifestyle can address underlying causes, while many sorts of pharmaceuticals only aim to blunt symptoms.