Author spells out ways to dine on healthy, environmentally friendly food
Sophie Egan admits she was a picky eater as a kid. Moving to Italy at age 10 was an eye opening experience, especially when it came to food.
Now she’s a mom to 1-year-old twins in Boulder, Colo., and she’s navigating the world of raising good eaters. As the director of health and sustainability leadership for the Strategic Initiatives Group at The Culinary Institute of America, she had a unique view of consumers and businesses, and how our food choices are implemented daily. After studying public health and working with Michael Pollan for her first book, “Devoured,” she turned her attention to everyday choices about food.
“How to be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That are Good for You, Others, and the Planet” ($16.95, Workman, 2020) is her newest effort to help consumers navigate grocery aisles using research and science.
Egan dives into the things consumers need to know to make effective choices without dumbing down, scare tactics or preaching. Terms like organic, sustainable, humane certified, cagefree, and grass-fed are explored and explained. Egan’s “radically practical guide” creates an accessible way to make food choices on the path to becoming conscious eaters.
Every element in the book — and the grocery aisle — comes down to Egan’s three-part standard: Is it good for me? Is it good for others? Is it good for the planet?
Egan, the founder of Full Table Solutions, will be in Milwaukee for a reading and talk at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Place, with Boswell Books.
Question: How did you start developing an interest in learning about food and educating others?
Answer: The short version is that I had a pretty formative experience as a 10-year-old when my family moved to Tuscany. I was in fourth grade and we lived on a farm. I was a very picky eater. It was literally the first time I understood that chicken nuggets came from chickens. Oh, that white blob from the freezer came from the animal in the yard. …That turned out to be pretty eye opening for me.
Q: What was the impetus for writing “How to Be A Conscious Eater”? Why conscious?
A: Touring for my first book I deeply felt the anxiety and confusion among American eaters. …In my world a lot of the science is actually settled, but when I see the consumer mind, they question whether olive oil is healthy or red meat is healthy. A lot of these, there is more consensus than diners might think. … Lastly, it is not enough to eat in ways that are good for yourself. It has become a greater responsibility.
Q: What do you want people to take away from the book?
A: The book is like the prescription lenses for seeing straight amid the complexity. It is seeing the bigger picture to avoid decision fatigue.
Q: Why does it matter where our food comes from?
A: If a food choice is not good for you, others, or the planet, why bother if it doesn’t check at least one of those boxes? By and large, I’m not talking about special occasion foods. I’m talking about the things you do on a daily or weekly basis.
Q: What is the number one thing you’d like to see people try to implement in their home?
A: It is really two things, and those are plant-rich diets and less food waste. There’s a lot of good evidence to show that by far the most effective of 80 total solutions for reversing global warming, number three is reducing food waste and number four is plant rich diets, plant forward, plant centric, also called flexitarian. … The headline is that food choices are a powerful but overlooked tool for climate action. The great thing is that those two steps, wasting less food and eating more plant-based foods, are also great for you. This is not something only the elite can do.
Q: You devote a section in the book to shrimp and seafood. What did you learn that might surprise people?
A: I was really shocked to learn about the prevalence of slavery in the shrimp industry. When this expose first came to light several years ago, I think a lot of people, myself included, were shocked and wondered how this could be occurring at this point in time…
Especially when you look at how much shrimp is consumed in the U.S., this is a real issue to vote with your grocery basket. Instead of mindlessly purchasing, there are ways to help, thanks to Seafoodwatch. There are also several traceability certifications on labels to help. … That includes the Marine Stewardship Council.
The main thing to know is that most of the shrimp we have in the U.S. is imported. … So one of the good rules of thumb is shrimp from U.S. sources are a good option. Think North Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska.
Q: What are foods people should introduce to their diets?
A: Make fiber your friend. That means largely legumes, beans mostly, but also lentils, along with whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Lentils are a legume, a heroic legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil.
Q: Is there anything you don’t eat at this point, after researching this book?
A: I do not eat processed red meat products. I work in food. I love food. But processed meats are a carcinogen, and that is not a classification the World Health Organization issues lightly. That’s essentially smoked, cured meats, those are the main ones.
Q: What’s a simple switch that people can start with today?
A: Cold cuts are a great place. So many eat turkey and cheese or ham for lunch. Instead of “I can’t eat that,” what are you going to eat instead? Dips and spreads are the replacement for me. Think of hummus. There are like 87 kinds of hummus. There is baba ganoush, an eggplant spread. There are amazingly tasty vegetarian spreads.
Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry; or visiting chefs. To suggest individuals to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.