Page 14 RAIN February/March 1982 Food as Preventative Medicine The Best from the Family Heart Kitchens, edited by Nancy Becker, 1981,152 pp., $5, from: The Oregon Health Sciences University (L 465) 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road Portland, OR 97201 (Make check payable to OHSU-Family Heart Study) The Family Heart Study is being conducted by the staff of the clinical nutrition section of the Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, under the direction of Sonja L. Conner, and William E. Conner. The project is being supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This study is based on the thesis that in affluent countries like the U.S., overconsumption of food is a cause, or at least associated with, a whole spectrum of diseases because it leads to intake of excessive amounts of certain nutrients. Coronary heart disease or stroke, for example, is associated with excess cholesterol, saturated fat, and calories; hypertension (high blood pressure) with salt and calories; tooth decay with sucrose. To prevent these diseases, the authors advise altered eating habits. Their recommendations include eating lower on the food chain, deriving nutrients largely from plant foods. In addition, the goals of their alternative diet include a decreased intake of fats, salts, and sugar, and an increase of starches and fiber. This attractive spiral bound cookbook is designed to provide a tool to aid people in the gradual adoption of a "new eating lifestyle." The book was given to 233 families living in one Portland neighborhood. All had volunteered to participate in this study of behavioral change. The families were randomly selected and are representative of the middle stratum of the American population according to the 1970 census. Groups of ten families meet once a week with the members of the project team for group support in their diet change. These meetings include food sampling and cooking demonstrations, along with behavioral reinforcement for making changes. Once every four months, the members of the families are given blood tests for cholesterol and blood fats, and answer extensive questionnaires. Although the study is in its third year, no results or conclusions are available to the general public. The cookbook, edited by Nancy Becker, a member of the project team, is introduced by "the important role of dietary factors" in diseases. Helpful sections preceding the recipes include a brief but interesting historical background and goals of the alternative diet, practical hints and encouragements for making gradual changes in diet, basic ingredients to have on hand, and a guide to using food bought in bulk. A handy notation for the recipes includes the labels "quick" (takes 30 minutes or less to prepare from start to finish), "easy" (takes little effort to prepare—15 minutes or less, but may require 45 minutes or more baking time), and "feast" (tasty choices for celebration). The variety of recipes here can suit a broad range of tastes; an occasional recipe calls for a processed food (canned fruit. Rice Kris- pies, frozen peas). Sections on meat preparation would be useless to someone who has already become a vegetarian; on the other hand, the diet's recommendation of "meat as a condiment" could facilitate an easy transition to a meatless diet. The cookbook is an excellent introduction and aid to the change of eating habits. Spirit, Values, and Quality of Life The Findhorn Family Cookbook, by Kay Lynne Sherman, 1981, 152 pp., $7.95, from: Hydra Book Company Box 813 Forest Grove, OR 97116 The spiritual community of Findhorn, whose garden made it famous, looks at cooking as a way of giving, the daily ritual of bringing Spirit into matter. When considered from this point of view, one can see that the attitude with which food is handled will be brought into the food during its preparation. Because food nourishes more than just the body, attention to the physical environment of the kitchen, its organization and its tools is also an important part of food consciousness, say the Findhorn cooks. Mindful of this, and of the sacredness of life in food, each chapter is introduced with a note of spiritual guidance; sometimes conveying a philosophy about the food and its preparation, other times an anecdote about life in the Findhorn community. Recipes are given in metric/imperial and American measurements. There are notations on ingredient variations, how to hurry the preparation of a meal, and what to cook in an emergency situation. Photographs celebrate the beauty in food or graphically illustrate more complicated directions. Recipes include the predictable soups, vegetable side and main dishes; also included are recipes for homemade tofu, extensive sprouting instructions, a wonderful chapter of alternatives to the "egg and toast" breakfast, and accompaniments to "a proper tea party." Warning: the desserts are extravagant and unabashed in their use of sugar. Whole Grains, by Sara Pitzer, 1981,186 pp., $7.95, from: Garden Way Publishing Charlotte, VT 05445 Garden Way is more than just a publisher in Charlotte, Vermont. It is a research and test site for those ideas which come to fruition in the books that they publish and the products that they sell. The Vermont site includes test gardens and a test kitchen, as well as working demonstrations of greenhouses, and of solar and wind technologies. Garden Way has other outlets in Beattie, WA; Atlanta, GA; Troy, NY; and Portland, OR. The outlets offer how-to books, energy saving devices, wood stoves, kitchen equipment, and free classes year round. All the products have been researched at the Vermont site. Whole Grains is one such result of test gardening and cooking, and reflects clearly what the author calls "a sense of positive action that comes from (being part of) the whole process." In this case that process is the growing, harvesting, storing, and cooking of your own grains. The book begins with considerations about growing grains and a discussion about small scale equipment. Also included are descriptions of some appropriate technologies (such as a bicycle thresher), and charts detailing the sprouting as well as planting schedules for each grain. Each of nine grains—corn, wheat and triticale, barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye, and rice—is allocated a specific chapter describing conditions under which it will best be produced. But even if you are not ready to become a grain producer. Whole Grains has something special for you, in the discussion of grain storage and recipes that detail new ways (besides bread) that can incorporate grain into your diet. Completed proteins are kept in mind in several recipes (Baked Beans with Bulger, Scottish Mines- troni), and illustrated directions on home-made pasta are included. I especially appreciated what the author says about standardization of products; she illustrates the confusion about terms and labels in a frank discussion about wheat flours. "If you're buying flour, the best thing to do is concentrate on what the flour seems like to you without worrying too much about what it's called." The appendix includes good resources for buying grains in bulk and for equipment. Clearly, the people at Garden Way and Sara Pitzer have done their homework in producing a thoroughly useful and enjoyable book, which although it doesn't say so in the title, is about improving the quality of our lives.
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