Unprocessed

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.