"A wonderfully engaging memoir from the woman who founded Restaurant Nora, America's first certified organic restaurant--the natural foods pioneer who, earlier than anyone else, made it her mission to bring organic foods to the American table. The current proliferation of organic food and farm-to-table cuisine owes its existence to this mostly unheralded, groundbreaking woman who changed the way we eat as few others have. Growing up on a farm in the Alps, she was surrounded by fresh food--delicious produce and meats that had never been touched by artificial pesticides or hormones. When she and her husband moved to the United States in the 1960s, she was horrified to discover a food culture dominated by hormone-bloated meat and unseasonal vegetables. The distance between good, healthy produce and what even the top restaurants were serving was enormous. Determined to make a difference, first as a teacher and then as the country's premiere organic restaurateur, she charted a path that forever changed our relationship with what we eat. Spanning the last forty years of our culinary history, My Organic Life gives us the remarkable life of a little-known hero of the organic revolution"--
Growing up in Vienna during the war, Nora Pouillon learned the importance of food. Moving to the United States as a young adult, she was shocked to see that - rather than what she was used to - food here came in "...packages, boxes and bags..." (Quote courtesy of his green meanness - The Grinch). Rather than visiting each specific shop and chatting with the butcher, or the fruit stand owner, or the baker about what was fresh, it all just came in a sterile grocery store. Realizing that this could not possibly be healthy, Pouillon began to research. "My Organic Life" is the story of that research, and how it led Pouillon to become a leader in the Organic movement in Washington, DC.
I enjoyed reading this. Her experiences growing up were fascinating to read about, and directly tied into her fascination with food later on. The writing is better than I anticipated, and the story flowed well. The only issue I had, and it is a minor one, is that it seems like she did spend more time than I appreciated patting herself on the back for being "first" on many occasions to try something new. Don't get me wrong - the lady has every right to be proud of what she has accomplished, both personally and as a force of nature in the organics world. But I don't necessarily feel that it needs to be shoved to the forefront quite so often either.
Otherwise, it is an interesting look at an interesting lady. It reads well and smoothly, and was an quick and fun read.
