WHAT’S SO CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS? by John T Lang (Newsouth Books, $29.99, available now) 12 FEBRUARY 2017 WHAT’S SO CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS? THIS MONTH’S LUCKY SUBSCRIBER, John Moody from NDA Engineering in Hamilton will receive all three books reviewed on this page. B O O K R E V I E W S It only takes eight weeks, clinical nutritionist Jess Sepel says, to heal your life, body, nutrition and relationship with food. Sign me up then! Australia’s most sought-after wellness and lifestyle advocate, Sepel has a lot to say about fad dieting and giving yourself the freedom to stop the guilt surrounding food, overcoming body stress and anxiety. She looks at sleep, cleansing and thyroid, and packs in more than 200 recipes and meal plans tailored to get your hormones balanced and your energy levels up, alongside nutritional advice for vegans. As well as tips for eating out, snacks, mindfulness and positivity, this beautifully collated book is all you will ever need to heal your life. As our Rachel once said ‘It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen,’ and Sepel’s sincere passion for wholefoods could offer that helping hand up to achieve total health. The topic of genetic modification of food is a tough one to get your head around. On the one hand, we know that innovation in food can help save starving people and lower cost of manufacture. On the other, it’s clear that changing the very essence of a food seems a bit like ‘perverted science’ that could have serious ramifications in the future. This topic remains the most bitterly contested of innovation in agriculture, and will continue to be so. John Lang, an associate professor of sociology at Occidental College in California, has done well, therefore, to LIVING THE HEALTHY LIFE by Jess Sepel (MacMillan, $39.99, available now) produce a jargon-free guide separating myth from fact and explaining what’s at stake…social and political power, religion, society, culture and ethics, globalisation and corporate concentration. “Our modern, mechanised and globalised infrastructure produces enormous amounts and varieties of food,” Lang says. “It also produces social vulnerability and undeniable uncertainty.” His book is for anyone who cares about where their food comes from and how it is produced. We should all be interested in that. LIVING THE HEALTHY LIFE If you’ve never heard of Oprah Winfrey, congratulations on successfully circumnavigating the Universe to visit us here on Earth…and welcome. For the billions of us who aren’t from another planet and do know about one of the world’s most wellknown, successful and loved personalities, it’s no secret that Winfrey has had what you could only describe as a complicated relationship with food over the decades. Look at the cover of any women’s magazine anywhere in the world, and the poor woman’s yoyo weight losses and gains are emblazoned for all to see. So it’s nice to see what is a very personal account of how she has more recently “made peace” with food, helped by Weight Watchers and her most favourite personal chefs, and adorned with deep-thinking essays and memories penned by the woman herself. With recipes ranging from ‘Unfried Chicken’ and ‘Turkey Chili’ to ‘Farro with Peas, Asparagus, Pesto and Cured Olives’ and ‘Chilean Sea Bass with Lemon Fennel Chutney’, this is a surprisingly candid look into a new way of life. “I know that losing weight and keeping it off will never be about dieting and deprivation, shaming and guilting yourself,” she says. “In order to wake up to a new way of eating, moving and being with yourself, you must first recognise that you deserve to be healthy and you’re worthy of being loved. You have to be willing to give yourself the best care you can, every day.” As host and supervising producer of the top-rated award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey has been watched by millions of viewers for 25 years and she is now regarded as a global media leader, philanthropist, respected and admired throughout the world. “Food is supposed to be about joy, not suffering. It’s meant to nourish and sustain us, not cause us pain. When you eat consciously and well, you feed your body and your spirit. And that makes all life more delicious!” Let’s hope her readers take heed. FOOD, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS BY OPRAH Winfrey (MacMillan Publishers, $49.99, available now) FOOD, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
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