Ditching the Drive-Thru (2024)

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The book breaks down as follows: Part 1: The call for change: modern America's relationship with food (food culture, and perception, diet mythology, the food maze, seeing the boundaries, corporate marketing manipulation, reading the compass/making informed choices). Part 2: Embarking on the journey: How to make a change that lasts (the value of farm-fresh, agri-cabulary, navigation/keeping sane on the journey, perpetuation/creating and maintaining good habits, taking the first step/turning theory into practice. Included are an epilogue, appendixes (30 month plan and food preservation and recipes), resources and index.

Winch's tone is very encouraging and she isn't espousing an 'all in or nothing' approach. Rather, suggestions include starting to buy farm fresh (CSAs) for a few months, weaning away from packaged or processed foods, and slowly but surely moving away from supermarkets and restaurants. Since she is located in New Jersey, there is an appreciation that farm fresh isn't available in the Winter months and so suggestions are given for that time of the year as well.

There are some minor expenditures that might be needed for this new way of eating; e.g., if you are going to buy a whole cow and bring it home, you'll need an additional freezer. Other things like a blender or dehydrator, canning supplies, etc., will also be useful/helpful/needed. But there are interesting savings comparisons that support the decisions and choices made in the book.

There are a few recipes in the back for some items that you might not find in most cookbooks/are useful in a variety of ways (e.g, cooking a heart or creating a successful broth) but they are meant as a starting point and not a one-stop resource. Indeed, resources for recipes and more are given at the back of the book.

Books like this, with a very driven author, can either be useful or useless - depending on whether that author can translate their success/story in a useful way to a different type of audience who doesn't share their drive. With Ditching the Drive-Thru, Winch isn't caught up in her own story and has taken time to see from the perspective of readers and all their various reasons why they haven't taken the time/effort to change their own unhealthy lifestyles. As such, it is a book that can be read quickly but with profound consequences: useful/usable tips and a better understanding of the food industry and how it affects/confuses/fools the consumer. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch needs to be in every home and read by every American (well, okay, not toddlers, but their parents should read this). Really. Since I couldn't stomach (no pun intended) the documentary Food, Inc., because I'm so incredibly sensitive to seeing how the animals are treated in the livestock industry, this book was perfect to remind me why I chose to be organic and responsible for my choices. I found a lot of what Ms. Winch wrote about her past relationship with food to be similar to my past: I used to consume anything that contained aspartame, anything labeled low-fat (in fact, I acquired a nickname because I was obsessed with low-fat/no-fat foods) and also tried Olestra when it debuted (and had the same physical reactions that the author did); basically, I was worried about my diet being solely to keep my weight in check, not to keep my health in check.
So why would this book be helpful for someone already in this mindset like I am? Well, first of all, the timing could not have been more perfect; I recently took a pay cut, and after the initial shock and worrying in general how I'd afford to keep things running in my life and that of my family, I panicked, also, about how I'd maintain our food integrity. As I read through Ditching the Drive-Thru, I was thrilled that I not only had a source that supported my complete belief in putting forth effort with the food myself and my family consume, but that I can do this in a more affordable and streamlined manner. Thank goodness I read this book when I did. Another reason this book is important to me despite my already having adopted most of her ideals regarding food consumption is that it resonated with me so much; I have been re-inspired. I mean, I knew I was doing things well, but without some pep rally once in a while, or an audience to cheer me on for decisions like this, I started to get into my own head and wonder. Then I read Ditching the Drive-Thru and I had the affirmation I needed to continue, and tools to do so on a restricted income and limited time (Ms. Winch gives tips on how to freeze, preserve, and make things from scratch instead of paying twice as much for something already made, which is usually loaded with preservatives and damaging chemicals). I have not gone through a drive-thru sans the bank in over a decade...and even when I did in the past, it was maybe once per year...but this book is not ONLY that book. It's about take-out, prepared convenience meals and why all of this relates directly to so many issues (health, financial and family structure). Some of the statistics, though not surprising to me, are still startling in extremity. She gives some fantastic tips, some useful recipes and a plan to get you on your way. She stressed, which I love, that this is NOT an overhaul type of mentality. This is more of a one-step-until-it's-routine-and-repeat type of implementation.

Natalie not only entertained me with her recounting how she walked this path and jumped the hurdles, but I found myself writing so many things in the margins of the book and underlining so many facts. You should know that, as Natalie confessed to, I'm also a book addict, so marking up a book with INK goes against most of my rules. I usually do this with pencil and dog-ear the pages, but I just could not get over how much this book connected the dots for me. I also really appreciated her respect for the American farmer and how that entire dynamic is something so many fast-paced Americans miss out on. There is a part in the book in which she states that farmers are among the smartest people she's ever known, though they have such a terrible stereotype of being illiterate, dirty and clueless. Farmers are great with numbers, geometry, engineering, business and problem-solving. If you find this hard to digest (okay, that pun is intended), I implore you to look up local farms, especially ones that offer a CSA program. Make an appointment and visit. I promise you'll agree completely with Natalie's (and my) assessment. I absolutely LOVE going to farmers markets and connecting with the folks who saw their products from seed to harvest, or in some cases, managing their pastured animals for meat, milk and eggs, etc. Having been a CSA (community supported agriculture) shareholder, as well as having some years we did not participate, I can confirm that the plan Natalie lays out is achievable in either scenario. Not having a CSA requires more legwork (farmer's markets weekly Spring, Summer and Fall for a Midwest gal like myself, and market supplementing in the winter if my frozen/canned items are not plentiful enough in the winter).

I cannot recommend this book enough, especially as we approach the flu season (another benefit: less illness!) and people will begin to get into a winter rut. Grab this book, read and make notes, and start taking steps to modify bad habits slowly into life-saving skills. All without reinventing the wheel. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Visit www.Genuinejenn.com for a giveaway on Dec 1,2015. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love to read about food and health, so naturally when I saw this book I really wanted to read it. One thing that I liked right away was it is not another weight loss book. This book doesn't talk about what you should and shouldn't eat to lose weight, it doesn't give us some false strategies to drop 10 lbs in 4 days. This book is more about where are food comes from, what the marketing aspects are and why were should be conscious of what we were from where. For the past year I have been really looking more at labels and understanding what each ingredient means and how our foods are grown. I buy as local and fresh as I can. We buy usually all our meats at a local butcher, where the meats are all local as they can get them. I know do have some questions for our butcher the next time I go there. I would love to be part of a fresh produce farm and will look into that for next spring. We usually spend a little more and purchase from our local farmers when we can as a way of saying thank you to them for providing such nutritious foods. We know where the food comes from and when it has been picked compared to purchasing in a big chain store. A lot of foods travel a long distance. The down side to having a husband in a food industry job for years was we learned where and what our foods go through.

I really would like to start canning our foods and have been very apprehensive of doing it but after reading this book I am going to read more on canning and take the first steps into it. I would like to ferment some foods as they are really good for the gut.

This is a great book to open your eyes to what happens to our foods before they hit the stores and how processing things like dairy and meats happen between leaving the farm and hitting the table to eat.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. A great start for someone looking to venture into clean eating.

I’m the kind of mom who always looks for ways my family and I can eat better. Over fifteen years ago when I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I did a lot of research and discovered how food plays a vital role not only in causing illness but in healing the body too.

I used to read a lot of books like this one. Then my kids came along and my new lifestyle and eating habits slowly disintegrated. So reading Ditching the Drive-Thru was so refreshing. It reminded me that I knew a lot of this info, and what was I doing about it? Not as much as I’d liked. It was time to take action and continue to make some of the changes I had started years ago.

The best part is that the author is not a professional in the food industry. She is a mom and a high school teacher who wants to make a difference. She decided that she would do research and make small changes that would benefit her family and their health. That’s me. I could so relate to this author’s journey and her upbringing and the way she came to make the changes in her life.

When I first picked up this book I found it visually appealing, with a great cover and a great layout. The chapters are short and the book easy to read, even when Winch is laying out stats or numbers. She did her homework and the first part of the book explains how the food industry works. The back of the book also contains resources, a list of books we can read for additional info on the topic, a bibliography and an index. Winch writes in the first person, and injects her text with her own experiences of how she came to pass up processed foods and how her own family adapted to the changes.

To say I found this book inspiring is an understatement. It’s precisely what I needed: another mom saying, “Hey, I made the change, and so can you if you want. Here’s what I did, try it. Go at your own pace, but here are a few tips.” My father grows all his own produce and enough to share with his kids and neighbours. So I eat farm fresh and organic. I cook most of my own meals from scratch and believe in non-MGO products and look for this label constantly. But it’s the meat and dairy products I’d like to work on getting at the local farm. And now I feel I have the impetus to do it.

After reading this book, I have the motivation to research local farms in search of quality meats and to continue making the right eating choices for my family. If you want to know more about the food industry and how you can make a difference in controlling what you eat, this book is ideal. Like Winch says, knowledge is power. The more knowledge a consumer has the better choices we can make. Kudos to this mom for empowering other moms to do the same.

While reading books such as Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Sugar Fat Salt have been quite eye opening, none of them offer tips about the nitty gritty of making a change from processed to whole foods. Ditching the Drive-Thru is filled both with information that will encourage readers to want to make the switch and information about how to undergo said switch.

It’s not like author J Natalie Winch is a health-care professional, but she neither presents herself as one nor writes as if she is one. Quite the contrary; she states it outright in the first sentence of the book that she is not a pro but that rather, she is a mother who wanted to help her family become healthier. This sets the tone for the entire book, both in the content as well as in the style. I felt like I was chatting with my passionate, opinionated friend

It takes a big change in our patterns of thought and patterns of behavior to be able to change the way we perceive our relationship with food. Winch takes us along the path she has treaded in the hopes that we, too, will be inspired to do the same. Non-judgmental but unapologetic, she shares her reasons why she went au naturel without coming off as a know-it-all. She is confident is what she knows but seems comfortable in the limited of her knowledge and open to learn more. If you are a disbeliever in the dangers of processed foods, this book is not for you—reach instead for one of the others I mentioned earlier in this review. But if you are convinced that there is a need for profound change in our diet but don’t quite know where to start, or have reached a plateau, then this is the book for you.

For anyone wanting a healthier life, this book literally takes us back many years to "the way it used to be" in buying and cooking our food. Our Grandmothers and Mothers (maybe) used farm fresh and garden fresh produce, meats, and methods to keep us healthy. We can go "back" to those basics quite easily as the author tells us. It truly isn't that hard. By planning ahead and researching what a family buys to eat, then preparing ahead, we can spend less time. Seems strange, but true. Ms. Winch points out that much time is wasted on shopping, finding a parking spot, selecting a pre-cooked chicken and a side and waiting in line. That time can be spent wisely at home cooking "from scratch" and maybe even keeping your body more fit. It could even save a trip or two to the doctor with better health. The book is easy to read, very informative and even includes a good plan for preparing and storing meals ahead. Everyone that eats a lot of fast food and prepared foods should read this little book. I certainly recommend it.I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

While I do appreciate all of the research and depth of knowledge that Mrs. Winch portrayed and shared in this book, I did find reading this book to be some what dull. I read the first five chapters and than found myself skimming through the rest of the book. This is because to be this book read more like a text book. A lot of facts but not lot of information that I found new and interesting.

Plus, if you are looking for many recipes like other nutrition books feature then you might be disappointed. There are a couple in the back of the book but they seem time consuming in regards to prep work. Also, I noticed that Mrs. Winch used words that not everyone uses in their daily lives with no explanations.

I enjoyed the topic but the book is littered with judgments about society while also ringing with privilege. I was hoping for a little more out of this!

FIRST IMPRESSION:

The cover image was the first thing that drew me to the book. The image of a squished tomato (one that has turned to ketchup) was in many ways an indicator of what this book was about. The book was small, (in PDF standards) and the text was easy to read. I have read a few books about healthy living previously and except for one that captured my heart, most books only succeded in making me even more guilty and apprehensive about what I eat daily. But still, I picked this book up in hopes that it would give me a few tips that are both healthy and not time consuming.

REVIEW:

Books - no matter what genre they belong to, will have both die hard fans and people who dislike it for many reasons. No single book works for all people, especially one that tries to change one's habits. Food and Health books are often the most debated about. Each and every food book offers a different perspective. While the basics of healthy eating remain the same, each book differs in its approach in presenting the topic and what the author considers the best way to eat healthy. Also, while it is agreed that too many opinions confuse any normal reader, as someone who wants to make an effort and live healthy, I have the idea of reading the few food and health books that come my way and try to implement the practices that work best for me, given my geographical positioning and eating practices. So I would be justified in saying that there are a few things I learnt from this book, but this didn't have any revolutionary new thoughts, nor practices that are practical everywhere across the globe.

The concept is simple - in today's fast urban world, healthy eating practices have become almost non existent and drive throughs are preferred for both their speed and their addictive taste. Healthy eating, something that was the practice a few decades back, has become something that people need to make an effort towards. Drive thrus are conveniently placed, fast and give immediate gratification to hunger. They require little or no effort on our part but satisfy our hunger. Ditching them, and making an effort to depend more on farms rather than on processed foods and also making sure what we eat does not go through numerous, disgusting 'processing' routines has become the need of the day. This book tells you - yes, you guessed it right - how much you are going to be benefited by making this shift.

The execution or rather the presentation is flashy, with the chapters being chosen and organised carefully. A little back story keeps what would otherwise be a dull book of facts interesting. For readers who are consciously aware of the ill effects of unhealthy processed foods and are willing to make the much needed shift, this book is a good guide. But there is a huge difference between knowing that food is harmful and going in search of healthier alternatives. That needs motivation, sadly. Even though it is good for the body, most people need much more convincing to go out of their comfort bubbles in search of good food. Though the book explains this vital difference between 'good food' and 'easy food' and also points out that the incremental costs (combined with health care) of eating fast foods is much higher than eating farm fresh foods, it presents facts and ideas, but not the motivation required for people to go toward that changeover.

Overall, it is a good book, but one that requires your input to work.

WHAT I LIKED:
Almost nothing about weight loss - that is not what this book is suppposed to be about. But if you follow the tips in here, that might be a very pleasant side effect.
The idea that changes may not occur in a few days. It needs a long term approach. Say 30 months.
For being clear that sometimes, even the best advocates of organic food go near processed food to save time. This was a practical thing written about in the book.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
Very specific to the country it was written in, if you actually want to implement what it says. But if you are just reading for the tips and are confident you can find replacement in your local market, this is good to go.
Requires patience. Though it specifies that it is for the working mom, some changes need conscious effort and patience to get to doing it.
Though it talks about food, there are not very many recipes to take back. The initial push is there. But once you completely let go off salted processed food, just how much of salt you want to add is totally up to you. It is not an all inclusive recipe book. But then no book is!

VERDICT:

Thoughtful, gives definitions to new terms in the food industry and manages to change your perspective - a little bit. A good read.

RATING: 3.5/5

Today it seems like we never have enough time and certainly not enough time to make a dinner from scratch like our grandmother's make unless it's a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Most of us are families in which both parents work and we barely have enough time to get it all done, along with taking our kids to school, picking them up, homework, sporting events and finding time for dinner is usually something we grab on the go or head to the nearest drive thru. While we know it is not healthy, what else can the average home do to ensure we are feeding our families healthy food and just how can you be sure what you are buying is truly healthy anyway.

J. Natalie Winch wrote a book just for people like us called Ditching the Drive-Thru, how to pass up processed goods, buy farm fresh, and transform your family's eating habits on a modern mom's schedule. Just hearing that was enough to make me want to check out this book. She teaches you the difference between grass-fed versus grain-fed, pastured versus free-range, or organic versus sustainable. Readers will gain a much needed lesson not only in knowing why but in how to do it, along with a 30-day plan to convert your family from junk food to real food without a revolt, something that I absolutely needed because my kids are hard to get them to try something new, especially if it sounds healthy. This book even includes recipes and advice on planning and preparing meals to you can make home cooked a habit for your family besides those special holiday times. Tips are included from locating local farms, seeing through marketing buzzwords and shopping with CSA's.

"The diet industry present us with a simple equation: fat=unhealthy. Of course, it tends to ignore the possibility that increased body fat is related to the chemicals and additives in processed foods manufactured by the industrialized food system. Fat in itself is not inherently unhealthy, although fat-laden refined food generally is. As our food becomes more and more processed in order to make food easier and faster to consume, our people are rowing less and less healthy. Food quality declines, overall healthy declines, people start gaining weight, and then the diet industry gets a major boost. " (pg 8).

I received Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch compliments of Spikehorn Press and iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation, aside from a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. After watching my husband at 46 have a major heart attack, this was a huge wake up call for both of us. After meeting with our cardiologists, he agrees that the ages of people having heart related issues is getting much younger than ever before and it is based on what we are eating. This is why this book is so critical to gain the knowledge we need to make the right decisions to start feeding our families the right way and in doing so, give them a quality of life that they can pass on to a future generation. It is interesting to note that there has also been a rise in cancer deaths and when you look at the facts, it is hard not to put it all together and discover it has to do with our food we are eating. This book helps put all of that into perspective and well worth all 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

Ditching the Drive-Thru explains the many problems or our "busy" diets. Winch puts a great deal of effort into the research and development of this book. While she immediately informs the reader that she is not a nutritionist or dietitian--she is obviously very well informed and passionate about whole foods and the benefits of a truly healthy diet. She explains and defines the many terms bombarding us at the supermarket and delves extensively into the dangers of our commercialized food system. Rather than simply slamming the food industry and modern diets, Winch backs up her many findings and claims with cited sources throughout the book. She explains the problems of our busy diet in an easy to follow manner--and includes easy to verify sources behind her statements.

Ditching the Drive-Thru doesn't take readers on a guilt trip. The author acknowledges that changing our long-time, bad-food habits is a major lifestyle change for many of us. She even admits that busy schedules have pushed her toward the drive-thru line as well. Rather than laying on another working-parent with not-enough-hours-in-the week guilt trip; Winch encourages small steps and offers tips and tricks to make slight changes toward a long term plan. I will admit that planning and prepping home cooked, whole food meals alone is daunting on a working parent's schedule. So, there were a few times when Winch discussed her large garden and preserving her own foods, that I felt myself feeling a little overwhelmed. I had to stop and put the text into perspective: Winch has developed her food production and processing patterns--and worked them into her lifestyle--over time. She didn't begin these habits all at once. She is illustrating the many possibilities readers may someday do with their foods--not what they should do, all at once, this weekend.

Would I recommend Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch? Even as much as I already know about processed foods and the effects of those foods on our health; I was able to add a few new terms and many new ideas to my ever-growing diet/lifestyle change. This book is packed with information to inform those just beginning to learn about processed foods--but, offers a lot for those at later stages of diet transformation as well. I originally wondered about Winch's 30-Month Plan for readers seeking to implement diet changes. But, she is spot on with the fact that Ditching the Drive-Thru is a difficult, lifestyle change and readers will need to plan many, many small changes over time to reach their long-term diet goals. I would recommend this book for anyone seeking to understand the need for change in our "fast food" diets--as well as for those continuing to develop their own 30-month (or longer) changes. While Winch doesn't offer a cookie-cutter, 30-day plan for readers; she offers a lot of ideas, tips, and resources to help readers set their own goals to fit their own lives.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for use in a blog review. All opinions are my own.

I grew up as a poor farmer. We didn’t have a lot of money so we learned to grow our own vegetables and some fruit. We had our own animals or supplemented in one way or another. My mother canned, froze, and did whatever she could to preserve the hard work done to get that food. Because of that we did get some frozen prepared meals and such from the grocery store but we rarely ate out or had fast food.

Fast forward to today and I admit that I hit the drive thru was too often. I have a busy schedule and don’t have a lot of time to actually cook my meals. I do have good intentions that lead me to not wanting to eat what I have made when at work or ending up having lots of spoiled food and money being thrown away.

I really like what Natalie has to say in Ditching the Drive-Thru. This book goes into everything. From how the food industry controls us and in a sense poisons us with all the crap they put in the “convenient” food that we all eat. Although there is a little more planning when you start making your own meals you will benefit so much better in the end. Yes, you may have to take the extra step of canning or buying another freezer, but realistically you have to ask yourself if your health and that of your loved ones worth these extra steps? And really, once you get into a habit it’s not that much of an extra step.

This book is a great inspiration to start cooking yourself. Get away from the processed foods, quit feeding you and your loved ones chemicals and crap. You will start seeing how you feel better, lose weight, don’t get sick as often and so many other things. The food industry has truly blinded us and made us a slave to fast food, eating out, and pre-packaged garbage.

Ditching the Drive-Thru doesn’t just give you that information, it also give you a starting point to get going on your own. This has inspired me to go clean out my chest freezer, my dehydrator, and sharpen back up on my canning skills. All I can say is Thank You Natalie.

If you want to get healthier and feel better this book is a great start. You will learn about the food industry and get pointers on how to transition to making your own meals. You will also learn some recipes and helpful hints to guide you.

I received Ditch the Drive-Thru for free from iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Are you a fast-food junkie who really wants to eat better – and who wants to help your family to eat better too?

Do you dream of preparing and feeding your family healthy, wholesome, organic foods but find the process of transitioning to a more nutritionally balanced lifestyle challenging in terms of time, energy and resources?

If so, perhaps you would find the real-life experience of a mom who decided to take matters into her own hands helpful. If so, pick up a copy of Ditching The Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch!

Ditching The Drive-Thru chronicles the Winch family’s transition from being an average Jewish American family eating and shopping in a traditional manner – via middlemen who have pre-packaged and prepared foods for you – to being a family who researched the process that food goes through before it arrives in our home.

As the author shares her findings in Ditching The Drive-Thru, you’ll find yourself asking questions regarding what is and isn’t acceptable about the food you eat – and what level of changes you are willing to make to ensure the optimal dining experience for your family from a health perspective.

The most important aspects of Ditching The Drive-Thru are the sections that help you to change your lifestyle:

* The Thirty Month Planning Process the author introduces to help you transition from junk food to real food is invaluable.

* The Well-Stocked Pantry chart she provides is very practical.

* The tips she provides throughout are very helpful.

The author goes through a pretty radical journey through this book – one that many readers may not fully accompany her on. That’s okay. There’s a lot of good ideas and information contained in
Ditching The Drive-Thru – learn what you can from it, and incorporate the information that best suits your needs!

To read this review in its entirety, visit Create With Joy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. However, the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

First, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review of this book.

This book is all about food. The author covers what a lifestyle involving healthy food can look like. She begins tells the reader how she began her journey by simply canning a few tomatoes. And then how she moved from this to planning out meals to researching the ways we treat food in our culture.

In the book she provide stories from her personal life that show it is possible to make a change to a healthy eating lifestyle. She reminds us that yes, we may have to loose a little time watching tv or surfing the internet. But what we get in exchange for eating more healthy is well worth it. She is honest that it will involve a little planning and at times a little work. But changing your lifestyle is never easy.

I like how this book doesn't lay down a 30 day plan to develop a new diet. She encourages individuals to put together a 30 month plan. That's a commitment to living more healthy if you ask me.

I think that individuals who are beginning a journey toward a healthier lifestyle will enjoy this book. And I like how the author points out that it's all about where we set our priorities. I really liked how she pointed out that there are individuals she knows who spend an hour working out at the gym, and then run through the drive-thru because they don't have time to cook a healthy meal.

And she also challenges us to reach out and find healthier foods. She encourages readers to explore farmers markets and ways to find foods that are grown in their own community. We all know that the fresher the food is, the more healthy it is.

The book is organized well and it is easy to read. It isn't just crammed full of statistics, it uses experiences from the authors life in order to show how it can be done.

"More and more people these days feel challenged by the kitchen. The popularity of cooking shows has grown in inverse proportion to the number of people who actually cook. In a sense, cooking has become a spectator sport."

Although I try to eat as healty as possible, I didn’t realize how ignorant I was with respect to the different terminologies describing food culture. For example, what is the difference between the the term “organic” and “all-natural”. What does GMO mean? What exactly does “processed” mean?

Chapter 5 – Making Informed Choices deals with produce, eggs, dairy, meat and fish and how they are controlled by the different industries and associations.

Chapter 7 – Agri-Cabulary explains how to buy healthy meat.

I really enjoyed the chapter on “Corporate Marketing Manipulation”. This chapter explains, amongst other things, the political connection between the government and the FDA or USDA. It also explains food layout in grocery stores, why processed foods are all up and down the aisles while fresh foods are displayed around the perimeter of the store.

The author has given me much “food for thought”. The book is easy to understand (although not exhaustive) and includes a 30 month plan to implement healthier living practices into your lifestyle, easy recipes, how to stock your pantry and how to find a farmer that produces quality food that you can develop a long-term relationship with.

I am going to pass this on to my friends, and will definitely be more pro-active in the way I shop and eat.

Setting up goals and making plans

This was an interesting read about changing your eating lifestyle. The author gave lots of interesting information that she has found, and leads you to look up these things for yourself. Natalie Winch feels that we should take a hard look at the foods we are using to fuel our bodies. Why during this age of convenience with all the processed foods and refined foods to make our lives easier, are we as a nation more prevalent to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes? Could it be that the food that we are eating isn't as good for us as we may have thought? When food is stripped of "innate nutrients then add synthetic nutrients to compensate".

Natalie guides the reader through her experiences and gives you ways to assess your lifestyle and your expectations. Then you have a template to create a plan and be flexible on the outcome. You can do as little or as much as you want. She gives a lists of a well stocked pantry. Plus planning weekly meals and getting most of the cooking done in one day if you prefer. She makes it all very accessible to you. She shares many great ideas to try.

She gives recipes for food preservation, canning, freezing, and more. She also gives a run down of the language of Agriculture and what free range, organic, an other terms you may hear really mean.

This would be a great book for someone looking into CSA, local farmers, and that whole empowering movement to take initiative and responsibility with your food.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is packed full of knowledge from a Mom who finally decided to take charge of her family's health. As Natalie mentions, one can not expect to transform every aspect of your eating habits in one meal. This is a slow and gradual process and she makes sure to mention this multiple times so that the reader does not begin to feel overwhelmed. As a Mom, myself, I am always looking for healthier ways to cook up a homemade meal for my family. One of my favorite aspects of this book is the fact that the author did research on packaged meats at your local grocery store. After reading her detailed information, it practically made me feel ill to my stomach. This author encourages to buy farm fresh and help aid your local farmers instead of them only getting a percentage from the local grocery stores. One fact that I found quite interesting is that the packaged meats in your grocery store, for example pork chops, they can all be from differing pigs from differing farms. This really made me question the content that I feed my family. This book will most definitely have the reader engaged and interested in putting practical small changes into practice over time. Chances are that if you are looking in to purchasing this book, you are ready and committed to make that first step in to eating healthier. I promise that this is a wonderful book to begin your journey and begin clean eating. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

Ditching the Drive-thru starts with the Natalie Winch claiming that processed foods are the culprit behind the declining health of Americans. In a nutshell, you are what you eat and what we eat is full of chemicals with a lot of the nutrients gone. I think most of us agree with that but haven't taken the steps that she has to eat healthier.

The second part of the book explains how to change from the modern way of eating to going almost all organic. She tries to not overwhelm the reader by suggesting a 30 month plan. In other words, take it slow. I thought that was a good idea. If you think about dieting and trying to go from one extreme to another (perhaps eating 3000 calories a day to 1200 calories a day), it's not only difficult but you don't stick to it. Taking 30 months to change your eating, shopping, and cooking habits would work much easier. Plus, as she explains, there's a lot of planning and time involved in eating organically and learning where to buy your food.

Ditching the Drive-thru is a good resource for getting started on the road to eating a healthy diet. I believe before you start you need the resolve to stick with it over the long haul but I am sure that once you get used to the lifestyle change, your whole family will feel better.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. While it did have a lot of information, it just didn’t give me what I was looking for. One minute the author was writting about how awful animals are treated, the next minute she was talking about eating their meat, or eggs. I just felt that there was more negative talk about food in general than I wanted.

To be fair, the author seems to know her stuff and seems to truly want us all to eat better.

There are a few pictures scattered throughout the book and a few recipes, I might try the one for Homemade Greek Style Yogurt.

I do know that a lot of times, liking a book or not can depend on your mood. So please don’t let my review convince you to pass on this book. I know it’s getting a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, and for that reason I plan on reading it again in a few months or so to see if my thoughts change. At this time I would give this a 3 star rating.

I chose to read Ditching the Drive-Thru because I want to learn how to choose the best foods for my family. In Part 1 of the book I learned what a lot of words you see on labels mean. Now I know that processed means refined foods created in a factory and I do not want refined foods. I feel like now I have a better idea of what to look for and watch out for in the foods I choose for my family. In Part 2 I learned that there is a website where I can find local farms where I can buy meats and other food. I would love to buy from a local farm and maybe even try raw milk. Organ meats and canning are not for me though.

What I got out is book is:

Take small steps
Read labels
Buy from small local farms
Try the 30 month plan

(and maybe even find a farmer to marry...)

I thought this book was very helpful to me and worth reading. I give this book 4.5 stars.

I received this book for free to review.

Ditching The Drive-Thru is a book about real food. Do you want to know where your food comes from, when it was cut from the trees and plants it grew from and how it was processed? I know I do. At this point, in the year 2015, we are more abstracted from food then ever before, but Natalie Winch, the author of this book, wants to broaden our minds. She wants us to understand more about the items we eat. After all, we eat for sustenance and nourishment every day. Shouldn’t we understand what it is we are biting into? Winch hopes this book will help readers regain control of the food we eat, by understanding where food comes from, how it is processed and ultimately how what we eat impacts us each and every day. One moral of Winch’s story is to place more importance on the value of time. You can spend hours mindlessly surfing the Internet and checking Facebook or you can purchase real food and learn how to prepare it.

Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch was a slight disappointment to me as I was looking forward to reading a book that focused more on recipes and less on dogma.

Ditching the Drive-Thru contains numerous chapters explaining how the American food industry works and how the American consumer can buck the system by planning and implementing a new lifestyle.

If you enjoy books with more dogma than practical recipes you will love this book. I will add the book does provide some recipes, and several graphs you can use to create your crossover to ditching the drive-thru.

Some of the recipes you’ll find in her cookbook include:

*Sweet Tomato Jam (No processing times that I could find for this recipe)
*Grape Jelly (No processing times that I could find for this recipe)
*Heart Stew

You will find a list of sources and resources at the back of her book.

Recommend with caveats given.

I read this book for NetGalley.

Ms. Winch has written an enlightening, informative and useful book about changing from the typical "industrial" modern American to the more nutritious and healthier diet of our immediate ancestors. She describes how the industrialization of American food has led to health problems and provides a gradual program for healthy dietary change, for one person or many.

I found her book to be cogent and well-written and amply supported by strong data. She has a nice educational tone without being condescending or patronizing. And especially not preachy. I learned a lot from her book.

We can all do more to be healthier, though probably not to the extent of growing our own food and preserving it through canning, pickling, smoking, etc. There is something for everyone in this book, and following her program will certainly lead to better health.

I have to say first off I loved the voice the author used as she wrote this. I was somewhat expecting this to be dry and boring, but reads more like a journals than a textbook or research article. The author provided all the information in a straight forward manner that made a lot of sense to me. I don't really do drive-thru that much, but I do eat a lot of frozen meals. I plan to now cut back on those and try to make more meals from scratch. I plan to make extras when I cook and freeze them so that I can still have frozen meals, but they will be healthy ones. I was sent this book for free for only my honest and unbiased review.

A New year, New habits

Natalie's conversational writing style makes this book enjoyable as well as educational. As everyone begins their New year's resolutions to eat healthier, Natalie shows us how to accomplish our goals without losing our sanity.

Received free via Goodreads giveaway.

Very helpful. Unsure if I am entirely ready to ditch the drive-thru, but this has certainly been a step in the right direction.

Loved it! Whether you're a foodie or just like to eat (that's all of you...), this is an awesome read. Interesting, enjoyable, completely awesome. I'll definitely be reading it again.