Nearly 100 people attended a free program called “The Power of Food for Health and Healing” held Tuesday night in the Community Room of the Saratoga Springs Public Library. The informative presentation was put on by the Saratoga Integrative Medicine Education Network, a nonprofit group dedicated to educating the public about the benefits and importance of Integrative approaches to medicine.

The first segment of the program was a filmed interview with Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation,” which appears as a special feature on the DVD of the film “Super Size Me.” An expose of the meat and fast food industries, Schlosser’s best selling book takes readers on a eye-opening journey to find out exactly where their food comes from.

During the interview, Schlosser said that agriculture has significantly changed over the past 25 years. While discussing the industrialization of food, he touched on: how fast food is designed to taste good; how it’s marketed at children as their tastes are forming; the cruelty both the workers and the animals face in food factories; and the rise of food born illness and obesity.

Both personal and corporate responsibility needs to be taken when it comes to what people are putting into their bodies, Schlosser said. Although good food is more expensive, he believes it’s cheaper in the long run because it won’t make people sick.

Following the film segment, nationally known speaker John Kozinski gave a lecture on the macrobiotic approach to eating and its benefits. A student of eastern and western approaches to food, nutrition, health and healing for more than 25 years, Kozinski spoke about the dangers of the modern diet, and said there’s a direct correlation between what people eat and disease.

Over the years, Kozinski has counseled thousands of people in the proper use of food, lifestyle and natural healing techniques, and his advice has aided in the recovery of ailments such as cancer, heart disease, pre-menstrual syndrome and chronic fatigue. Even if a full recovery isn’t possible, he believes it’s never too late to make a positive change.

To follow his longevity diet, Kozinski said people need to eat foods that give them a good foundation and eat according to the human design. He believes a person’s diet should consist primarily of grains, vegetables, beans, seeds, fruit, nuts and a small amount of meat.

“There’s logic to what people traditionally ate, and science supports it,” Kozinski said. “People have to experiment with what makes them feel the healthiest.”

Kozinski said people should reduce the amount of sugar they consume, try to eliminate all processed food from their diets, eat more organic food and make a real investment in their health. His seven practices of natural eating are:

1. Eat complex carbohydrates

2. Eat a more vegetarian diet

3. Eat more whole foods

4. Eat natural foods

5. Eat with the climate

6. Eat with the season

7. Eat with an understanding of balance and harmony

 For more information, call Dr. Michael Wayne at 210-1557 or visit www.macrobiotic.com. SIMEN’s next free program, “Where Disease Begins,” will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the library.