Where’s Health Landing on your Life Scale?

Hey guys!

When this past Saturday night rolled around, my girlfriends and I had plans to go out to dinner and dancing to celebrate a friend’s birthday. When the hosts of the restaurant asked us assertively if we had reservations, and then reprimanded us for not having them, we weighed the options — walk back to the car & find another place to eat when we’re already hungry and it’s late? Or, put up with douchebaggery and wait for a table? We decided to wait for a table. When the table never came and the automaton-like bartender finally paid attention to us, we weighed the options — let this night have us, or have the night? We ordered plenty o’ drinks, decided the stone-faced waiter must have just been broken-up with by his cheating girlfriend Sabrina (can you tell we’re three liberal-arts-majors using our “critical thinking skills” to craft fictitious stories? lol), and grooved to the live flamenco guitar music capturing our ears and hips.

When I faced the choice to run at the beach today or wallow in my discontent over a certain situation, I chose to run. Every day that I choose to learn more about where my food comes from, is a day that I’ve reconsidered what I had considered natural the majority of my life. Alright, enough self-aggrandizement, jeez!

I guess the point I’m not-so-eloquently making is that every choice we make involves a scale — a measurement of worth and priorities. Sure, things aren’t always so simple — there are often financial and physical constraints involved in the measure, but no matter the constraints, there’s always a scale and a choice. The more conscious we become of these choices — this power — the more apt we are to affect change.

After watching Earthlings recently, I’m even more convinced that when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge against the stagnation of ignorance, the pursuit will always, always prove more worthy — even if it can be, at times, overwhelming.

What do your choices say about what you value? Where is your health landing on the scale of  your life?

Food News

• The journal Food Policy published a study in which researchers found a rising disparity between nutrient-dense foods and their junky counterparts during the time frame of 2004-2008. Read here. Interesting to note in comparison to this article discussing the more insidious costs of “cheap” foods.
• Compare the above to this article today in The Huffington Post on cheap meatless protein and the quoted author of The Flexitarian Diet who showed an immediate-cost comparison between meat protein and plant-based protein and said, “‘Consider in June 2010, according to the most recent government figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, that one pound of beans was $1.34 versus spending 2.5 times more money for boneless chicken breast ($3.32/pound) and lean ground beef ($3.51/pound) and 4.5 times more money for sirloin steak ($6.00/pound). That’s real savings you can bank on! Every week. Every month. Every year.’”
• Free dessert at Native Foods tomorrow. Native Food is celebrating “Native Days” the 1st Tuesday & Wednesday of each month. So, tomorrow being the first Tuesday: you will get a free dessert with the purchase of an entree, side and Native signature drink. There will also be a lot of cool things to win.

Cool Stuff

• The polls are now open for VegNews magazine’s 2010 Veggie Awards! Vote for your favorite vegetarian/vegan people, places, blogs, websites and products. If you fill out the survey, you will be entered to win some awesome prizes.  I took the survey to vote for some of my favorite vegan finds and bloggers, and also to scour who VegNews included in the survey — a great way to learn about vegan products I’ve never heard of!
• I found the best sticker…

[available here]

Think I should change the name of my blog to the above?

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: earthlings, food policy, food politics, native foods