Welcome to Day 4 of my Green Mountain at Fox Run diaries!

Work-outs today introduced participants to fitness tools they may have never seen before, such as:

• BOSU Ball
• Toning Ring aka Pilates ring
• Fitball
• Medicine Ball
• Resistance bands
• Aerobic Step

After breakfast, I took pilates with LynnAnn who was kind enough to type out our workout and give it to each of us so that we could take this practice home with us.

Pilates “ring” pictured (picture via Fitwoman.com)

This is the circuit we did:

• Push ups on the Fitball
• Wall squats on the Fitball
• Torso rotations with ring
• Push ups with ring
• Squats with ring
• Pilates roll ups with ring
• Reverse bridge on the Fitball
• Pelvic Tilts on the Fitball
• The Hundred (ring between the ankles on the mat)
• Relaxers (flow movements)

Fitball pictured (picture via Fitwoman.com)

The class was pretty low intensity, which is great because what followed, Kate’s “Aerobic Circuit Blast,” made me sweat like a fiend! Kate’s 16-part circuit included (non-exhaustive list): weighted squats/weighted squat jumps with medicine ball, push-ups, bouncing on a Fitball, jump roping/jumping jacks/burpees, squats on a Bosu ball, crunches on a mat, lunge kicks, upper cuts with resistance bands, chest press with resistance bands, squats with resistance bands & bicep curls with resistance bands. Each station was done for one minute; we did the entire circuit twice. Again, the beauty of this class was that everyone could go at their level – there were three different levels of resistance bands to choose from, the medicine balls were different weights, there were two aerobic steps, and we were taught modifications for each exercise. So, I chose the most difficult version of each exercise taught. At least three times, Kate came by and showed me a modification that was even more intense than the the already-intense one I was doing (this usually meant she added a jump, or asked me to do something in a more exaggerated way). I felt as worked out after this class as I do when I run for an hour (maybe more!). It was a great feeling

After lunch (by the way, have you been scoping out my meals here? Aren’t they insane?! I want to take this chef home or at least make sure he gets a book deal or competes on Top Chef), I went to “Stress & Relationships,“ led by Darla.

This was an interesting class for me because while I have a lot of work to do in setting limits and boundaries, the class also showed how much progress I’ve already made. Remember when I told you guys that in 2011, I “walked over the hot coals” and became assertive (not expecting others to read my mind)? That’s exactly what Darla proffered as the solution to feelings of disappointment from unmet expectations in relationships. First we have to check-in with ourselves and find the “picture” we’re carrying around that may represent our unconscious expectations. Once we gather that piece of info., we can ask – is this serving me? Many in the class were unsatisfied with the solution of asking explicitly for what they want from another person (to that person). For example, Darla stated, “if you want a hug, ask for it!” A few people remarked that if you ask for a hug and get it, you may feel it’s somehow insincere because you had to ask for it. If that belief works for them, I have nothing to say. But, I’m guessing it doesn’t. It took me some time to realize that all that bullshit Cosmo feeds you that you should give hints to people about things you want (both material and intangible) and that asking somehow decreases the value of what you receive is BS. I have never felt more fulfilled asking for what I want and getting it. Sure, you won’t always get it, but how good does it feel to a)  know yourself well enough to actually know what you want and b) have the bravery to ask for it? When I want a hug from my boyfriend, I ask for it and receive it. I know I’m oversimplifying a complicated issue, but I think it’s valuable to take back that power and be assertive

After dinner, we had the option to watch the documentary, “Fresh: New Thinking About What We’re Eating” or a recording of a stand up comedian (I’ll have to get his name–it escapes me!). Which one do you think I opted for?

The movie is about agricultural (environmental) & health sustainability and featured many of the same players you see in Food Inc. and in Michael Pollan books, including Joel Salatin (owner of Polyface Farms and mini-celeb amongst foodies) and Michael Pollan himself.

What I liked about Fresh is that it shows how people who simply follow their instinct – guided by nature’s blueprint – can actually be successful with unconventional farming techniques (i.e. organic & ecological) as opposed to conventional farming. And, bonus, they can actually be more financially viable! Joel, for example, lets his chickens revel in their “chickeness” and the cows in their “cowness.” This means the cows actually get to herd and graze on grass as they were meant to. Once the cows graze an area and do their busy work all over it, Joel guides the cows to another paddy and releases his hens on the area the cows just grazed on (& what do you think they pick at, thus helping fertilize the land? cow poop! Delicious!). For me, it’s most interesting and scary to think about antibiotics being give to animals and what that does from the bottom up (to the land, to the animal, to the person who consumes the animal) and it appears that if farmers actually withhold from giving their animals antibiotics they actually save money from vet bills (and save the consumer from potentially contracting a hyper-developed strain of a disease because antibiotic misuse means the animals just form rare strains of shit you don’t want to contract!).

I loved the inclusion of Will Allen, director of Growing Power, which is an urban farm in Milwaukee.  We talk a lot about food deserts and here’s a person who says, “food what?” by creating access to fresh produce in the center of a city!

If you’ve already seen Food Inc., you might not get much more out of this film, but if you haven’t then this one will give you some insight into sustainable farming (and will spare you from the gruesome footage of CAFOs, which appears in Food Inc. and other documentaries. Though…if you’re eating meat, you might consider subjecting yourself to it…).

My day’s play-by-play aside, one issue I’m facing here at Green Mountain at Fox Run is some discomfort with the whole not snacking at night thing. Prior to GMAFR, I had become very accustomed to eating the majority of my calories at night (this is also when I typically binge), so it’s actually a bit challenging for me to eat dinner at 6, have the option of a snack at 8, and then go to bed and stay asleep without the feeling of being full as I’m accustomed. I’m being patient and trying to figure out whether I’m feeling actual physical hunger or simply emotional hunger based on the habits I’ve built. I’m going to try to eat two pieces of fruit tomorrow around 8 and see if that helps.

<3,

The Cranky One

Hey guys!

You know how I said I was “reframing” my approach to health? I wish I had done it sooner. But forcing yourself to achieve mental clarity is like forcing someone to love you. In the end you only get half-ass, or false, devotion meant only to appease you rather than set the stage for progress. I guess what I’m saying is I had to fall pretty hard to finally get to a place where I now feel I’m grasping the reins again.

[props to robayre]
Reframing: the chance to change, to start anew, to turn back, to simply see the world differently? It’s in your hands at all times!

If you’re not new to my blog, then you might have noticed that one of my favorite words to use when talking about my “journey” (I guess that’s one of my fave words, too) is evolve. That word is really important to me. The majority of my life — from childhood to undergrad college years – my approach to health was static: it was of the wish-I-could variety. I.e. wish I could get healthy, wish I could get skinny, I’m-too-passive-and-too-much-of-a-victim mentality.

Evolving is scary but freakin’ necessary. Evolving means you take active control. You start digging to find out why you do the things you do. You take chances and if things don’t work, you try something else. And, evolving doesn’t always mean you’re getting better – we all know my evolution took an ugly turn, but, in a way, it was kind of a necessary ugly turn that’s led me to a place of psuedo-clarity.

You know what else? Evolving is forever. A lot of us who have maintained a big weight-loss know that getting to a goal weight never means “done!” It’s simply the beginning of a different journey. So, what in the world am I trying to say? Find your own path, young jedis, and expect it to change and embrace the change.

Over seven years, these are some of the evolutions my journey has taken (to see my starting lifestyle, click here):

• Omnivore counting calories, working out 3xs a week (max) by walking on the treadmill. Emphasis on number of calories consumed, not on quality of calories (so ate a lot of low-cal, low-fat, artificially-sweetened, sugar-free, frozen SmartOnes, Subway, etc.; not regulating caffeine or alcohol) (approx. 2 years, lost about 120 pounds; starting weight: 280 pounds)
• Omnivore counting calories, working out at least 3xs a week by running on the treadmill. Emphasis on number of calories consumed, not on quality of calories, but began to eat less of the low-cal, low-fat, artificially-sweetened, sugar-free, frozen SmartOnes, Subway, etc., and make more of my own meals. Not regulating caffeine, but alcohol is limited. (approx. 2 years, weight fluctuated down an additional 15 pounds and then back up 15 pounds and maybe a few more gained; weight unstable)
• Vegetarian counting calories, working out at least 5xs a week by running both on treadmill and at beach. Some weight training and other forms of exercise such as group classes at the gym and rollerblading. Occasionally over-exercising to injury. Emphasis on learning more and more about the food consumed, calories still counted but emphasized healthy calories. Not regulating caffeine, but alcohol is limited. (approx. 1 year, lost 10 pounds to get to lowest adult weight of 128 pounds)
• Vegan counting calories working out at least 5xs a week by running both on treadmill and at beach. Some weight training and other forms of exercise such as group classes at the gym and rollerblading. Emphasis on learning more and more about the food consumed, calories still counted but emphasized healthy calories. Struggled with bulimia. (approx. 1 year, weight fluctuated up to 15 pounds gained)
• Now? Vegan cognizant of calories consumed but concerned predominantly with fueling body. Diet consists mostly of fruits, vegetables, beans, and living grains (sprouted grains). Caffeine is limited, alcohol is rarely consumed. Foods with artificial sweeteners and/or artificial preservatives are rarely, if ever, consumed. Focus on eating the Dirty Dozen all organic. Exercise consists of running, yoga, & weight training but the emphasis is on feeling good, so rest days are taken (this has been a hard concept for someone with obsessive tendencies). Emphasis more on mind-body connect. Meals mostly consumed at home. Bulimia in remission. (weight fluctuates a few pounds, but stays in the 128-133 range. Interesting that my weight has decreased in this new phase when I’m less stringent on exercise and calories, but makes sense!).
• What’s next? We’ll see! Being vegan has gone from something I did kind of on a whim to something that is integral to my well-being. There are three constants in each of these phases, however, and they are: learning, reflecting &, yep you guessed it, evolving. This is why I don’t really like telling people how they “should” eat/exercise/live their life because I feel like that robs them of the journey to evolve on their own terms, which is vital in order for someone to feel connected and accountable to their decisions.  If you figure out on your own that eating a vegetarian diet works for you, you won’t approach it with hesitation (or resentment) which you would if I forced it down your throat. And, the likelihood of you sticking through something that you’re doing on your own terms is much higher than if you’re depending on someone else to hold you accountable or shame you to change. That being said, I do love to share advice, so if any of you want to talk about your journeys, you know I’m your girl!

Interesting Stuff

• Oprah and 378 staffers go vegan for a month. Watch the show tomorrow, which will also show Lisa Ling going to a meat factory and Michael Pollan (*swoon*) will be a guest. [here]
• The Center for Food Safety is going to take the USDA back to court after their (the USDA’s) decision to “once again allow unlimited, nation-wide commercial planting of Monsanto’s genetically-engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers USDA acknowledged in its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)” [source]. To voice your opinion against GE alfalfa, go to Democracy Now, here.
• A new documentary called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” should be released this Spring [here]. Synopsis: “100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope. In the mirror he saw a 310lb man whose gut was bigger than a beach ball and a path laid out before him that wouldnʼt end well— with one foot already in the grave, the other wasnʼt far behind. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is an inspiring film that chronicles Joeʼs personal mission to regain his health.” Trailer looks interesting and I want to see the film, but I’m highly cognizant of the fact that a health and wellness company, Reboot Your Life, is behind the film.
• The USDA released its new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The new focus? “…balancing calories with physical activity, and encourag[ing] Americans to consume more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood, and to consume less sodium, saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and refined grains” [here]. Sounds like the same ol’ shit to me. I’m obviously distrustful because a) the USDA is the same “rouge agency” (as quoted by the Center for Food Safety) that will allow GE alfalfa, and b) the same agency that’s in bed with the dairy association and Monsanto, and c) the same agency that’s so f’d when it comes to labeling laws…so…here I go sounding like a little anarchist hippy!

Reminder of Free Stuff:

• A subscription to VegNews Magazine [here] ends Feb 1
• A free box of Me & Gogi cereal you design yourself [here] ends Feb 2
• $100 worth of Pearls from JCPenny [here] ends Feb 2
• A copy of “You Are Your Own Gym” [here] ends Feb 4

<3,

The Cranky One

Gotta make this quick — giant paper due tomorrow — but I wanted to share two amazing recipes from Thanksgiving, both from Post Punk Kitchen (recipes linked below).

Pumpkin Pie Brownie (Vegan)


Nutritional Facts per 1/8 slice (calculated via Spark Recipe Calculator): 319 calories, 12g fat, 4g fiber, 3.7g protein

Freakin’ delicious. Fickle taste-tester approved.

Cornbread Stuffing with Pears and Pecans (Vegan)

Nutritional information per 1/12 serving (calculated via Spark Recipe Calculator): 335 calories, 20.6g fat, 4.6g fiber, 6g protein

Even though this is technically two recipes in one — you gotta make the corn bread from scratch first — it is so worth the effort. Seriously. If you’re watching calories, just use less olive oil and add more veggie broth instead.

Thanksgiving was a great day, especially because it began with a 10k!  It was such a beautiful day for a run alongside the beach AND I beat my last 10k time of 1:08 and came in at 56:58! That translates to an approx 9:14 mile pace. I’m stoked. I’m definitely going to make the Long Beach Turkey Trot a tradition — it was a very well-organized race!

Three Interesting Articles to Share

• 11/28 – Op Ed in NY Times by Michael Pollan (<3!) and Eric Schlosser called, “A Stale Food Fight” here. Explains why the Food Safety Modernization Act should be passed.
• 11/27 – “The New Front in the Culture Wars: Food” in The Washington Post here
• 11/22 – “Divided We Eat: What Food Says About Class in America” in Newsweek here

Alright, off to finish my paper on an obscure piece of 18th c. British lit that nobody outside a tiny niche of academia cares about!

<3,

The Cranky One

Have you ever met someone and felt an instantaneous connection, like you were kindred spirits? That’s exactly how I felt on Saturday when I met the gorgeous blogger behind “Eat, Move, Write,” Jasmine. Check out her re-cap of our meeting! Her talent with writing makes me disinclined to write my own re-cap lol — it can’t be put more poetically than she already did! [here]

Check out her story, too — you’ll be blown away!

Ok! There were two excellent articles published recently that I wanted to share — I think it’s awesome how they correlate as if one asks the big question and the other responds with a big shrug (ok, I exaggerate…).

In the article, “Fixing a World that Fosters Fat” [published online in The New York Times here], Natasha Singer asks “Why are Americans getting fatter and fatter…?” While her attempt at a “simple explanation” — that it’s a matter of calories in and calories out — is obviously flawed — the article has a lot of merit in discussing the limits of behavior modification in a society that caters to, and favors many of, the bad behaviors we’d try to remedy to benefit our health. In other words, if our society rewards those who work endless hours (and makes it nearly impossible not to), the government subsidizes crops like corn and soy that makes it most affordable to eat like crap (esp. when you don’t have the time to cook your own meals), etc., are we giving people a fair chance to change their ways? Better yet, are we giving them the chance to maintain their reformed ways if they even ever get to that point?

Since I’m privileged to know a lot of bloggers who have completely reformed their lifestyles to be more healthy, and have done so myself, I can speak from experience that behavior modification can survive in the American supersize-it environment. But just because something exceptional is possible in an environment doesn’t mean the environment needn’t change.

A lot of us, myself included, will point our fingers at the monolithic “Corporate America” and its drive for profit. We’ll ask where corporate “responsibility” lies and we’ll ask why restaurants keep making utter crap (like the 2500-calorie pizza burger, Burger King!) and marketing it disproportionately to the poor and to children.

In the article “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility” in the Wallstreet Journal recently, author Aneel Karnani tells us readers, “Pleas for corporate social responsibility will be truly embraced only by those executives who are smart enough to see that doing the right thing is a byproduct of their pursuit of profit. And that renders such pleas pointless” [here]. Karnani also writes, “The danger is that a focus on social responsibility will delay or discourage more-effective measures to enhance social welfare in those cases where profits and the public good are at odds. As society looks to companies to address these problems, the real solutions may be ignored.” Basically, Karnani fears that corporations become crafty in their “social responsibility” – they adopt green measures, for instance, that are profitable (either b/c the government gives them incentives and/or because they can market products as “green” and reap the profits from its green-inclined patrons); and that focusing on corporations doing the right thing means we deflect from our own personal responsibility and from the search for more holistic solutions. This does seem like a valid concern.

The entire piece rests of the principle that you can’t force corporations to do what’s right until doing what’s right becomes more profitable than their current mode of operation. Why not? Because corporations involve shared interests in profit. Corporations, like McDonald’s, for example, that do offer some healthy items, aren’t necessarily offering the goods out of their health-conscious alter-ego (please); but out of the interest of profit. The feel that I get from this piece is that consumers have to be the change. We have to stop eating crap and making it profitable for restaurants and fast-food places to serve it. As soon as we make it profitable for super-sized salads and quinoa-filled burritos, the supply will be there.

Sounds true, but optimistic. I feel like the demand for healthy items is growing, but I also feel a lot of the demand is misguided (100-calorie packs; high-fructose-corn-syrup-filled “health” bars, etc.); and disproportionate across the nation (wealthy populations, obvs, will have more demand for healthy foods). How can we create a demand for something that for many people is currently (or seemingly) out of reach? How can reach people who feel hopelessly dependent on processed foods? We’d also have to convince the government, who is bed with Monsanto to lift their subsidies on crap and put them instead on produce? Do you agree with Singer that there are severe limits on behavior modification in an environment that “fosters fat”? Do you agree with Karnani that we shouldn’t focus so much on corporate responsibility?

Other stuff:

• Michael Pollan will speak about the egg recall on Anderson Cooper’s live-video blog tonight at 10 p.m. ET here
• Ck out Orange County, CA’s “OC Foodie Fest” this Saturday, the 28th, at the Honda Center in Anaheim [here]: “Orange County’s first gourmet food truck event taking place Saturday, August 28th at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The one-day event will be the ultimate foodie destination, featuring the best in popular mobile eats combined with a unique forum to showcase local entertainment & shopping to help support local charities.” Tix are $12 for adults.
• If you’re a healthy-living blogger, or on the look-out for healthy-living bloggers in your area or on a specific topic (such as weight-loss or veganism), check out this great new resource! Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, “HLB [link] is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support.” If you’re interested in having your site listed on HLB, send the following info. to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com. Email subject line: MEMBERS; your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet); Blog Name; Blog URL (please start with http://, not www.); Your twitter handle, if applicable; Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy’s sake, that is completely understandable. They’ll  simply include your blog listing in the A-Z listing, not by location, too); Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.). Cool.

<3,

The Cranky One

Hey guys!

I’ve compiled some cool resources in the past couple of months relating to the “local food” movement and I wanted to share them with you and get your thoughts.

In general terms, the local food movement is an effort to build local “food communities” for both social-health and sustainability reasons. Basically, people want to become more acquainted with, and invested in, their food. It’s about empowerment, accountability and personal responsibility. This certainly isn’t anything new, but it seems to be gaining more mainstream prominence — perhaps b/c Michael Pollan has become such a vocal proponent.

Awesome National Examples

• See Grist magazine’s “Feeding the City” series, which delves into the history of urban farming and current examples of cities like Detroit where the fall of industry has led to a “community garden movement.” [see here]. This series is captivating!
• Learn about Brooklyn High School’s weekly 500-lb-organic-produce yield. Insane. [here]
• If you want to check whether a restaurant near you serves local and sustainable meats &/or produce, check the Eat Well Guide [here]

Awesome Local Examples

• More and more restaurants in my city of Long Beach, CA are promoting their own efforts to incorporate local produce. Restaurants that I know of include: The Factory, SIP, and Zephyr. Any LB-ers know of others? I know there’s tons in Los Angeles and a few in Orange County, including:

1. Avanti Cafe, Costa Mesa; (vegetarian)
2. Axe Restaurant, Venice
3. Blue Velvet Restaurant, Los Angeles
4. Chamberlain, West Hollywood
5. Inerim Cafe, Santa Monica; (vegetarian)
6. Jiraffe Restaurant, Santa Monica
7. La Pergola, Sherman Oaks
8. M Cafe de Chaya, Hollywood & Culver City
9. Madeleine Bistro, Tarzana; (vegan)
10. Native Foods, Westwood, O.C. & Palm Springs; (vegan)
11. Newsroom Cafe, Los Angeles
12. Real Food Daily, Santa Monica & West Hollywood; (vegan)

• Wrigley Garden – A local Long Beach garden, located at 1950 and 1960 Henderson Avenue [map here], with farm stands on Fridays from 2-6 p.m. [here]
• Farm Lot 59 - Another Wrigley (Long Beach) creation — Sasha Kanno, who is behind this project as well as the Wrigley Garden, recently reached her funding goals (and more!) to develop Farm Lot 59, which “will serve as an educational resource for the Long Beach community. Children, along with their parents and teachers they can come and learn about urban farming and earth’s ecosystems. A designated children’s garden is envisioned, where the plants will be identified with their nutritional information as well as alternate uses. Children will be able to meet chickens, explore the farming operation, and identify bugs and flowers. This area will feature a design specifically for children, with everything sized to fit smaller hands and bodies. The Farm will also feature an outdoor kitchen where cooking and nutrition classes can be held. For both adults and children, obesity is on the rise, although greatly preventable. Nutrition education is an important component to the Farm, starting children off young eating their fruits and vegetables, learning how to shop on a budget and preparing meals at home.” Amazing. [See here]
• Long Beach Farmers’ Markets. There are three certified farmers’ markets that I know of: 1) Downtown Long Beach on Fridays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; 2) Southeast Long Beach (Alamitos Bay) on Sundays from 9 a.m. – 2p.m.; and 3) Uptown Long Beach (Atlantic & 46th) on Thursdays from 3 – 6:30 p.m. There is also a Farmers’ Market at Marine Stadium on Wednesdays from 2 – 7 p.m. (I don’t think it’s “certified,” but I also don’t think that matters…)

The Debates on Local Food, Sustainability

• A recent opinion piece by Stephen Budiansky in The New York Times addresses “locavores” and aims to complicate the common belief that local food production and consumption are inherently more energy efficient (“green”) and virtuous  [here]. For example, he breaks down transportation costs — a figure often wielded by locavores to promote local food communities — to show that they’re not as egregious as many think.  Here’s an excerpt: “…the local food movement now threatens to devolve into another one of those self-indulgent — and self-defeating — do-gooder dogmas. Arbitrary rules, without any real scientific basis, are repeated as gospel by ‘locavores,’ celebrity chefs and mainstream environmental organizations. Words like ‘sustainability’ and ‘food-miles’ are thrown around without any clear understanding of the larger picture of energy and land use. The result has been all kinds of absurdities. For instance, it is sinful in New York City to buy a tomato grown in a California field because of the energy spent to truck it across the country; it is virtuous to buy one grown in a lavishly heated greenhouse in, say, the Hudson Valley.”
• Slow Food USA responded (to the above) on their Facebook: “Why eat local? Is it just about the food miles? We’d argue it’s also about eating the freshest most delicious food; supporting local economies/ businesses; building community; having a connection to your food. It’s true that we need more infrastructure for small-mid sized agriculture to be more fuel efficient. Your thoughts?”
• I’d add that while I agree with Budiansky that we cannot, in any aspect of our lives, keep our eyes solely on the “local” — (which would be impossible given our global economy, IMO), but what neither SlowFoodUSA or Budiansky address is how the local food movement is also a counter to agribusiness and, for me, a counter to the cruelty inherent in its systems. That’s where I feel most strongly about the local food movement — I can’t fully grasp where my refrigerator uses more electricity than it would cost (energy-wise) for me to eat a banana from Ecuador; but I know that I fear where agribusinesses are headed and eating food that is local eases that fear just a little. Also, it should be made clear that like with all movements there are various “factions.” For instance, going to a restaurant that uses only local produce does not mean that it’s a vegan restaurant. Many restaurants, including Long Beach’s SIP and The Factory, serve “sustainable meat” — those two words, to many vegans, are antithetical to each other. Additionally, for example, another idea gaining popularity for its locavore appeal (and its counter to agribusiness’ current slaughter practices), is mobile slaughterhouses [read here]. I get that we’d really know where our meat came from if we could hear our cows being killed in a slaughterhouse on wheels, but would these mobile units meet, fall below, or exceed the horrendous “standards” of mainstream slaughterhouses in terms of animal sedation, and regulatory measures? Thoughts?
• Michael Pollan released an article called “The Food Movement, Rising” in The New York Review of Books (June) [here] — it was an intricate review of books, history and progress on the food movements. Of course, a lot of his opinions on the local food movement, for instance, are highly contested. Some opponents argue over semantics, others with fear that “local food” movements inherently include a narrow-mindedness to global (and fair) trade. See his critics respond to his initial article [here]; Pollan addresses some critics directly, as well.
• Neal Beets writes in the International City/County Management Association’s publication PM about practical applications for Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry’s research & approach [here]. This a very interesting look at how people at the city government level can actually apply Pollan and Berry’s research to affect change at the local level with things like Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), farmer’s markets, LEED building practices, community gardens, and more.

My Support for Local Food

• I recently joined my local CSA, Beachgreens, and received my first drop-off of fresh, local and organic produce:

Cranky & the not-so-giant Peach

I plan to do a cost-comparison between joining a CSA and buying your own organic produce b/c I know that financial limitations bar a lot of people from buying organic produce. So, we’ll see! Of course, the best thing I could do would be to start my own garden. In the works!

Do you make a conscious effort to eat local and sustainable foods? If yes, how? If not, why not? Any resources and/or additional local- and sustainable-foods-focused restaurants you can point me to? How do you feel about the term “sustainable meat”?

p.s. This was written earlier today when I was at Panera Bread in Irvine hijacking their free internet while listening to Chef Tanya of Native Foods give a presentation outside her restaurant! I listened to her talk about vegan cheese & pesto, while asking the audience their astrological signs and handing out cake samples. Gotta love her I was waiting to meet, and have since met, the adorable and amazing Jasmine from Eat, Move, Write! It was my first blogger meet-up, and, well, any others will have a really high bar of expectations after this meeting! Love her!

<3,

The Cranky One

Whether you’ve had your own wedding, been to one, or even eschew the thought of marriage — you’ve got to at least have an opinion on how much one should compromise, if at all, when planning it.

There was an article in the Sunday New York Times centering around that very question of compromise and the tenuous boundaries of obstinacy and irresoluteness. The catalyst for the piece? Chelsea Clinton’s wedding — vegan & gluten-free bride + omnivore groom = oh shit what will we serve to our guests?

[photo cred]
‘Til Meat Do Us Part?

Reports say Chelsea offered a mostly vegetarian menu, but compromised by adding a grass-fed beef component. And that, my friends, made the usual zealous suspects come out from their caves, to assault the world with an onslaught of opinion. See the 220 comments (no more have since been allowed) on the NY Times piece here.

Since I’ve only been to a couple weddings and am no where near planning my own, I ask you guys — where do you think the boundaries lay in sticking to your beliefs and compromising with your significant other, family, wedding guests, etc.?

To me, this whole Chelsea thing is kinda a “no-duh” — She’s marrying someone who is not vegan; that obviously means she can reconcile her belief set to accommodate marrying someone who is not also vegan. Wouldn’t the wedding and the menu reflect this compromise? Perhaps the issue hits close to home — you all saw my “are we doomed?” post about my omnivore boyfriend and myself [here] — but I just don’t see why so many people were up in arms about the supposed disjuncture between Chelsea’s veganism and the plates of beef served to the meat-eaters at her wedding.

However, that being said — I feel like if any person wanted to serve only vegan food at his or her wedding, there really shouldn’t be any need for compromise. I say that from a completely practical standpoint — non-vegan guests are not carnivores, they’re omnivores, which means they eat both plants and meat. So, by simply excluding any animal-based meal components, it’s not like the omnivores would feel stranded in some foreign food territory. Omnivores eat vegan food all the time, they just aren’t necessarily cognizant of it. I guess that’s why I don’t get the whole “no meat? but what will I eat?!” question. While an “ethical vegan” who attends a wedding serving only non-vegan items would be faced with a moral dilemma should he or she feel ravenous enough to eat, an omnivore at a vegan wedding might feel a little out of his/her element food-wise, but he/she’s certainly not going to face a similar moral quandary. Hmm…I guess that means veganism is akin to a religious choice (like only eating Kosher, etc.); whereas feeling jipped at a vegan wedding as an omnivore would come down to preference?

Yet, to me, there is nothing intrinsically dogmatic about serving only vegan food. It would become dogmatic, of course, once the bride or groom attached a recycled-paper note reading “meat is murder” to their centerpieces. And, you know what? I guess I don’t fret much at dogma anyway. I’ve attended Catholic church weddings because I loved the groom and bride and wanted to celebrate them. Lo and behold, my skin didn’t sizzle off and I didn’t start melting like the wicked witch of the west.

Have any of you been to a wedding that served food out of your realm of comfort? How did you deal? Alternately, have you had a wedding and catered to guests’ food preferences even if they were outside your belief set? Is it really important to cater to your guests’ preferences?

News You Should Know

• Michael Pollan’s appearance on the Oprah show will be re-running tomorrow. Check it out if you missed its original air date.
• The Wall Street Journal online recently posted an interview with Michael Pollan (<3!) where he discussed how pragmatic it is to buy local [here]
• Senate passed the Child Nutrition Act! Sweet. Tons more to be done to affect change in the school cafeteria, but this is definitely no small victory. [here]

<3,

The Cranky One

You know I’m a huge supporter of all things Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser (co-producers of Food Inc.), so when Schlosser’s Op-Ed in the New York Times hit today, I was all over it like vegan cupcakes [full article here].

Schlosser’s piece focuses on the FDA Food Modernization Act — a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to “order” the recall of contaminated foods (I thought they already had this authority! Crazy that they don’t, no?) and to discipline companies that consciously sell tainted products. Additionally, passage of the bill would grant the FDA the authority to test “widely for dangerous pathogens and improve the agency’s ability to trace outbreaks back to their source.”

So what’s the hold-up? Apparently the bill’s been in a “legislative limbo” and if it doesn’t get passed by the end of this session, Congress will have to reinvent the wheel to get this going again. Marion Nestle, NYU professor and author of Food Politics
wrote on her blog today that the hold-up is related to “nothing but politics of the worst kind” [source].

Why does this matter? What’s at stake? Basically, the food industry has become a Brave New World (happy birthday, Aldous Huxley!) in that mass commercialization has meant less regulation and concerns for profit winning over those for safety. Here are some key quotes — relating to what’s at stake — from Schlosser’s piece:

• “…right now, very few cases of food poisoning are ever actually linked to what the person ate, and companies that sell contaminated products routinely avoid liability. The economic cost is instead imposed on society. And it’s a huge cost. According to a recent study sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the annual health-related cost of food-borne illness in the United States is about $152 billion.” [Schlosser]
• “Without tough food safety rules, a perverse economic incentive guides the marketplace. Adulterated food is cheaper to produce than safe food. Since consumers cannot tell the difference between the two, companies that try to do the right thing are forced to compete with companies that couldn’t care less.” [Schlosser]
• “Every day, about 200,000 Americans are sickened by contaminated food. Every year, about 325,000 are hospitalized by a food-borne illness. And the number who are killed annually by something they ate is roughly the same as the number of Americans who’ve been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.” [Schlosser]
• “Today, a problem at a single factory can swiftly lead to an outbreak that extends nationwide. Last year’s peanut butter recall illustrates what can go wrong. Executives at the Peanut Corporation of America knew that peanut butter from their filthy, rodent-infested plant was testing positive for salmonella — but shipped it anyway, for months.” [Schlosser]
• “Thousands of different products, manufactured by more than 200 companies, including candies and cookies marketed to children, were potentially tainted thanks to that one plant. And in the end, roughly 20,000 Americans got salmonella; about half of them were under the age of 16 and one-fifth were younger than 5.” [Schlosser]
• “The enormous rise in imported food also exposes American consumers to food safety lapses overseas…Chinese companies have been caught adding lead-based whiteners to pasta and selling beverages made with industrial alcohol. Two years ago, almost 300,000 Chinese infants were sickened by baby formula that had been adulterated with melamine, a cheap but toxic chemical. The overuse of antibiotics and pesticides in Chinese agriculture is rampant.” [Schlosser]
• “Despite those food safety problems, China has become the largest exporter of food to the United States after Canada and Mexico. About 60 percent of the apple juice in America — like peanut butter, a product consumed largely by children — now comes from China. This is yet another reason that passage of the F.D.A. modernization act is so urgent; it would, for the first time, subject foods from overseas to the same standards as those produced in the United States.” [Schlosser]

As Marion Nestle adds on her blog, “Lives are at stake here and everyone who cares about our food system should be urging the Senate to get moving” [source].

I’m not sure what we “every day citizens” can do to show our support for this bill. So, uh, I’ve asked around and will share with you when I hear If you know how, please share in the comments section! Also, if you’d like to stay on top of all the latest food recalls, check out Recalls.gov, where multiple government agencies report their recall info. [recalls.gov info. via Hungry Girl]

In more light-hearted news:

• Today is National Coffee Milkshake Day (darn food producers coming up with daily food-related holidays!). [photo cred]
  If you’d like to celebrate, I’d recommend making yourself a cup of coffee as your normally do, then letting it get to room temp. Add 1/2 cup of vanilla-flavored, coffee-flavored or mocha-fudge flavored vegan ice cream (I’d recommend Turtle Mountain’s Organic So Delicious variety), 1 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze and lots of ice and blend them all together! Lots o’ drink all for approx 170 calories, 6g fat, 240mg sodium, 26g carbs, 4g fiber, 13g sugars, 2g protein
• Today is Meatless Monday. Haven’t heard of it? Craziness! Check out the site here and start making Mondays your meatless day if only to try some cool new plant-based recipes!
• The Food Network is doing an open casting call for, “The Next Food Network Star.” Casting call is on Tuesday, August 10 from 10am-3pm at LA Marriott Burbank Airport, 2500 Hollywood Way [via Caroline on Crack]

Hope you guys have a wonderful day! Any of you non-veg peeps participate in Meatless Monday? Why do you think people are dragging their feet on passing the FDA Food Modernization Act?

<3,

The Cranky One

So, yea, there’s way too much going on in the food world for me to hog all the info. myself. If you’re following me on Twitter, I’m sure you’ve seen me mention a lot of this stuff. If you’re not following me on Twitter, all I ask is why not?!

Lion Meat, New Foods & Food Recalls (Oh my?)

• Did you catch the news about the restaurant-owner in Arizona who attempted to serve lion meat in celebration of the World Cup? Granted, the whole thing made me cringe and I had to reflect on the premise of carnism (see yesterday’s post). What I found most interesting, however, is the legal and regulatory issues — apparently it IS legal to eat lion meat, however, it is not the USDA that inspects “lions bred for meat” but the FDA. Read more here.
• The U.S. Dietary Guidelines are reviewed every 5 years and a new draft has just been completed for 2010! However, not much seems to have changed (still advocating low-fat, health-myths). See here for more info. and here for an opinion piece (I somewhat agree…obvs. not w/ the eating-animals portions)
• On Monsanto winning an appeal re its GM alfalfa, & its monopolization of agriculture: here and here
• Luna Bar has announced two new flavors: Blueberry Bliss and Vanilla Almond: 180-190 calories,5-6g fat, 3g fiber. They both appear to be vegan.
• ConAgra foods is recalling its Marie Callendar’s brand cheesy chicken and rice entrees. Click here. A good reason to stop buying crappy frozen meals altogether
• Kellogg Co. is recalling 28 million boxes of its cereals (Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops & Honey Smacks) with “better-if-used-before” dates ranging from March 26, 2011, to June 22, 2011. Apparently there is a waxy smell from the packaging that can make people sick. See here.
• The European Parliament recently supported proposals to extend country of origin labeling (COOL) to all meat, poultry and fish and dairy products. Click here. Does anyone know of similar efforts in the US?
• Mission Foods announced it will, finally, start selling whole-wheat flour tortillas. See here. This is great news…IF they take out some of the other crap lurking in most of their tortillas, such as small traces of hydrogenated oils and weird preservatives and chemicals. Baby steps?

Deals

• Participating Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations in CA, AZ & NV (excluding San Diego county, Texas, Hawaii, Ralphs stores, casinos, campus or airport locations) are offering a free 12 0z. Iced Americano, Iced Coffee or Iced Tea on Tues., June 29th, 4-7 p.m. Click here for deets.

Michael Pollan (yes, he deserves his own section of news <3)

• Last night on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams – interview regarding when/why its a good investment to buy organic here “Food is too important to economize” – Pollan, I love you. In a strictly platonic way, of course
• June 19 interview in the Seattle Times here

Fat Acceptance?

• ABC’s new show “Huge,” featuring Hair Spray‘s Nikki Blonsky, will begin airing this upcoming Monday, June 28th. ABC describes the show as follows: “Funny, heartbreaking and provocative, Huge follows the lives of seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp, as they look beneath the surface to discover their true selves and the truth about each other.” You say “weight loss camp” and I immediately feel uncomfortable. However, what I then find super-interesting is that the site hosts a section called “Live Huge,” featuring a “self-esteem coach,” & health/fitness/nutrition tips. Self-described as “At ABC Family, we believe that healthy living means living life to the fullest. In order to live your best life, it’s important to take care of yourself — physically, mentally and emotionally. Here you’ll be given tips on how to eat nutritious snacks and meals, add exercise into your busy life, and build a stronger, more positive sense of self — because living a healthy life means having healthy self-esteem too!” While I obvs. haven’t seen the show yet, advocating holistic health (physical, mental, emotional) seems like a noble premise. And, call me naive, the “Live Huge” site sounds like a great resource for kids and young adults. When I was at my heaviest, I felt like the ultimate “fix” would be losing weight. Now that I’ve lost the weight, the real battle has been mending the self-esteem and recognizing how happiness and thinness are not necessary correlatives.

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. Stop by later for an awesome give-away!

[photo cred]

Are we two star-crossed lovers, fated to have our disapproving families battle it out in the streets until our inevitable demise?

No freakin’ way — this isn’t the 1500s and our families aren’t into dueling. But it does seem like there are people in our respective lifestyle camps who would break out a glove, slap one of us on the face, and challenge us to a duel.

The blogger behind Vegan Salt, Krys, inspired my random Shakespeare allusions when she asked, “Can a vegan and an omnivore live happily ever after?  Should they even bother dating or will their differences be too great to overcome?”

To me, the questions were silly (and inapplicable: it’s not a question of can — we ARE living happily ever after); and I couldn’t help giggling as I read them. I glanced lovingly at the desktop photo of my carnivore boyfriend as if to share the joke with him. Krys then went over some of the benefits of dating someone who is also a vegan, and I nodded in agreement at some of them (e.g. ease of eating out together).

I then laughed again when she brought up the term “vegansexual,” someone who only dates vegans, and I continued cackling as I thought about how unsustainable that practice would be — since vegans make up 1% of the population, they’d either have to incestuously interbreed with each other or die off. Or perhaps start a vegan breeding colony. Hmm…sounds like a weird off-shoot of eugenics…but I digress…

I eventually stopped laughing when the blogger wrote: “Once you reach the point of understanding that raising and killing select species is utterly barbaric and cruel, it becomes difficult not to be a bit judgmental of those who delight in tearing into dead animal flesh.  Or, at the very least, to be a bit wary of their callousness.”

I give pause to this quote because it assumes that raising and killing select species, or deeming some animals edible and others inedible — also known as “carnism” — is a) barbaric and cruel. Is it, really? If I may be so presumptuous to say, I think we’d be better off arguing that it is certainly cruel to unnecessarily inflict pain on animals in our factory/farming practices. I disagree, however, that it is inherently cruel and barbaric to eat some animals and not others.

Animals practice carnism in the natural world. You won’t find a sheep eating a rhino, or a dog eating a platypus — is that carnism cruel and barbaric? I think it can become barbaric when humans are involved and educated that their farming/slaughtering practices inflict pain on animals, are then given access to healthy alternatives, and still choose to inhumanely slaughter animals. I’ll concede that much.

Also, (b) I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many omnivores who “delight in tearing into dead animal flesh.” Sure, I know plenty of people who love to eat meat and savor the flavor with delight; but these are typically people who have dissociated the meat on their plate from its previous animal being. This is a common practice — one of both true and feigned ignorance (in other words, we dissociate by choice and also by proxy — our meat producers do a damn good job at helping us forget where our meat comes from and of selling us idyllic imagery of happy cows participating in American-Idol-like contests).

Just like many people would say they don’t choose to believe in God, that they just do, our beliefs are more complex than we often give them credit. Many of us go our entire lives without ever questioning a certain belief (and it’s hard, even upon reflection now, to pinpoint the liminality where certain beliefs are conscious beliefs instead of these intrinsic parts of us.

While Krys did an excellent job at remaining more inquisitive than inquisition-like, one of her reader’s comments reeeeeally got me “thinking” (read: kinda pissed) when she wrote, “a vegan dating a non vegan is atrocious. It basically means – you don’t care about animals. You are willing to support a killer.”

Aside from being a prime example of hyperbole, this reader’s comment is also a prime example of that unyielding zealousness that turns me off from a lot of pro-vegan forums. It’s like saying if someone dates another outside of his or her religion, she or he then doesn’t care about his/her God and supports a heretic. Granted, there may be loads of people who do believe that. And, boy, we do get far in this world with that sort of zealotry, don’t we? This is also why when people argue ceaselessly over semantics and whether part-time veganism/or vegetarianism is “damaging to the cause,” I shake my head, shrug and look at the big picture.

Look — I do understand the premise behind carnism and the idea that killing and eating some animals over others is unethical (is it more ethical to kill them all? I’m joking, I’m joking…); and while I’ll share that I myself do not eat meat, dairy or cheese, I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t think it’s necessary, or the most ethical thing, that the entire world follow my example or be doomed to some inexorable hell for non-vegans. I went 25 years of my life eating animal flesh and my entire family still does. I guess I just haven’t gotten to that pristine compassionate vegan moment when I’ll condemn them to non-vegan prison or exile them to some non-vegan slave camp. And I’m certainly not getting to that moment when my boyfriend’s omnivore lifestyle will be a deal-breaker.

I don’t mean to sound like an apologist for omnivores of the world, but I’m okay with it if I do.

I read Melanie Joy’s book on carnism, “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism” and I think she’s rad, but I have some reservations with its premise. In simply reflecting on the first half of the title, “Why We Love Dogs,” it is clear this book is marketed to a Western audience (if you have ever seen an episode of Cesar Milan’s National Geographic Show “The Dog Whisperer,” you would hear him sternly recount that loving dogs like pets and babies is a very Western thing – not the case in Mexico and Latin America, for instance). I’d like to point out the “culture blindness” of a book that assumes that any culture privileging its own version of meat-eating would forgo it after acknowledging its bias towards certain animals.

Because eating meat is not simply a cultural and religious practice, but also a practice largely stemming from the geography of the land and the use and allocation of its resources, this could very well become an issue of resource-allocation and access, education and the corporatization of food (and perhaps factor into the Westernization of the world?). The U.N. more recently advocated lessening the consumption of animal products worldwide (esp. meat & dairy) for environmental reasons, but conceded that it’s affluent nations doing most of the consumption (see here).

A lot of Joy’s argument has to do with meat-eating as a social norm pushed by a media and government that legitimizes the act by maintaining its distance to it (103). Sure, in the U.S., we have dairy and meat reps lobbying congress and affecting the cute little triangle of health we pass out to our children in kindergarten. We have animal flesh ground up and packaged so as not to remind us that it’s Annabelle, the cow, we’re eating. I get it. I personally don’t like. But I’m not willing to condemn people for it. Not just yet anyway.

One of the reasons I’m such an avid supporter of Michael Pollan is that he recognizes the various intersections of food, culture and politics and the sort of inextricability of the three. Pollan is considered by many, to be a mover and shaker in the realm of animal ethics. But he’s NOT vegetarian. Say what? Yep. Pollan advocates ethical raising and slaughtering of the animals we breed to eat. I guess part of the issue is whether or not you would ever deem it ethical to eat animals. But to me, that’s sort of a privileged question. It assumes that people everywhere across the world have other options. And if they do, then may we cast judgment on them? It also assumes it is the most ethical thing, environmentally, to veganize the world (while the U.N. seems to be heading in this direction, other reputable sources I’ve read say it’s still questionable whether veganism could even be sustainable, or environmentally ethical, worldwide).

So, to get back to where I started (perhaps this whole brevity thing still eludes me), I don’t plan on taking Juliet’s way out of this tug-o-war. I favor the holistic compassion of my inimitable meat-eating boyfriend over the close-minded “compassion” of any other without doubt.

I’d love your thoughts, ideas, gripes – what have you – on this issue.

<3,

The Cranky One

If you’re interested in food politics, you’ve got to check out Michael Pollan’s book review in The New York Review of Books titled, “The Food Movement, Rising” and linked here.

The books under review:

1. Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front
2. All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?
3. Eating Animals
4. Terra Madre: Forging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities
5. The Taste for Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society

Pollan’s prose weaves in reviews of the books with a natural discussion of the food movement’s history and evolution and how, at this very moment in time, food politics is at the center of national debate (which is AWESOME). I’ve culled some of the quotes I found most interesting and what I found to be his key points:

• How did the Food Movement Get Here? In the 70′s, at a time of questionable agricultural practices and food cost inflation, key books like Diet for a Small Planet, and others, threatened to bring food politics to the center of national debate. The government was able, at the prompting of Nixon, to bring food prices down, to make food issues “disappear” in the sheer ubiquity of food: the govt. shifted focus from “supporting prices for farmers” to focus on high yield crops, which created cheap and ever-present food.
• Why this had hidden costs: “…although cheap food is good politics, it turns out there are significant costs—to the environment, to public health, to the public purse, even to the culture—and as these became impossible to ignore in recent years, food has come back into view.”
• What happened next. The 80s and 90s contained many highly publicized examples of these costs — e.coli break-outs, mad cow disease and a general bewilderment at the thought of seeing what was indeed behind the metaphorical curtain of our food production.
• How multinationals hijacked the ability to afford healthful food. “…companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s pay their workers so poorly that they can afford only the cheap, low-quality food these companies sell, creating a kind of nonvirtuous circle driving down both wages and the quality of food. The advent of fast food (and cheap food in general) has, in effect, subsidized the decline of family incomes in America.” (My note: See books like Fast Food Nation, Nickel and Dimed, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition, and Health, Revised and Expanded Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture))
• Defining the food movements. “Cheap food has become an indispensable pillar of the modern economy. But it is no longer an invisible or uncontested one. One of the most interesting social movements to emerge in the last few years is the ‘food movement,’ or perhaps I should say ‘movements,’ since it is unified as yet by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of reform because its social/environmental/public health/animal welfare/gastronomic costs are too high. As that list suggests, the critics are coming at the issue from a great many different directions. Where many social movements tend to splinter as time goes on, breaking into various factions representing divergent concerns or tactics, the food movement starts out splintered. Among the many threads of advocacy that can be lumped together under that rubric we can include school lunch reform; the campaign for animal rights and welfare; the campaign against genetically modified crops; the rise of organic and locally produced food; efforts to combat obesity and type 2 diabetes; ‘food sovereignty’ (the principle that nations should be allowed to decide their agricultural policies rather than submit to free trade regimes); farm bill reform; food safety regulation; farmland preservation; student organizing around food issues on campus; efforts to promote urban agriculture and ensure that communities have access to healthy food; initiatives to create gardens and cooking classes in schools; farm worker rights; nutrition labeling; feedlot pollution; and the various efforts to regulate food ingredients and marketing, especially to kids.”
• We’re at our Breaking Point. “Viewed from a middle distance, then, the food movement coalesces around the recognition that today’s food and farming economy is ‘unsustainable’—that it can’t go on in its current form much longer without courting a breakdown of some kind, whether environmental, economic, or both.”
• Feeling the Food Movement in your Gut. “But perhaps the food movement’s strongest claim on public attention today is the fact that the American diet of highly processed food laced with added fats and sugars is responsible for the epidemic of chronic diseases that threatens to bankrupt the health care system.”
• Politics under President Obama and Michelle Obama might be paving the way to better health. “The political ground is shifting [my note: see Michelle Obama here], and the passage of health care reform may accelerate that movement. The bill itself contains a few provisions long promoted by the food movement (like calorie labeling on fast food menus), but more important could be the new political tendencies it sets in motion. If health insurers can no longer keep people with chronic diseases out of their patient pools, it stands to reason that the companies will develop a keener interest in preventing those diseases. They will then discover that they have a large stake in things like soda taxes and in precisely which kinds of calories the farm bill is subsidizing. As the insurance industry and the government take on more responsibility for the cost of treating expensive and largely preventable problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes, pressure for reform of the food system, and the American diet, can be expected to increase.”
• Monopolization of our Food is something to Fear. “Speaking in March at an Iowa ‘listening session’ about agribusiness concentration, Holder said, ‘long periods of reckless deregulation have restricted competition’ in agriculture. Indeed: four companies (JBS/Swift, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef Packers) slaughter 85 percent of US beef cattle; two companies (Monsanto and DuPont) sell more than 50 percent of US corn seed; one company (Dean Foods) controls 40 percent of the US milk supply.’”
• When Food is More than Food. “The modern marketplace would have us decide what to buy strictly on the basis of price and self-interest; the food movement implicitly proposes that we enlarge our understanding of both those terms, suggesting that not just ‘good value’ but ethical and political values should inform our buying decisions, and that we’ll get more satisfaction from our eating when they do. That satisfaction helps to explain why many in the movement don’t greet the spectacle of large corporations adopting its goals, as some of them have begun to do, with unalloyed enthusiasm.”
• Where the Food Movement Hits Home. “Part of the movement’s critique of industrial food is that, with the rise of fast food and the collapse of everyday cooking, it has damaged family life and community by undermining the institution of the shared meal. Sad as it may be to bowl alone, eating alone can be sadder still, not least because it is eroding the civility on which our political culture depends.”

Is that not some amazing food for thought?   And, since I forgot to congratulate him earlier, I’d like to link to the Time Magazine spread that featured Mr. Pollan himself as one of the thinkers who most affect our world (linked here).

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. Have you entered by $60.00 give-away to CSN Online stores? Click here to enter.