The horror, the horror

Come on guys, a little healthy anti-Americanism, please.

From a New York Times article:

The fact is that the Mediterranean diet, which has been associated with longer life spans and lower rates of heart disease and cancer, is in retreat in its home region. Today it is more likely to be found in the upscale restaurants of London and New York than among the young generation in places like Greece, where two-thirds of children are now overweight and the health effects are mounting, health officials say.

“This is a place where you’d see people who lived to 100, where people were all fit and trim,” Dr. Stagourakis said. “Now you see kids whose longevity is less than their parents’. That’s really scaring people.”

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In Greece, three-quarters of the adult population is overweight or obese, the worst rate in Europe “by far,” according to the United Nations. The rates of overweight 12-year-old boys rose more than 200 percent from 1982 to 2002 and have been rising even faster since.

Selling out like a rock band baby!

I'm a big believer in gradual change. I didn't become a vegetarian or vegan overnight, and I don't believe that if I'm not doing something Perfectly (being vegan or eco-friendly etc.) I should just throw in the towel. By tuning out, we don't have to change a thing about the way they live -- wee!

The argument against making small changes is that the changes we make won't make a difference (to animals, the environment, poor peeps....) I've never understood this argument for two reasons:

(a) What if--in theory--everyone else also wanted to make these changes to their lives, but didn't because they think the same way you do. It's silly. Be the change you want to see in the world;

(b) What about having principles? Why can't you do something because you just know it's right, even if things never change? It's called having integrity--trying to bring your actions and beliefs in line with each other.

Again, I think it's just an excuse we give ourselves so we won't have to be Uncomfortable. If you're not at least trying to live a life in accordance with how you wish the world was, then you're--in rock and roll terms--selling out.

Instead of swinging between the extremes of Perfect Person and Slacker Dude, try what the Green Living Tips blog calls: Transitional Ethics. I think it's better to make little compromises that get you closer to the end goal, than the one big compromise of trading in your values for material comfort.

"I've gained the world and lost my soul
Maybe it's because I'm getting old
All the people that I know
Have gained the world and lost their souls"

Yay! Less dieters! Amaaazing!

Excerpts from a nice good-news story in the New York Times about the decrease in dieting, and increase of home-cooking. Especially interesting is this idea that cooking is a practice we've lost and need to pick up again. I used to think I was "not a good cook" (except baking!) until two summers ago when I said to myself: Self, you is an academic. And if academics are good at anything, it's learning the basics of ANYTHING... from a book.

So I started picking up vegan cookbooks that were well reviewed on amazon, and that looked quick, and I taughts myself how to cook well. I've been so amazed at the results, Eating Out doesn't hold much allure for me anymore, because good vegetarian food is so hard to find--even what I cook is usually better. And I've followed the books enough now that I can experiment a little without things going horribly wrong. (I toyed with a black bean salad recipe this week and it worked! I toyed with spaghetti sauce and it worked!)

The bottom line is... if I can learn to cook decent (and often delish) meals in one summer, so can any fool. It can't be that much of a lost art. I will add, however, that it requires lots of base ingredients to be on hand, and to have an organized kitchen.

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AFTER decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again.

... The percentage of those consumers who are on a diet is lower than at any time since information on dieting was first collected in 1985. At the peak in 1990, 39 percent of the women and 29 percent of the men were dieting. Today, that number has dropped to 26 percent of women and 16 percent of men.

The diarists also report eating more organic foods and whole grains, said Harry Balzer, an NPD vice president.

...In May, the market research firm Information Resources reported that 53 percent of consumers say they are cooking from scratch more than they did just six months ago, in part, no doubt, because of the rising cost of prepared foods.

...“We need to demystify cooking,” Ms. Waters said. “It creates feelings about food that make you feel cared for, and that’s the kind of food that really changes habits.”

The cookbook author and television personality Rachael Ray has attracted both loyal followers and harsh critics for creating food that doesn’t focus on calories, fat, carbohydrates or even portion control. She intentionally doesn’t include calorie information with her cookbook recipes.

“I think that puts your head into science and away from what I think the experience of food should be,” Ms. Ray said.

...“If everyone ate more plant-based and more whole foods and unprocessed foods, that would be major,” said Arlene Spark, associate professor of nutrition at Hunter College in New York. “But that would mean people going back to cooking, and what we’ve lost is people’s ability and knowledge of how to cook.”

...Last year, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported on a study of 97 obese women, all of whom were avoiding high-fat foods. Half the women were instructed to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. By the end of a year, the women who were focused on adding vegetables lost an average of 17 pounds, 20 percent more than the women who were just paying attention to fat consumption.

Also, the more time people spend on tasks like food shopping, cooking and kitchen cleanup, the more likely they are to be of average weight. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture found that people of normal weight spend more time on meal-related tasks than people who are overweight or underweight.

Thermodynamics and Local Eating

I've never been against international trade, though I believe the playing field needs to be equalized in order for the system to be just. I also thought that increasing world trade was inevitable, and therefore "making the best of the situation" seemed like a more realistic approach than "down with foreign trade." However the heightened cost of fuel is calling that inevitability into question.

Here's an interesting article in the BBC that measures the economy in terms of energy put into production:

"Even before its sea voyage, the calorific value of US wheat is only twice the amount of calories expended to produce it. Compare this with cassava production in Tanzania where 23 times the calorific value is gained for each calorie of human energy input.

Is it energetically sound, socially advisable and economically sensible in the long term to encourage and sustain such long two-way supply chains that evolved in a low-cost energy ere? ...

Could it be more sustainable and cost effective for donors to pay farmers a "fair" price to develop food production for local markets - based on costs of fuel, importing food, the risk of the supply chain collapsing or moving to another country, and so on?" (Dr Peter Baker is a commodities development specialist at CABI, a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation)

Banana Woes

So I've been eating bananas now, which is all very New to Me. But now their price is going to go up! Hmph!

If curious, read the NYT article on the history of banana-eating. ;-) (Or see an excerpt below.)

On the side... I found a funny blog all about bananas. They report a story about some high school seniors who called in sick to school, and then showed up (in costume) as a bunch of bananas being chased through the hall by a gorilla. And they got suspended for a week! What's with that! Harmless and hilarious, what more could you ask?


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"Once bananas had become widely popular, the companies kept costs low by exercising iron-fisted control over the Latin American countries where the fruit was grown. Workers could not be allowed such basic rights as health care, decent wages or the right to congregate. (In 1929, Colombian troops shot down banana workers and their families who were gathered in a town square after church.) Governments could not be anything but utterly pliable. Over and over, banana companies, aided by the American military, intervened whenever there was a chance that any “banana republic” might end its cooperation. (In 1954, United Fruit helped arrange the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala.) Labor is still cheap in these countries, and growers still resort to heavy-handed tactics.

...bananas have always been an emblem of a long-distance food chain. Perhaps it’s time we recognize bananas for what they are: an exotic fruit that, some day soon, may slip beyond our reach."