Fat

[Jolt]

Makes sense, since EFAs are known for their anti-inflammatory effects.

Good point.

[Di bear]

Olive oil is one of the main staples of my diet. If I fry something (I don't deep fry), I use a paper towel to smear a thin layer of oil on the pan. I use Olive Oil on my pasta with fresh basil and tomatoes. I'm even learning how to make my own salad dressing. The organic condiments are just too expensive for me, they don't necessarily taste how I want them to, and the regular "Walmart" variety salad dressings mostly have high fructose corn syrup. I'm gonna start making my own mayonnaise, too. I hear it's easy.

I truly believe that by targeting fats, Americans are targeting the wrong element in their diet. Fat is a scapegoat. Same with carbs. It's the rest of the crap that's causing problems.

[OakLeaf]

(I don't deep fry)

How do you live without falafel?

PS: blender mayo is easy. I rarely use any, but 2-3 times a year when I want to whip up a batch of tuna salad or deviled eggs, I make the mayo just because I never use enough to buy a jar.

[Di bear]

How do you live without falafel?

Uh . . . I've never had it? Kinda like those born blind don't miss seeing.

I love deep-fried foods, but I don't feel good after I eat them. I feel really greasy after eating greasy. I save them for eating out.

So, what is falafel? *curious*

I hear ya on the Mayo thing. I broke out the Mayo from my fridge to make deviled eggs and it was two weeks past expiration. I used it anyway and I'm still alive. But, being a single gal with no kids, I waste a lot of things like that. It'll go in the garbage soon.

[OakLeaf]

So, what is falafel? *curious*

Middle Eastern chickpea patties. Sometimes called "the original vegie burger." Coarsely ground chickpeas (thoroughly soaked but not cooked before frying), onion, parsley, cumin, salt, baking powder (not sure why but the recipes always call for it), a little red pepper. Traditionally served with a tahini-lemon juice sauce on pita bread. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

[Jolt]

I truly believe that by targeting fats, Americans are targeting the wrong element in their diet. Fat is a scapegoat. Same with carbs. It's the rest of the crap that's causing problems.

I agree--there are the crappy fats and carbs (trans fats, white flour, too much sugar) and those have sort of made all fats/carbs look bad to a lot of people, plus as you said all the other garbage that gets added to food in this country. Not to mention other factors like just plain overeating in some cases, lack of physical activity etc. It's a mess, and it's hard to get away from in our society with the way everything is set up. Junk food tends to be cheaper than healthier food, towns are set up so you have to drive pretty much everywhere in a lot of cases, we're all busy and it's tempting to pick up prepackaged food, tight schedules make it hard for some people to find the time/energy to exercise, some areas aren't safe enough for people to be comfortable exercising outdoors, farming practices for the most part are unnatural and unsanitary, and I could probably go on. I wish I (or anyone else for that matter) knew how we could fix this.

[OakLeaf]

I wish I (or anyone else for that matter) knew how we could fix this.

NOOOOOOOO I get enough defeatism at home, I will not listen to "incremental change doesn't work" here!!!

None of us acting alone can "fix it," obviously, but each of us collectively can add our personal flakes to the snowball of change.

You grow your own or buy from a local sustainable farmer whenever you can. Every new customer puts a little fillip into the economy of scale. You be very careful about reading the labels on stuff that you don't get directly from the person who grew it. You recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone you know (and probably In Defense of Food, also, though I haven't read that one yet). You support your local bike co-op with money, time, advocacy, or cast-off parts. You do whatever advocacy you have the energy for. You set a good example for the people around you. Your "random acts of kindness" are centered around health and accessibility issues - cleaning just one pile of gravel off a local bike lane, f'r instance. You start a child care/workout co-op with your neighbors.

Myself, I'm like whatever my comfort level, I try to take it up just one more notch. Not so it hurts - just enough that I know I'm working on it. That's how change happens. We've got to believe.

- Oak, always in the minority school of thought that despair (Tristitia) is one of the Seven Deadly Sins...

[Jolt]

NOOOOOOOO I get enough defeatism at home, I will not listen to "incremental change doesn't work" here!!!

None of us acting alone can "fix it," obviously, but each of us collectively can add our personal flakes to the snowball of change.

You grow your own or buy from a local sustainable farmer whenever you can. Every new customer puts a little fillip into the economy of scale. You be very careful about reading the labels on stuff that you don't get directly from the person who grew it. You recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone you know (and probably In Defense of Food, also, though I haven't read that one yet). You support your local bike co-op with money, time, advocacy, or cast-off parts. You do whatever advocacy you have the energy for. You set a good example for the people around you. Your "random acts of kindness" are centered around health and accessibility issues - cleaning just one pile of gravel off a local bike lane, f'r instance. You start a child care/workout co-op with your neighbors.

Myself, I'm like whatever my comfort level, I try to take it up just one more notch. Not so it hurts - just enough that I know I'm working on it. That's how change happens. We've got to believe.

- Oak, always in the minority school of thought that despair (Tristitia) is one of the Seven Deadly Sins...

You're right that we should each do what we can and set a good example, and that will help to a point...it's just that a LOT of people need a kick in the pants and there are a lot of factors (like the way towns are designed and the fact that some areas are just unsafe) that it's hard to do much about on that grassroots level (unless I'm missing something)--seems like those are the kinds of things where the damage is already done. The culture needs to change, and that will only happen if a larger number of people make an effort.

[Di bear]

I'm renting a house that already has it's own rhubarb and raspberries. I'm going to add squash, lettuce, and other veggies to the garden this year.

Jolt, think of it as doing what's right for you. I didn't make all these changes overnight. I started making them last summer. I still have more changes to make, but I'm already noticing hugely important benefits. One thing I've noticed about avoiding high fructose corn syrup is that I no longer have an insatiable "appetite." I can actually eat my meal and feel satisfied. I like the small and often approach as well. I like to have a bunch of things for breakfast: tea, yogurt with fruit, a slice of toast with jam, and an egg or cereal. When I have time, I spread the meal out over the course of a couple hours. I also eat serving sizes. If I open a can of soup (typically two serving sizes), I put half of it in another bowl in the fridge for later.

Start out with small, easy changes. The soup thing was one of my first changes.

[Bad JuJu]

You grow your own or buy from a local sustainable farmer whenever you can. Every new customer puts a little fillip into the economy of scale. You be very careful about reading the labels on stuff that you don't get directly from the person who grew it. You recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone you know (and probably In Defense of Food, also, though I haven't read that one yet). You support your local bike co-op with money, time, advocacy, or cast-off parts. You do whatever advocacy you have the energy for. You set a good example for the people around you.

You all simply must read Michael Pollan's latest: In Defense of Food. He talks about these very issues and offers some practical advice that sounds very much like what Oakleaf said. His basic premise is this: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

That first point--"Eat food"--sounds obvious until you start to think about how much of the crap sold at most grocery stores isn't really food, but some chemically enhanced food-like substance (or as they call it in Skinny B**ch, a "sh*tstorm of chemicals"). Pollan also talks about trying to buy locally produced food, about how we got where we are now, and ideas for moving toward a better place--foodwise, environmentally, culturally.

Plus, Pollan is such a wonderful writer.

[Jolt]

You all simply must read Michael Pollan's latest: In Defense of Food. He talks about these very issues and offers some practical advice that sounds very much like what Oakleaf said. His basic premise is this: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

That is definitely on my list of books I'd like to read this summer! I looked for it in the library the other day but somebody else had it checked out.

[K8sgotgame]

I have a hell of a time getting good fruit and veggies at a good price here in southern CT. I live in a low income area and the store shelves are literally stocked with things called, "grape drink" and the lot. Fruits and veggies are woefully expensive here and I don't have room for a garden Fortunately I'm moving

Does anyone else get sick from sugar substitutes like Equal, Spenda, etc? They give me a horrible stomach ache. I can only eat regular sugar.

One of the reasons female runners are very prone to injuries is in part that a lack of fat in the diet along with intense running lowers your body fat %. Once it gets too low you can stop menstruating and that in combination with an inadequate diet makes healing less efficient. I work a lot with college athletes and spend a lot of time trying to educate them on proper diet for their activity level. It's pulling teeth though.. everyone wants to be skinny as a twig.

[alpinerabbit]

I truly believe that by targeting fats, Americans are targeting the wrong element in their diet. Fat is a scapegoat. Same with carbs. It's the rest of the crap that's causing problems.

Yeah. AMOUNT. That's what is causing problems.

[SandyLS]

I thought this was going to give me an excuse to eat Dove dark chocolate!
Di Bear, nothing better than fresh raspberries and rhubarb. You'd better start those other plants soon, you have a pretty short growing season up there. Still lots of snow up there?

[Di bear]

I thought this was going to give me an excuse to eat Dove dark chocolate!
Di Bear, nothing better than fresh raspberries and rhubarb. You'd better start those other plants soon, you have a pretty short growing season up there. Still lots of snow up there?

Actually, our growing season doesn't seem to be that short. We've been having long, moderate weather seasons the last couple of years - 8 months of riding. I give credit to Lake Superior - we're surrounded by it here in the Keweenaw. The vegetation is so incredibly different up here compared to the rest of the UP. Lots of birch and maple trees up here . . . LOTS! I think our biggest problem is the soil - it's lacking.

I'll be moving some of my plants indoors - I have a sun room. :-)

alpinerabbit - actually, I was talking about all the added crap you find in American foods, but not in other countries, for example, high fructose corn syrup (I believe I read that this is banned in Europe), which is believed to cause us to eat more and more and more. It's in a lot of our foods, including soft drinks, which is why I quite drinking Coke. I've been told that if I buy Coke imported from Mexico, it will be made with real sugar. I'm looking for some.

Sometimes I cheat, but I generally buy organic cheese and shred it myself. Cheddar cheese is white. The stuff you buy in the supermarket, the yellow stuff, is dyed. I personally think that freshly shredded cheese has more flavor as well.

I was really happy to find that Heinz makes organic ketchup. It doesn't turn to a hard rubbery substance overnight like the regular stuff does. It tastes better as well. Makes ya think.