Food choice defensive

[Melalvai]

This is a topic I've grown curious about recently. Other people's food choices seem to generate so much defensiveness and antagonism in us. What we eat is about so much more than fuel and nutrition. It defines us as a group. Like the clothes we wear, the words we say, the language we speak, our entertainment. So when someone tries to break away from that it's like you're wearing your jeans around your knees and you just got a bunch of tattoos and piercings. You thought you were just selecting different food, but everyone acts like you're making a statement, like you're trying to break away.

[westtexas]

This is a topic I've grown curious about recently. Other people's food choices seem to generate so much defensiveness and antagonism in us. What we eat is about so much more than fuel and nutrition. It defines us as a group. Like the clothes we wear, the words we say, the language we speak, our entertainment. So when someone tries to break away from that it's like you're wearing your jeans around your knees and you just got a bunch of tattoos and piercings. You thought you were just selecting different food, but everyone acts like you're making a statement, like you're trying to break away.

It's true. I'm just doing something better for me, for my health, and you guys are right - it's none of their business unless I want to tell them about it. And yet they treat me like I've got some kind of weird "problem". Apparently you're not a normal human being if you don't eat flour or dairy. Nutrition has always fascinated me - first in my patients, now in my own body - and it's surprising to see the social aspects of it, both good and bad, first hand. It's tough too when there are only 11 people in your entire workplace.

And, for those of you who want to try it:

Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs (modified for how I made it):

Ingredients:
8 bone-in, skin on, organic chicken thighs
2 tsp smoked paprika (McCormick's makes a nice one)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp red palm oil (virgin, unrefined, from Africa. I got mine at http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/red_palm_oil.htm and it came in about a week)
Salt and pepper to taste

Process:
1. Preheat oven to 425˚F
2. Rinse chicken thighs, pat dry with a paper towel, and place in a large ziploc bag.
3. in a small mixing bowl, combine spices & red palm oil (the oil is solid at room temp, so I found that if you stuck the mix in the microwave for about 30 seconds, it melted enough to make a liquid spice mix)
4. Pour seasoning over chicken, seal bag, and toss until chicken is fully coated.
5. Place chicken thighs on a broiling pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper (skin side up). For this, I used my cast iron skillet on the middle oven rack and it worked perfectly.
6. Bake at 425˚F for 40-45 minutes.

I paired the thighs with this recipe:

Oven roasted Okra:

Ingredients:
1 pound okra (whole), washed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Process:
1. Preheat oven to 400˚F (I used the 425 oven from the chicken thighs just fine)
2. Toss okra in olive oil to coat and place on to a sheet pan in a single layer
3. Combine all dry spices and sprinkle over okra, mixing well (after making this, I think the oil + okra + spices in a ziploc would work better)
4. Bake for 5-7 minutes then turn over onto the other side, cooking for another 3-5 minutes (took 5 minutes on each side in my 425 oven)

[shootingstar]

What we eat is about so much more than fuel and nutrition. It defines us as a group. Like the clothes we wear, the words we say, the language we speak, our entertainment. So when someone tries to break away from that it's like you're wearing your jeans around your knees

It should be just treated as fuel and nutrition which it is if one is cycling more than 100 km. and just needs nutrition and drink/water!

Well, you get the picture. While eating Chinese food, is just another type of cuisine for some folks...to me, some of the dishes I prepare is like comfort, cultural / family memories that isn't pure Chinese food all the time, but an intersection of Chinese food and Canadian experience: how my mother adapted local ingredients with her spin when in the 1960's, Asian ingredients in small Ontario cities were very rare.

Most likely when she dies, some of her dishes which I prepare casually without any recipe (it's all passed down by me watching her) will have some greater meaning.

For people who criticize Chinese food which has become salty, oily in some restaurants (some places have smartened up and gotten back to basics.), I will tell them: the foundation of my good health, my weight... I credit to my mother's style of cooking where she skimmed off the fat, reduced use of salt and oil, etc.

Of course, there's the other stuff, lovely desserts acquired from knowing dearie's German cooking background/childhood....

If a person has medical condition that they tell me, of a strong allergic reaction to a food, then I will pay attention. Today I was talking to a Indonesian co-bakery owner here in town and told him that several nieces and nephews were allergic to nuts...enough that they end up in the hospital. It came up because it is something all bakers must consider now. Of course Indonesian cuisine use peanut...

They're looking into making a gluten-free cream puff...but it's tough. They might abandon this effort and offer a totally different product for customers wanting gluten-free desserts at catered functions.

[marni]

of course the classic (Merci ma mere) response whenever anyone asks or says anything like that is to look at them, deeply and sincerely and sweetly ask "whatever would make you ask (say) that?" Makes them responsible for their question, comment. One of my mothers
other ittle ditties was" the wise old owl was a funny bird, the less he spoke the more he heard, the more he heard, the more he knew, now I think that's a wise old owl, don't you?"

just sayin

marni

[VeganBikeChick]

I'm also vegan, Atlas. Funnily enough, my family gives me the hardest time - not coworkers or friends. They call all my food "weird sh**", "weird" being things like quinoa and soymilk. However, my dad is currently in end stage renal disease due to his poor diet choices. Every single one of his siblings (9!) has diabetes, and 3 of his brothers, plus him, have all had open heart surgery. I'll pass, thanks.

Don't let the naysayers get to you, wt. I'd have loved one of your cupcakes .

[shootingstar]

Every single one of his siblings (9!) has diabetes, and 3 of his brothers, plus him, have all had open heart surgery.

Scary.

[7rider]

I'm also vegan, Atlas. Funnily enough, my family gives me the hardest time - not coworkers or friends. They call all my food "weird sh**", "weird" being things like quinoa and soymilk.

I have a friend who gives me grief because I'm NOT vegan.

[Catrin]

I have a friend who gives me grief because I'm NOT vegan.

Yep, I've had this happen as well. For some reason many of us appear to view different diet preferences from our own as a form of personal judgement. It makes no sense, and personally, I really like Marni's approach and will have to remember that.

Westtexas, the cupcakes sound quite yummy and I wish you were closer to me The chicken thigh recipe looks yummy and I am going to have to try it!

[westtexas]

Catrin - I definitely recommend it!

I was talking to my mom today about the Thanksgiving menu and suggested we prepare the roasted okra because it is so good. But she's very worried that my grandmother won't like it. And all I could think was, who cares? She can just choose not to eat it, just I will choose not to eat the bread and the pie. It seems like there is such a strong cultural/familial need to please everyone through the food we make and eat. I imagine that is where the hard feelings come from and why we feel attacked when others judge our diets. So glad we are all entitled to our own food choices.

[shootingstar]

Just yesterday, one work colleague voluntarily told me that for him drinking milk causes eczema.

But chocolate milk doesn't. It must be the placebo effect.

[Susan Otcenas]

I was just wondering from you guys - have you ever had others questions your food choices and you felt kind of defensive about it? Certainly ever is entitled to eat whatever they want to eat, no matter how good/bad it may be for you/them, but when people say things about your personal diet does it upset you?

You thought you were just selecting different food, but everyone acts like you're making a statement, like you're trying to break away.

OK, so I'm just going to put this out there as something for folks to think about.... (Keep in mind that I follow a pretty restrictive diet too, so I understand how hard it is when someone questions your/my choices)... but hasn't anyone but me noticed that the word "garbage" has come up several times already in this thread?

"What I find is that people try to force me to eat garbage...."
"I'm very frustrated about people trying to force garbage down my throat..."

So, it seems to me that on one hand people are complaining that they don't like that people are being judgmental about their restrictive food choices, but at the same time are being quite judgmental about the food choice of other people.

You may not be *using* words like "garbage" when talking to other people about your/their food choices, but we speak with more than words.

Incidentally, this isn't directed at anyone in particular, so my apologies to those of you I've quoted here. Again, like I said, I have my own set of food restrictions that lots of people don't "get", so I'm sympathetic to the notion that people might be judging me for my choices as well.

[bmccasland]

I try to eat healthy, honest, but am a closet junk food junkie.

I think some people "got religion of diet." They've been SAVED, and therefore thinks everyone else needs to hear the good word, often.

[jessmarimba]

I try to eat healthy, honest, but am a closet junk food junkie.

I think some people "got religion of diet." They've been SAVED, and therefore thinks everyone else needs to hear the good word, often.

Ya know, that's a very apt description. Probably why it irks me at the same level.

And I'm a junk-food junkie myself. Not regularly, but it's the novelty that gets me. If I'm in a town with a Hardees (so rare in my radius of work) you can bet I'm going to have a cinnamon raisin biscuit for breakfast! Same for Dunkin Donuts, etc.

[Veronica]

I totally p!ssed off my trainer because I went on a Welch's fruit snack binge last week. She doesn't understand why anyone who works as hard as I do would want to essentially pour sugar down her throat. Those things are like a drug for me. I ate so many I thought I was going to barf - seriously.

Veronica

PS GLC those cookbooks you mentioned are in my wishlist at Amazon. I have no desire to "be paleo" but I miss my winter cooking (chicken pot pie, mac & cheese, creamy soups!) and I'm hoping I'll find some healthier alternatives in there.

[GLC1968]

Welches fruit snacks? Are those like fruit roll-ups or dried fruit things? That's a pretty funny thing to binge on, you know!

So far, all of the books have proven to be worth having. They aren't always the best cookbooks (weird directions, no serving sizes, photos that don't match the recipes, etc), but the recipes themselves are all turning out really good.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are zero recipes for mac and cheese. That's probably the one food that could, in no way, EVER be made paleo. Chicken pot pie, creamy soups, lots of winter squash recipes, and a great chili recipe are included though.