I had a hard time getting out of bed Monday morning. Winter weather. Less light. Cold room. Early hour. Big work week ahead. Feeling kind of stiff.
And one great reason to stay in bed: Warm blankets.
I put off rising by scrolling through a few photos from the weekend when my friend, Kimi (who recently travelled to Turkey), made us a great Turkish-style brunch with simple but fresh and delicious foods: simit (a sesame crusted bagel), menemen (an egg and tomato dish), clotted cream and honey, tahini and molasses, cheeses, fruits, Nutella, crusty bread, and Turkish tea. Easy to make, eat with your hands, and enjoy many cute little ramekin dishes! After our feast, she gave me some of our leftovers.
Turkish-style breakfast for two. All the cutlery was placed by me; turns out it was not needed because you are supposed to grab things with your hands or with the crusty bread.
In my bed nest, looking at the photos, I thought: I could make breakfast today. But I almost never make breakfast during the week, even when I work from home.
So that is what I decided to do. Instead of heading straight to my desk with a cup of black coffee sloshing in one hand and store-bought granola in another, I made myself leftover Turkish-style breakfast and a half carafe of tea. A decadent breakfast by my weekday standards.
A smaller but still exciting leftover Turkish-style breakfast for one. Notice the lack of unnecessary cutlery this time.
As I munched, I mused over how I have periodically tried to motivate myself to rise early with exercise: stretching, YouTube dancing, around the block walking. This time last year I was training for a Ho Ho Ho holiday run. But I haven’t loved AM exercise enough to stick with it; plus, for me PM exercise feels good for unwinding from the day.
While I have had many noble starts with early morning exercise, I could not remember the last time I got up early on a weekday intending to eat a great breakfast. But Turkish-style breakfast was awesome: I was fuelled all day (sustained by the caffeine infusion of clove tea).
A carafe of loose black tea in a small bell tea cup.
I share this story as an idea and as permission: if you wake up and you don’t feel motivated by what usually gets you out of bed…try making yourself an awesome and unexpected breakfast.
Toothbrushing, morning stretches, reaching out to a loved one, pet care, awesome breakfast: what gets you jumping out of bed in the morning to face the day?
This week in nutrition news we are reminded that ultra-processed foods are bad for us. What does “ultra-processed” mean? Pretty much what you would think– “foods made using industrial methods and ingredients you wouldn’t typically find in grocery stores — like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and concentrated proteins like soy isolate”, according to this NYT article. Everything from sodas to flavored yogurts to boxed mac and cheese to breakfast cereals counts. To paraphrase one of food writer Michael Pollan’s Food Rules, “if it comes from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”
So far, so bad. At least we understand this. But wait a second: I just mentioned breakfast cereals in the same damning sentence as boxed mac and cheese. Surely these two foods are not equivalent in their so-called unhealthiness? Right. How processed a food is according to the Nova system some nutrition scientists developed is unrelated to its nutritional content. See below from the NYT:
The Nova system notably doesn’t classify foods based on nutrients like fat, fiber, vitamins or minerals. It’s “agnostic to nutrition,” said Maya Vadiveloo, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.
That has led to debate among nutrition experts about whether it’s useful for describing the healthfulness of a food, partly since many UPFs[ultra-processed foods] — like whole grain breads, flavored yogurts and infant formulas — can provide valuable nutrients, Dr. Vadiveloo said.
Yeah. Maybe researchers should focus on the nutritional content of the food rather than the extent of its processing when deciding on nutritional recommendations. Just FYI, this isn’t my idea. Some other researchers developed a study to test this claim, which was published this week. Here’s what they found:
A new study demonstrates that eating primarily minimally processed foods, as they are defined by the NOVA classification system, does not automatically make for a healthy diet, suggesting that the types of foods we eat may matter more than the level of processing used to make them.
Comparing two menus reflecting a typical Western diet -; one emphasizing minimally processed foods and the other emphasizing ultra-processed foods, as categorized by the NOVA classification system -; the researchers found that the less processed menu was more than twice as expensive and reached its expiration date over three times faster without delivering any additional nutritional value.
“This study indicates that it is possible to eat a low-quality diet even when choosing mostly minimally processed foods,” said Julie Hess, PhD, a research nutritionist at the USDA-ARS Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, who led the study. “It also shows that more-processed and less-processed diets can be equally nutritious (or non-nutritious), but the more-processed diet may have a longer shelf life and be less costly.”
Wow. If that’s true, then why are nutrition researchers telling us that ultra-processed foods are bad for us? I mean, if it’s possible to eat an equally nutritious diet that is a) cheaper; and b)lasts longer in the fridge or on the shelf, then what’s the problem?
There is research suggesting that eating ultra-processed foods may be linked to medical conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. But this research is observational, so it’s hard to make strong conclusions. The NYT cites one small study of 20 adults who were given a diet of minimally processed food for two weeks and an ultra-processed menu for two weeks. On average, they gained weight on the ultra-processed menu and lost it on the minimally-processed menu, even though the menus were adjusted to be calorie-equivalent. In short, it looks like they ate more of the ultra-processed food.
Clearly, more studies are needed to try to sort this out. But what are we to do in the meantime? One expert in the NYT says this:
Cook at home as much as you can, using minimally processed foods, Dr. Davy said. “We can’t really say a whole lot beyond that at this point.”
Great. And I am aware that you, dear readers, are left not knowing more about nutrition than you did before you starting reading. But don’t worry, because I have some actual definitive nutrition news for you that’s not at all confusing. Here it is, again from the NYT:
Watermelon is really good for us. It’s hydrating, not very sugary (yes, this is true!), and it isn’t not heart-healthy (which is to say, they don’t know if it’s promotes cardiovascular health, but it doesn’t hurt).
Whew. That’s a relief. Now we can all proceed to enjoy lovely fresh summer watermelon with no hesitation. You’re welcome…
I could eat one of these big juicy watermelon pieces in a single summer picnic.
Hi folks– if you don’t yet know about FIFI founder Tracy’s blog Vegan Practically, I recommend you take a look. It’s chock full of useful discussions about ways to eat that don’t involve consumption of animal products. Posts include philosophical arguments around veganism and vegetarianism, restaurant reviews and delicious recipes. In short, there’s something for the whole family.
For me, Tracy’s blog has two additional huge advantages: 1) explicit acceptance of the fact that each person’s process of matching up their eating habits with their moral principles is different. Lots of people who are interested in reducing, say, meat intake, will want to do it incrementally. Her blog supports that, which leads me to 2): strategies around reducing one’s animal-product footprint in easy-to-follow ways. She shares her own research and product reviews, offers restaurant and catering critiques and shout-outs, and shows how her life works as a practical vegan.
I’ve been a life-long omnivore, but over time an increasingly uncomfortable one. I teach a Philosophy of Food course, so am very familiar with both the philosophical arguments and overwhelming factual case to be made against eating animals. But, all my previous half-hearted and unprepared attempts to eat vegetarian petered out. I felt stuck and, well, uncomfortable.
Over the course of many conversations with Tracy and others who eat few or no animal products, I came to the conclusion that ANY reductions in e.g. meat or dairy intake were a good thing. I started with eating vegetarian food at restaurants with friends who were vegetarian, and cooking more vegetarian food when having friends over. I moved on to finding vegetarian favorite dishes at restaurants (or for cooking/preparing in my house) and incorporating them into my regular eating rotation.
Then, in 2022, I watched My Octopus Teacher on Netflix. I also read the book Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Both of them feature an octopus protagonist with a great personality. Yes, I know that the book is fiction. But hear me out: these representations of an intelligent, complex, lovable animal flipped a switch for me. I no longer would even consider eating octopus. The decision was made. Period.
Done (at least for that particular animal). Thanks Eden C for Unsplash for the photo.
Of course, eliminating octopus from my diet wasn’t exactly a heavy lift, as I didn’t normally eat much octopus. But, it was proof of concept. And, as a good philosopher, I looked around to see what inferences I might and could and should draw from this position.
Enter the pig. Pigs are known to have complex lives and engage in lots of intelligent behavior. Studies have shown them to be smarter than dogs and even 3-year-old children, says the Humane Society of the United States. Well, okay, then. Pigs are off my table. No more pork for me. Oh, and while I’m at it, no more lamb (again, not a heavy lift, so let’s put it on my no-eating list).
As a person from the American South who visits family there often, avoiding pork is not an easy feat. Also, I admit I like the taste of pork products. But that is no longer a reason for me to eat it, or even consider eating it. Pigs are just not creatures I eat. Period.
However, even though the switch has flipped, I have to do some mental and moral work to keep away from pork, mainly because there’s pork in so much food out there (e.g. corn chowder in restaurants). Now I’m among the folks who are actively bothered that there aren’t more non-pork items on a menu.
As of this writing, I’m still eating beef, chicken and seafood. I particularly love shrimp. But, it’s the next thing on my no-eat list. Why? I read this NYT article about the environmental and human damage the shrimp industry imposes. I already sort of knew some of that info, but reading the article flipped that switch again. I can’t, in good conscience, eat shrimp anymore.
Of course YMMV. The Times article points out that different folks respond in many ways to information about harms produced by industrial animal (in this case shrimp) farming:
In the end, decisions around shrimp come down to your values about what you eat. Dr. Rodriguez Martín and Dr. Lively said they eat shrimp, as does Mr. Nash, though rarely, and he reads the packaging meticulously. Dr. Lively generally eats shrimp only from the United States.Dr. Koehn doesn’t eat shrimp, but he tries not to lecture friends and family.
You may be wondering: what about the chicken and the beef? And dairy, too. The same arguments and considerations apply to them, too.
Yes, you’re right. What I can say by way of explanation (not defense) is that I’m paying attention to what I’m eating, actively exploring meat-free options, working them into my diet as best I can, and knowing that for me, this process takes time. But it’s happening.
Eliminating meat from my diet one animal at a time may not be the most efficient way, but it is my way, for now. And it’s kind of working.
What about you, dear readers? If you are at any point in the process of animal product reduction, let us know what you’re doing. We’d love to hear from you.
1.Who here used to sell Girl Scout cookies? Anyone? Anyone? I did.
2.Who here has looked forward to Girl Scout cookie season (especially the thin mints)? No need to be shy– feel free to step on up. I’m already there.
3.Who here wants to transmit their admittedly-hard-to-get-rid-of feelings of body policing and food restriction on a bunch of little girls, otherwise excited to do some business with the public for the very first time? No one? Good. Not me, either!
If you answered yes to 2. and no to 3, you’re in good company. And, the Girls Scouts are happy to help you out with some tips. Here they are (copied from their Insta page)
Honestly, this advice is good for virtually any situation, and virtually any person.
Who here loves the fact that little girls selling cookies can help the rest of us remember that sometimes (actually, all the time), a cookie is just a cookie? ME!
Oh yeah, we all want in on this.
But you’re not limited in what else a cookie can be: it can be a thin mint, lemon, toffee, or whatever you can dream up and whip up (and buy up from your local troop). Here’s their list for this year:
The 2024 Girl Scout Cookie Lineup
If you want to read about one mother’s experiences with body- and diet-conscious messaging during her daughter’s first cookie sales, read here. If you want to find out where and how to buy Girl Scout Cookies during the season, check it out here.
Or, you could decide to bake or buy or borrow some other cookies to enjoy at your leisure. It’s up to you. Enjoy…
This weekend I’m in New York City visiting dear friends. Whenever I come to town, I am almost certainly guaranteed to partake of the following:
lots of city walking;
wonderful live music;
absolutely dee-licious food.
We went to hear a jazz vibraphonist at this cool club in the East Village, and we also had a multi-course meal at Eulalie, a splendid French restaurant that is getting rave reviews. And in between events, my friends, who are marvelous cooks, made tasty meals for us. Yum!
One of the things I’m doing for myself in 2024 (I’m still working on my 24 things to do list) is shopping for and cooking more-satisfying and healthier-to-me food. It’s not easy for me, and I think it’s not easy for people in general. Especially when cooking 1) for others; 2) on a tight budget; 3) with limited time, putting out meal after meal that conforms to one’s ideas of healthiness, tastiness, preferences, etc. is a daunting undertaking.
Back in 2019, I reviewed the book Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problem and What We Can Do About It. The authors interviewed a number of women who shopped for their families with limited financial resources. Take a look at what they found, and you can also see how that affects how we judge meals and people. Oh, and how we ought not to judge those meals and those people…
I’ve been in Baltimore this weekend for a post-wedding party; a dear friend’s daughter got married this summer in Europe in a small family ceremony, and they’re celebrating with a big group of friends and family back home where they live.
One of my favorite outings of the weekend was a visit to one of the local farmers markets. I love farmers markets– they give you a great view of the artisanal food culture, and of course there’s wonderful people-watching! This market didn’t disappoint on any fronts: there were loads of folks, live music (a very good jazz trumpeter), a brightly colored school bus with an ample supple of hippie clothing and accessories, and vendors selling locally sourced and produced comestibles.
Which gets me to the lure and fantasy part of my visit.
I’m never more entranced by brussels sprouts and microgreens and king oyster mushrooms than when I’m out of town, visiting friends, and very far away from my own kitchen. Yes, I do cook at home– with vegetables even– but I tend to stick to a narrower range of foods. My work and home and social and family life feel extra-busy these days. I just don’t have the mental space to conjure up a romanesco dish for dinner.
But, when I’m on vacation, my inner supertaster and chef come out to play in my imagination. Sure, I could use some more flavored oils and vinegars. Mangoes? Yes please. Oh, what a salad I could fashion from lovely microgreens, those cute watermelon radishes and tricolored carrots. And of course I’ll take a bag of apples!
Yummy apples!Greens and herbs!Fresh mozzarella!
It has happened from time to time that my fantasy took over reality while visiting some far-from-home farmers market and I loaded up on fruits and veggies, intending to haul them home on a plane or train. Generally, things didn’t end well: there was lots of bruising of fruit, complaining by me about extra bags, and even resentment of the extra cooking work I took on once I got back to my regular life. No, my fantasy meals cooked up in my imagination should not be acted upon. At least not while out of town.
But why can’t I indulge my gastronomic fantasies closer to home? Can I pick a seasonal food I want to experiment with and go to one of the many markets near my house? You know, I could. It would require intention and setting aside time from cleaning/grading/laundry/social activity/everything else. But, it’s doable. Hmmm, something to think about. I’ll report back on the results of this idea, along with documentation of any creative and gustatory output.
Readers, do you love out-of-town farmers markets? How do you keep from loading up on berries and fresh bread? I’d love to hear from you.
I’m feeling inspired by Tracy’s recent post over at her practical vegan blog. Last week she wrote about Meatless Monday and wrote a post of suggested tips for giving it a go.
I’ve long felt of myself as an aspiring vegan. I’m a pescatarian but mostly vegetarian eater. The reasons aren’t that complicated. I’m concerned about animal welfare and I think contemporary farming methods treat animals with cruelty, disrespect, and disregard. I’d think it’s better not to give these industries our money.
While I’m not ready to completely make the leap, I like the one day week vegan commitment that is Meatless Monday. It gives me a chance to focus my efforts and I’ll how hard it is (or not).
To get ready I bought maple flavored oat milk for coffee in the morning. I thought about my lunch and dinner choices. All good.
And then Sunday night we had veggie burgers on the BBQ for dinner. Leftovers. Excellent. Except we’d put cheese on the burgers.
So I’m not about to throw out leftovers and they really need to eaten the next day. I thought about abandoning Meatless Monday but that’s ridiculous. My choice is either Meatless Monday (veganism) plus a cheese slice or vegetarian Monday.
In a way this moment encapsulated a thing Tracy often talks about, how perfection stops people from aiming in the direction of veganism. So in the spirit of the Tracy’s new blog, I decided to keep going and it’ll be an imperfect vegan Monday to begin.
The blog is going to explore what I call “imperfect veganism” from a philosophical, ethical, strategic, and practical perspective. I have been vegan for ethical reasons since 2011, vegetarian for quite some time prior to that. But, as I explain in “Welcome to ‘Vegan. Practically.” I am not 100% perfect at it. Many people both inside and outside the vegan community think of it as an all-or-nothing undertaking, that you can not be “properly vegan” if you ever falter. That has never seemed right to me, and as a philosopher I have been mulling it over for a long time.
The book-in-progress, and its new blog companion “Vegan. Practically.” will carve out a space for a principled approach to veganism as an ethical practice. I emphasize the idea of practice because I think that is a great way of understanding the ongoing, but sometimes flawed, effort, much as we do in other practices, such as yoga, meditation, religion, even physical training in athletics from hockey to running.
I started the new blog because as I’ve been writing the book over these past few months, I’ve had some challenges hitting the right note in terms of tone. I want to be inviting, offering these reflections not just to vegans, but also to anyone who might be curious, or anyone who might be more than curious but feels convinced veganism is “too hard.” I don’t want to be scary, combative, strident, or (overly) self-righteous (tough to navigate when you’re taking an ethical stance on something, but I don’t see that as a productive way for me to be). I also don’t want to evangelize or preach. I’m a philosopher, so argument, commentary, and analysis are my go-tos, with some personal narrative thrown into the mix. Hopefully it’ll be inherently interesting subject matter presented in an approachable and engaging way (a women can dream!).
As a writer I can sometimes overthink things like tone, but I know that I when I blog I feel as if my authentic voice comes through. I tried to approach some parts of the book “acting as if,” that is, pretending I was blogging. But I guess I’m not such a great pretender. Why not just do it for real?
As I was grappling with this question of tone and the possibility of blogging for real, I felt a bit of resistance because a blog is a commitment not to be undertaken lightly. Then my writing coach (Daphne Gray-Grant, The Publication Coach), whom I’ve been working with for a few months, said that a blog is an excellent platform for making a success of the book. I know from my experience with Fit Is a Feminist Issue and the book, Fit at Mid-Life: A Feminist Fitness Journey, that I co-authored with Sam, that this holds true. We did much better with the book because of the blog — indeed without the blog there would have been no book.
I plan to start modestly, with one to two posts a week on a range of topics from the various reasons in support of veganism to Veganuary pros and cons to cell-based meat to my favourite vegan recipe sites (I won’t be offering much if anything in the way of recipes). The photography will be my own (I’m intensely into photography so this is a way of showcasing some of my work).
Unlike this blog, I have no plans to expand the author-group, at least not for starters. I would love to find readers who are interested and curious. No need for readers to be vegans or ethically-guided eaters of whatever kind. I’m not focusing on health, though there are actually some compelling health reasons for following a plant-based diet and I might sometimes mention it.
Please check it out and ask your friends to do the same.
CW: talk about eating and feelings around the types of food eaten
This month for me has been filled with a lot less cooking than usual. My department is hiring an assistant professor, which means we’ve had a cavalcade of candidates on campus for interviews, teaching demos, job talks, and meals. Lots of meals. And none of them particularly satisfying (the meals, not the candidates).
Not to complain– the meals are free, after all, which appeals to my inner graduate student. But eating so often at the campus cafeteria and local eateries in the small suburban town 40 miles from where I live has been sort of low-level drudgery. So, you would think that, on days I am free to eat on my own, I’d be cooking foods that felt better to my palate, to my tummy, to my weekly needs. Sadly, no– that’s not how these weeks have been playing out. Instead of making nice quiches or sheet pan bakes or stews, I’ve been scrounging around my fridge and pantry, making carb-heavy veggie-light food and flopping on the couch.
There’s nothing wrong with eating whatever you eat. All of us on the blog have written about this many times. And we believe it, and there’s evidence to support our views. But sometimes, in some lives (my life right now in particular), eating feels yucky. It makes sense– I’ve been very busy with candidates, more driving than usual, scrambling to get work done that I couldn’t do because of the schedule shift, and my eating patterns have changed in ways that don’t support my feeling good.
Tomorrow (Monday) is our last of four candidate visits, so there will be room to shift back into ways of food shopping, preparing and eating that better suit me and my system and my feelings. I’m reminded of a post I wrote way way back in February 2019 (remember 2019? Me neither…) It’s about a book, Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It. If you haven’t heard of this book, it’s worth checking out.
See you all next week, and I’ll report (briefly) what’s cooking…
