We at Fit as a Feminist Issue have been following and reporting on the eggs-good-eggs-bad nutritional controversy for years now. Researchers simply haven’t been able to decide, and we’ve been there to report.
In late July of this year, a new study came out about the impact of eggs (which contain a low of dietary cholesterol) vs. saturated fat (which isn’t found in eggs) on our LDL cholesterol levels. And guess what? The eggs came out on top!
Let’s take a closer look at what they did and what it might mean.
Note: this blog post is not meant as medical advice. I am a doctor, but of philosophy, not medicine. But hey, I can read an article as well as the next person… 🙂
The study was pretty simple. Researchers created three groups:
high-cholesterol (600 mg/d), low-saturated fat (6%) including 2 eggs/d (EGG);
low-cholesterol (300 mg/d), high-saturated fat (12%) without eggs (EGG-FREE);
and a high-cholesterol (600 mg/d), high-saturated fat (12%) control diet (CON) including 1 egg/wk.
For those who are visual processors, see below:
Two-egg-breakfast, a bunch of bacon, and one-egg breakfast. All in the name of science.
And what did the researchers conclude? I won’t keep you waiting:
Saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, elevates LDL cholesterol. Compared with consuming a high-saturated fat diet with only 1 egg/wk, consuming 2 eggs daily as part of a low-saturated fat diet lowers LDL concentrations, which may reduce CVD risk. However, this effect on CVD risk may be mitigated, at least in part, by a reduction in less-atherogenic large LDL particles and an increase in more atherogenic small LDL particles.
What does this mean? Well, the study reaffirms what science has known for decades, which is that dietary cholesterol doesn’t contribute to our LDL-cholesterol levels. What does contribute, however, is saturated fat. So, eating a lower-saturated fat diet helps reduce LDL-cholesterol. Which science already knew, but this study shows it. Again.
But what about the business with eating two-eggs-a-day vs. at-most-one-egg-a-week? Aren’t medical folks still recommending not eating a lot of eggs if your cholesterol is higher?
Yes. In this news article, which is about THE NEW STUDY, some medical professionals are still recommending avoiding eggs to manage cholesterol levels.
If you’re concerned about your cholesterol levels, Sharon Palmer, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist from California, suggests sticking to egg whites, as most of the cholesterol and saturated fat in eggs are in the yolk.
This woman (who also read the study) is sighing in frustration, too. Thanks British Library, for the photo.
What does all this mean? Well, research, especially research that goes against previously-entrenched medical views, is not taken up and incorporated into medical practice very quickly or easily. Also, nutrition science is one of those areas where people vigorously disagree, even when lots of research seems to be pointing in one direction rather than another.
So, what should you eat for breakfast? It’s up to you, and there are lots of considerations, including health, convenience, access, ethical ramifications, and taste.
But, in honor of the season, may I recommend:
Yogurt with peaches, blueberries and granola. Fancy glass mandatory.
It’s so good that summer is three whole months long. And it’s also so sad that summer is only three months long. There’s so much we all want to do, including enjoying the fruits (in the benefit way as well as the watermelon way) of the season.
I spent some of my early summer traveling for family events and conferences, and July was more local, less organized, but pretty social.
August is looking active. In a good way. Here’s what’s on my agenda:
Continuing the physical therapy I started a week or so ago for hip and glute sciatica. It’s coming along. I like the place where I get PT (except for when Doug selects the playlist), and the therapists are friendly and know what they’re doing. I trust them and am doing my exercises faithfully.
More swimming. I went to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester with friends Nina and Norah, and we are planning another jaunt in late August (and maybe I’ll squeeze in a trip in September). I’m also joining my friend Gal again at her apartment complex pool– yes, I was invited (although I’m not above self-inviting in this case). I must confess I haven’t been to Walden this summer. This situation will be rectified in August.
A group kayak jaunt in Hingham with friends. We did this a couple of years ago and had a fabulous time. It’s flat salt water with several places to explore and also to beach the boats for lunch or a quick dip.
A possible beginner sailing outing with the MIT sailing club. This is tentative pending an ok by the physical therapist. The MIT Club of Boston is sponsoring a sailing afternoon for people of all levels. I’m at the lowest level, which means I’d go out with an experienced person, learning a bit about sailing. Will report back if it works out– fingers crossed.
Canadian vacation! I’m in Ontario for a week in August, hanging out at my friend Norah’s cottage in Goderich (with more swimming in Lake Huron), and visiting Sam and Sarah in Guelph (with more quarry swimming if schedules and weather cooperate).
There may be other activities, but this looks pretty good to me. Readers, what are your plans for the most sweet and ripe month of the summer?
As always, late to the party, I’m really enjoying the We Do Not Care Club. Yes, it’s been around for a while now, although it came across my radar when the New York Times did an article on Melani Sanders, the genius behind and president of the We Do Not Care Club, for women everywhere going through menopause and perimenopause. She’s all over social media (in a good way), with 1.3 million followers on Instagram and three bizillion on TikTok.
I’m sure you’ve seen some of these (if not, welcome to the party!), but if not, here’s a snippet from youtube:
I think everyone on the planet loves this. I’ve been seeing celebrities releasing their “we do not care” lists with unabashed glee. I get it– it’s liberating to speak out loud about letting go of expectations around living a seamless and pristine life of home-cooked meals, freshly starched clothing, a brilliant social calendar and amazing productivity at work. Let’s all practice saying it together:
WE DO NOT CARE….
See, didn’t that feel good?
Honestly, there’s no way I can improve on Melani’s We Do Not Care daily announcements. But guess what? That’s another thing I don’t have to care about! See how great this plan is? Okay, here goes my list:
I do not care if I wear capri pants with an elastic waist every day from May to October. They’re comfortable, and in a pinch, I can/will sleep in them.
I do not care if you are my very best friend in the whole world– you are not borrowing either my best craft scissors or my second best craft scissors. Don’t jeopardize our relationship by bringing it up.
I do not care if I have a house full of books to be read; buying books is soothing and makes my world a better place, even right by my bed where I already have piles of to-be-read books.
I do not care if you have heard my story about seeing Tom Petty or Big Papi or Bill Clinton at the airport ten times already; you should think of it like holiday decoration– the cheery gift that keeps on giving.
I do not care if you don’t like really cold beverages– you better have ice in your house when I come to visit, or else give me notice so I can bring a cooler with me. This includes the winter months.
I do not care if you just read some article about how coffee is actually bad for us; keep it to yourself.
I do not care if I’ve asked you twice in the last hour to call my phone. It’s disappeared again, so call me.
I do not care if you have complained to me every day about your ex-partner or crabby boss or ungrateful children or demanding relatives or uncomfortable clothing; if you got stuff on your mind, bring it to me, sister!
Hey readers, what do you not care about? Hit me, and I’ll completely agree with you.
Yes, it’s already July 20th– where has the month gone? But just this week I discovered that both my workplace and my yoga studio are doing a kind of motivation bingo.
This cat is confused, too. Let me explain. Photo from Unsplash.
Gamification of tasks is a tried-and-true way of making otherwise dull jobs more interesting, and also can help us focus on goals by offering us incentives, an element of competition, and rewards for completion. The idea of a bingo card for tasks is simple but brilliant (in my humble opinion).
The tasks or challenges are laid out clearly
You have choices about which tasks to do, and in what order
There’s a reward after doing a certain number of them (yelling BINGO! and of course little prizes)
At the end of the game, you’ve done a bunch of tasks, which is probably good
Here’s a mood-boost bingo card my workplace sent out last week. They used some campus-specific tasks, but you could adjust it for your own environment.
A 5 x 5 bingo card from my university for a mid-summer mood boost. Imma do it!
My yoga studio– Artemis in Watertown, MA– is doing a summer yoga bingo game. My friend Norah is on the case in a serious way. Here’s their yoga bingo card:
Yoga bingo card, encouraging folks to do classes and also check out the neighborhood.
Norah and I went to Good Harbor beach in Gloucester yesterday with our friend Nina, and Norah regaled us with her strategies. She thinks she can get 5 classes in this week, which, if she plans it right, will cover many spaces. Each bingo she gets puts her in a raffle to win yoga swag. But I think it’s the thrill of the chase and the triumph of hitting those bingos that makes it fun. She already loves yoga and our studio (as do I), but this focuses the attention and reawakens the worthy competitor in her.
And, I admit, it’s doing the same for me. I just found out about this yesterday, but I’m in. I’m signing up for a restorative class this afternoon, thus giving me two spots- weekend class plus restorative class. Who knows where I’ll go from there… 🙂
Hey readers: have you/are you in the midst of any motivator bingo games? What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.
I bet a bunch of you reading this will have had the rare and wondrous experience of learning from, and maybe being active with, a professional in your chosen sport or activity. It’s been a while, but I did some mountain bike clinics with pros, and I learned a TON. Pro mountain bike racer and Olympian Jimena Florit (who also raced for the Luna Chix pro team) gave a clinic at Wompatuck State Park near Boston, and I got to ride in the woods on her wheel. I’ve never felt smoother or faster on a mountain bike! She also taught us how to manage tougher sections of the course (we were racing the next day). Among other things, I learned that if you stall in a rock garden get off the bike and run with it. DON’T try to remount and ride through. Bad idea.
Not sure what I’m talking about here, or just want to see it broken it down? Well, here you go– a video by Anna Glowinski (experienced cyclist and TV presenter).
Another great experience I had (again, a long time ago, but the memory is vivid) was going on a Wednesday shop road bike ride with some guys I didn’t know. Turns out they were way faster than me. I offered to let them go on ahead and ride at my own pace, but instead they did this: They tucked me in between two of them, with another cyclist riding beside me in the wind to shelter me. Well, I went faster that day than ever before or since– 28mph on the flats! I wasn’t even pushing super-hard. It felt magical. After a while I did break off from them and do a nice solo ride, but it was a lovely feeling, spinning with them and feeling like one of the fast crowd.
Lots of us, I’m sure, have taken clinics or lessons from pros or super-experienced sports folks. Doing this has taught me at least two things:
Learning the proper technique for something that seems impossible at first (and then practicing it a lot) can maybe put it within my reach (e.g. yes to solo rescue in a sea kayak, no as of yet to rolling said sea kayak)
Being in the same activity space with a pro/veteran sports person shows me the vast differences between them and me–on a bike, in a boat, on a horse, you name it. And it’s awe-inspiring to watch them in motion.
Okay, fair enough. But what about the what NOT to do part?
Professional tennis taught us what not to do last week (and this week). Billionaire Bill Ackman apparently really loves tennis, and so decided that he wanted to play in the Hall of Fame Open, which is the second highest tier of professional tennis tournament. Here’s more on the situation from sports writer Giri Nathan, in this article in the Defector:
The Hall of Fame Open takes place in Newport, R.I., on the grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It is perhaps most noteworthy for being the only tour-level grass-court tournament held outside of Europe. It was an ATP 250 event from 2009 until 2025, when it was downgraded to a Challenger 125 event. Even with this diminished status, it is still an event that active touring professionals are seeking to compete at in order to win ATP points and prize money. It’s not an event that random guys can just amble into. Entry is determined by existing ATP ranking points. Ackman, being a 59-year-old hedge fund manager, does not have any ATP ranking points.
Ackman’s partner is not an active ATP player, either. An elite doubles player who also peaked at No. 8 in singles, Jack Sock retired in 2023 and promptly switched over to professional pickleball. At the end of his career, his conditioning was in visible disrepair, and he lost an official ATP match to a part-time tennis player with a day job in real estate. Sock unretired in order to pursue a wildcard at this week’s tournament, and the tournament happily obliged, per Front Office Sports.
Ackman and Sock did, in fact, play some pros (Bernard Tomic and Omar Jasika) and lost 6-1, 7-5. But the score does not reflect the quality of play. You can see for yourself below: basically, they dinked shots straight back to Ackman just to get and keep some rallies going.
As Nathan noted in his article, Ackman can afford to hire just about any professional tennis player on the planet for coaching or just to rally with him. But making his way into a professional tournament when he doesn’t even come close to qualifying (fine, neither do most of us, but we didn’t play there, did we?) is, well, NOT the way to do sports with the pros.
Yes, it is true that Ackman was strafed in the sports press for his inauspicious outing on the grass at Newport. His response was not to apologize for playing in a venue where he was completely out of his depth, but rather to argue that he was in a tournament (not a professional one) recently, and “I played great”.
He also added that the sun was in his eyes. I kid you not.
I was also serving into the 1:30pm sun with a shot clock (a new experience for me) (from X)
Well, that’s very nice. But it doesn’t disabuse anyone of the idea that maybe Ackman bought his way into the Hall of Fame tournament match, and is now buying his way out of it.
Except he can’t just leave it. He finished his X post by saying this:
my partner Richey Reneberg and I hereby challenge @Served_Podcast Andy Roddick and the amateur of his choice to doubles on my court. And feel free to bring the cameras as I am now battle ready.
Oh, no.
Here is who Andy Roddick is— he played Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Finals three times and once in the US Open.
Yes, he lost.
To Roger Federer. Who won 20 Grand Slam titles and 11 runners-up.
Oh, Bill. This is NOT the way to do sportsing with the pros. But if you persist and play Andy Roddick plus his choice of amateur, I am here for it.
Hey readers– have you had some fun or interesting or humbling or inspiring interactions with pros or veterans of your sport? Tell us some of your stories in the comments.
Welcome, dear readers, to high summer! It’s July 13, and all the produce is out-producing itself, offering us loads of opportunities for new and perennial favorite taste experiences.
Yes, I know this is not a cooking or gardening or farmers’ market blog. But here’s the deal: I am saddled with a flare-up of sciatica (likely brought on by too much air travel and car travel, but wha’cha gonna do…). This means it’ll be a couple of weeks before I’m okay to resume summer outdoor activity. For now, I’m enrolled in physical therapy, which is good for me if not good for the season. Sigh.
But, in keeping with the brightness and warmth and availability of copious amounts of beautiful fruits, I’m, literally making lemonade out of lemons. And other cold yummy summer beverages. Here following, several recipes and beverage projects I’m engaging in these days.
First, I always make sure to have plenty of freshly-brewed iced tea on hand. This means heating water in a kettle until boiling and pouring it into a container (I use a marge metal bowl), and then dipping tea bags into it to infuse them. I leave them for 5–7 minutes, then remove them. Once the tea has cooled, I transfer it into a pitcher for the fridge. It never lasts more than a day or two, so it always tastes very fresh and looks clear.
I use Earl Grey tea, but you can use anything you like, caffeinated or non, black, green, herbal, whatever.
Just. don’t. use. instant. Ever.
Potential variations: you can add sugar to the bowl before the boiling water, or honey (as I prefer). Amounts vary according to taste. You might also add a handful of fresh mint leaves if you like, taking them out with a strainer within 15–20 minutes. You can also leave the tea unsweetened, and make simple syrup for people to add to their glasses to taste.
Earl grey iced tea in vintage glasses with cute paper straws. I don’t use straws and any glass will do for me.
Basic simple syrup recipe: combine one cup sugar (any kind) with one cup water in a small saucepan. Heat up the pan and stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Take it off the heat before it boils. Then let it sit and cool. Put it in a container with a lid in the fridge. It will last several weeks.
Variations on simple syrup recipe: you can add so many things to simple syrup, like mint leaves, lemons, lime, basil, other herbs, you name it. Make sure to strain them out before storing in the fridge. Feel free to go wild. Here’s a link to some interesting syrups you can try. One I love is this tea-infused one, which I add to beverages other than tea…
Second, it’s great to have fresh-squeezed lemonade around as well, as it can form the base of fun fruity concoctions. There are loads of recipes online, but here’s what I do:
make simple syrup with 1-1 water and sugar
squeeze maybe 6–8 lemons, enough to have at least one cup of fresh lemon juice
mix together one cup of lemon juice, one cup of cold water, and 1/2 cup simple syrup.
Then add water to the mixture until you like the taste
serve in glasses with plenty of ice, mint leaf or raspberry or lemon wheel or something else festive
tip: maybe leave the mixture a little strong, as serving with ice waters it down a bit
Variations on lemonade: you can use mint simple syrup to make minty lemonade, or add pureed strawberries to make strawberry lemonade.
Fresh lemonade in vintage glassFresh limeade in old-fashioned glass.strawberry lemonade in lowball glass.
Or, you can use my list, substituting limes for lemons, for fresh limeade. It’s more work, as it takes more limes, but it tastes dee-licious.
Another pro tip: get ahold of a very good lemon/lime juicer for the job. Flimsy ones will just irritate you and make you give up and blame me. Here are ones I recommend:
This is what I use– buy a sturdy one!Wirecutter likes this one. Meh, but YMMV.For those looking to get an extra workout while juicing.
I don’t have a view on electric juicers. Readers, anyone have expert knowledge on this?
Third, you can combine the beauty of fresh ice tea with the tart sweetness of lemonade to make a drink called The Arnold Palmer. Yes, it’s named after this guy. He was a very great golfer. And, in the 1960s, according to this wikipedia article, he ordered a drink at lunch in Palm Springs made with 3/4 unsweetened ice tea and 1/4 lemonade. As the story goes, a woman copied his ordering the drink one day at lunch saying, “I’ll have that Arnold Palmer drink, too.” And so a drink was born.
These days, the drink is very commonly served in the summer at resorts and warm-weather locales. A variation of it with half iced tea and half lemonade is more popular, but you can be your own judge.
The Arnold Palmer, half and half version, with striped paper straw and lemon slice optional.
Fourth, and general variation on any of these beverages: you can add some razzmatazz by pouring a float of seltzer (or prosecco, or ginger ale, or whatever alcoholic or non-alcoholic bubbly you like). In fact, a version of this drink has its own name: the Raspberry/Lime Rickey. Just make whatever simple syrup you want, add lemon or lime juice or ade, and then froth it up with whatever bubbly you want. I love them- they say old-fashioned New England summer to me.
Fifth and finally, there’s the wonder of the homemade agua fresca, a Mexican beverage that you can make wherever you are. If you haven’t heard of this or tried it, you’ll soon very very glad you read on. Here’s some information from this article in the Mexico News Daily, and some pictures they shared of the wide variety of aguas frescas available:
Refreshing and flavorful, aguas frescas are a treasured part of Mexico’s gastronomic heritage. Sold widely by vendors, shops and restaurants, the non-alcoholic drinks are instantly recognizable.
People have been flavoring water with fruit and flowers in Mexico since ancient times…Many of the popular aguas frescas found in Mexico today — notably, jamaica and horchata — were made possible by the trade network the Spanish established during the colonial era. However, [many] aguas frescas developed regionally [with] grains and legumes like barley and alfalfa to nuts and seeds like almonds and chia and flowers and spices like hibiscus and cinnamon. Fruits were even more frequently used, of course, thanks to a natural bounty that included introduced plants like grapefruit, mango, melon, orange, papaya, passionfruit, peach and local ones including sapote, soursop, guava, tejocote and xoconostle.
from article: you can find aguas frescas in markets and street stands across Mexico. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
My introduction to agua fresca came at La Tacqueria in the Mission District of San Francisco. You must go there if you are ever in San Francisco. The cantaloupe version is still my favorite. But I’ve made several kinds at home since then.
Unlike say, lemonade or limeade. agua frescas are made by pureeing actual fruits or vegetables (or combinations), then adding simple syrup and either lemon or lime juice. You put the whole mixture through a fine sieve (or cheesecloth, depending on your temperament– I go with the sieve), add water to taste, and there you have it– a pure, refreshing elixir of summer produce, made just for you.
A variety of agua frescas– cantaloupe, waterlmon, honeydew, and mango. But you can use all kinds of produce, as well as mix and match.
You’ll need a blender (or vitamix or food processor of something that will seriously puree your ingredients). Here’s a good recipe and guide to aguas frescas. But all comes down to this:
find some fruit or veg you want to make a beverage with (I’m trying cucumber mint next week)
peel, seed and slice it
puree it in your pureeing contraption with some water (1–2 cups?)
add some lime or lemon juice (a few tablespoons?) and puree again
adjust as needed, adding simple syrup if you want more sweetness or a different flavor
pour into container to chill for an hour in fridge
use in two days (but that really won’t be a problem)
Aguas frescas are their own world, and you can read more about them here to start if you’re interested.
Pro tip: if you have leftover sliced fruit that is maybe not as sweet or soft as you would like, puree it with some water and lime or lemon juice, and voila! instant agua fresca. Throw in whatever you want. The difference between smoothie and agua fresca is one of degree, so you are the boss of your ingredients and consistency.
Last comment: I hear from Samantha and Sarah that the muskmelons will be in season when I visit Ontario in August, so we will make muskmelon aguas frescas! Yum. Will report back.
Dear readers, what summer fruit beverages do you love and/or do you make? I’d love to hear any tips or recipes you might have to share.
You would think that, after study upon study shows how body weight is significantly genetic, that weight stigma would go away.
You would think that, given that virtually all medically-prescribed diet programs result in regaining the weight lost during them after 2–5 years, blaming people for regaining weight would go away.
You would think that. But, no, it hasn’t. Weight stigma is still very much alive and well and out there. However, researchers are studying weight stigma in more detail, with the goal of addressing it (both internalized and external forms) and reducing its harms to all of us. That’s a good thing.
Here are a few examples of what some researchers have been doing about it.
Weight stigma was directly associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the relationship between weight stigma and greater depressive and anxiety symptoms was mediated by greater perceived stress. Perceived stress explained 37% of the relationship between weight stigma and mental health outcomes, even after accounting for Body Mass Index.
Using standard measures for anxiety, stress, and depression, the researchers found not only that being stigmatized for one’s weight gives rise to anxiety and depression, but that perceived stress from weight stigma also brought on these mental health symptoms. This was regardless of BMI in the participants.
In this 2024 study by Janet Tomiyama, David Figueroa and others, the researchers examined how changes in information for recruiting people for human research studies might affect the number of higher-weight people participating. They note that higher-weight people are often absent from scientific studies, and considered “difficult to recruit”. As a result, studies in which they are absent are subject to sampling bias. Here’s what this study did:
…this study experimentally manipulated the phrasing of weight‐related information included in recruitment materials and examined its impact on participants’ characteristics.
Two visually similar flyers, either weight‐salient or neutral, were randomly posted throughout a university campus to recruit participants (N = 300) for a short survey, assessing their internalized weight bias, anticipated and experienced stigmatizing experiences, eating habits, and general demographic characteristics.
Although the weight‐salient (vs. neutral) flyer took 18.5 days longer to recruit the target sample size, there were no between flyer differences in respondents’ internalized weight bias, anticipated/experienced weight stigma, disordered eating behaviors, BMI, or perceived weight.
That is, researchers have choices over how they present initial information to potential participants in studies; if they mention weight-related procedures (in this case gathering data about height and weight), they should know recruitment might take longer, but not necessarily affect the outcome of the study.
A paper that came out in 2021, based on the Eating in America study, also by Janet Tomiyama and colleagues, gathered data on some of the negative health outcomes associated with weight stigma. They found:
…weight stigma was significantly asso- ciated with greater disordered eating, comfort eating, alcohol use, and sleep disturbance, after controlling for covariates. No such relationship was observed for physical activity.
They also found that lower BMIs don’t reduce the negative health outcomes for those experiencing weight stigma:
In our sample, individuals across the weight spectrum, not only those with overweight or obese BMIs, reported weight stigma. In fact, moderation analyses indicated that individuals with lower BMIs showed greater disordered eating and alcohol use in the face of weight stigma.
They conclude, quite reasonably:
Taken together, these findings highlight weight stigma as a potential barrier to healthy behaviors, and suggest that one strategy to improve population health may be to reduce weight stigma. Though more research is needed, it may be important to employ more weight-inclusive approaches to health pro- motion, such as removing stigmatizing language or weight outcomes from health policies and program objectives.
Yes, agreed.
Research on weight stigma shows that it’s still very much present and is associated with very many negative health outcomes. It can and should be addressed, and we have ideas on how to do that.
So how about let’s do that. Maybe now, don’t you think?
In the past couple of months, I’ve spent more time in airports than I have since before the pandemic. Family events (happy and sad) and work trips necessitated flying more, which put me in the position of noticing upgraded features of airports that made my time there more (or less) easy on my body, my mood, and my needs for decent food and a place to land while waiting.
Interestingly, the Washingon Post has also been thinking about airports, and they recently published a piece on the 50 best US airports. I’ve been to 16 of them. Lots of them are smaller regional airports, like Richmond, VA, or Portland, ME. Others are alternatives to the big airports in big cities, like Love Field in Dallas. What’s so great about airports when they do things right?
For me, one of the most soothing things about great airports is what they lack– noise. At the Portland, OR airport, I found a soothing lack of muzak and blaring pop music emanating from the stores. Even the passengers seemed muted as they rushed to their gates. Yes, there were the usual baby grand pianos in the public spaces, but even the folks playing them chose low-key tunes. And no one was playing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, which (in my opinion) the FAA should ban from all airport spaces. Fight me…
Music and quiet are all well and good, but one thing we really need while traveling is a place to sit, collect ourselves and our belongings, and prepare for the on-board segment of our journeys. Both the Charlotte, NC and the Columbia, SC airports have white slatted rocking chairs all over the place for our comfort. Yes, they get snagged by savvy travelers, but turnover is constant, so a little vigilance will definitely pay off.
A lineup of rocking chairs in the Charlotte, NC airport.
I love it when an airport has stores or food venues that are local to the area. In Portland, OR, there was a airport version of Powell’s books, at which I perused many interesting titles and bought one (even though I had a fully loaded Kindle and a book already in my backpack). There’s something luxurious-feeling about picking out a book on the fly (yes, pun intended). FYI, I bought The Fox Wife, sort of a historical fantasy mystery novel– definitely outside of my usual genre choices, but eminently suitable for a long plane ride.
By the way, The Milwaukee, Wi airport has a used bookstore (why aren’t there more of these in airports??) and also a local coffee and breakfast burrito cart. Oh, and a ping-pong table, fully stocked with paddles and balls. I think they might also enlist volunteers willing to play with solo travelers, as I was on my own that day.
Speaking of entertainment, that’s another thing great airports offers. The Portland, OR airport (which ranked #1 in that Washington Post article) had an actual movie theatre, playing short films for passengers looking for a little respite from the light and the gates. Here it is:
At first I thought this was a fancied-up bathroom entrance, but it’s an actual movie theatre. Wow.
And that brings me to the most replenishing thing about good airports: their art! I love me some large-scale (or any-scale, really) airport art. Airport art takes you out of your rushing, tired mindset and offers an alternative perspective, if only for a few moments. But those few moments really refresh me every time. My favorite all-time art installation is in Atlanta, called Flight Paths. Here’s what it looks like:
The ceiling of Flight Paths–shapes and colors and sort sound. Photos by me.Passengers enjoying the lights and shapes and sounds of birds and forest.
Charlotte, NC airport also uses abstraction and nature to catch passengers’ attention and imagination.
You can look closer here. What do you see?A large-scale cloud scape of blues and whites , with lots of room for imagination.
I find airport art, both grand and modest, a welcome shift from my head-down-gotta-get-there state of mind. Good and thoughtful airport planners know this, and they provide.
Readers, what are some of your most favorite features of airports? I’d love to hear from you.
Trends and fads come and go, but there are some things that stand the test of time. They never go out of style, and attract generation after generation of loyal followers. These include Levi’s blue jeans, Tiffany jewelry (with its obligatory distinctive blue gift box), Colgate toothpaste, and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
You can add another thing to the list for consideration: The Magic Wand vibrator.
Some of the family of Magic Wand vibrators, corded and rechargable, in different sizes.
I’m not shilling for the company– we don’t do product placement here at Fit is a Feminist Issue. Nor do we take any advertising. However, I noticed that Wirecutter, the reviewing arm of the New York Times company, is still giving this vibrator its top recommendation. And in fact, people have been going cuckoo for this gagdet for upwards of half a century. You can read more about the Magic Wand phenomenon here.
9 years ago I wrote a blog post about visiting a sex toy shop in Boston with a friend I met at Kripalu, a place noted for its concentration on multiple modes of self-care. When I took a look at it today, I was surprised (and also not surprised) that some things just don’t change. Those include:
The importance of having experiences off the clock
The importance of relieving stress
The importance of promoting good sleep
Sexy solo time (as I called it then in an attempt to be cutesy) can help us care for ourselves and feel better, whether we have a partner or partners or not. And I say huzzah to that.
Take a look at my blog post from 2016 and see what you think. One thing that probably has improved is better device charging. Hey, some things do get better with time.
This week I was at one of my favorite conferences– the joint conference of the Association for the Study of Food and Society and the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. Yes, that’s a mouthful. And it’s also a banquet of information from folks in lots of different disciplines, all united by a concern for how we can engage with our food systems in ways that support the people who grow, harvest, distribute, sell, buy and eat food. Oh, and how we can support our earth at the same time. So, not much– just that… 🙂
I learned so much about many different areas of agriculture, cooking, pedagogy and activism this week, it would take another week just to write it all down. And I will (well, at least some of it).
But for now, I have a treat for all of you.
At one of the sessions, we all got to hear about four new books that
…focus on the connections between food, health, and techno-science… With science and technology playing highly prominent albeit contested roles in defining good food, healthy bodies and the future of planetary health, it is time to push the field in new directions… Collectively, [these books] show that notions of food, nutrition, hunger, and appetite are not apolitical but cultural technologies through which governments, institutions, and the public create knowledge, shape how we shall live, and bring worlds into being. (from the conference program)
And the treat is: All of these books are open-access, which means they’re all free! Well, except for one of them. But it’s great too, and all are worth checking out.
Yeah, I know. Thanks Alexander Krivitsky for Unsplash.
Here are the books, with the download links included and a little blurb from their press pages. Take a look and see if any of them catch your eye. I’m planning on reading all of them this summer, so will report on each in more detail.
In recent decades, many members of the public have come to see processed food as a problem that needs to be solved by eating “real” food and reforming the food system. But for many food industry professionals, the problem is not processed food or the food system itself, but misperceptions and irrational fears caused by the public’s lack of scientific understanding. In her highly original book, Charlotte Biltekoff explores the role that science and scientific authority play in food industry responses to consumer concerns about what we eat and how it is made. As Biltekoff documents, industry efforts to correct public misperceptions through science-based education have consistently misunderstood the public’s concerns, which she argues are an expression of politics. This has entrenched “food scientism” in public discourse and seeded a form of antipolitics, with broad consequences. Real Food, Real Facts offers lessons that extend well beyond food choice and will appeal to readers interested in how everyday people come to accept or reject scientific authority in matters of personal health and well-being.
In this book, Dana Simmons explores the enduring production of hunger in US history. Hunger, in the modern United States, became a technology—a weapon, a scientific method, and a policy instrument. During the nineteenth century, state agents and private citizens colluded in large-scale campaigns of ethnic cleansing using hunger and food deprivation. In the twentieth century, officials enacted policies and rules that made incarcerated people, welfare recipients, and beneficiaries of foreign food aid hungry by design, in order to modify their behavior. With the advent of ultraprocessed foods, food manufacturers designed products to stimulate cravings and consumption at the expense of public health. Taking us inside the labs of researchers devoted to understanding hunger as a biological and social phenomenon, On Hunger examines the continuing struggle to produce, suppress, or control hunger in America.
Mal-Nutrition documents how maternal health interventions in Guatemala are complicit in reproducing poverty. Policy makers speak about how a critical window of biological growth around the time of pregnancy—called the “first 1,000 days of life”—determines health and wealth across the life course. They argue that fetal development is the key to global development. In this thought-provoking and timely book, Emily Yates-Doerr shows that the control of mothering is a paradigmatic technique of American violence that serves to control the reproduction of privilege and power. She illustrates the efforts of Guatemalan scientists, midwives, and mothers to counter the harms of such mal-nutrition. Their powerful stories offer a window into a form of nutrition science and policy that encourages collective nourishment and fosters reproductive cycles in which women, children, and their entire communities can flourish.
This one’s not free, but it’s worth considering, and those of you who are academics might think about ordering a desk copy. Here’s what it’s about.
Why has Silicon Valley become the model for addressing today’s myriad social and ecological crises? With this book, Julie Guthman digs into the impoverished solutions for food and agriculture currently emerging from Silicon Valley, urging us to stop trying to fix our broken food system through finite capitalistic solutions and technological moonshots that do next to nothing to actualize a more just and sustainable system.
The Problem with Solutions combines an analysis of the rise of tech company solution culture with findings from actual research on the sector’s ill-informed attempts to address the problems of food and agriculture. As this seductive approach continues to infiltrate universities and academia, Guthman challenges us to reject apolitical and self-gratifying techno-solutions and develop the capacity and willingness to respond to the root causes of these crises. Solutions, she argues, are a product of our current condition, not an answer to it.
So, a few little somethings to add to your summer reading list. Let me know if any of these appeal to you, if you read it, and what you think.
