Taking the “Suffering” out of Succotash: A Home-Grown Approach

March 3, 2016April 13, 2016Leave a comment

“We’ve seen mayors building safe spaces where children can play, faith leaders
educating their congregations about healthy eating, and parents
preparing healthier meals and snacks for their kids.”

-First Lady Michelle Obama
“The Business Case for Healthier Food Options”

I can imagine that being the First Lady of the United States comes with some benefits. For starters, you get to live in one of the most iconic houses in America, and maybe become close friends with a celebrity or two (Beyoncé, anyone?). Of course, another incredible perk of the position is the opportunity to pursue your own political platform. So while her husband has been busy healing our relationship with Cuba and amending our healthcare system, among other things, Mrs. Obama has brought about great changes as well. One of her programs is the Let’s Move! initiative, which promotes exercise and healthier eating for the youth of America. Continue reading →

Trading Games: U.S., Mexico, and the Food in Between

March 2, 2016April 6, 2016Leave a comment

“Trade between farmers, foragers, and fishers has gone on in the Sonoran Desert for millennia, long before an international boundary split the region in half.” – Gary Paul Nabhan

Where does your food come from? Growing up in the Sunshine State of Florida, I rarely questioned that. All my favorite foods seemed to come from my backyard. Literally– my neighborhood flourished on top of an old orange grove, with many of the original trees still inhabiting our backyards. But, it turns out I was wrong about where the rest of my Florida favorites came from. Most heart-wrenchingly, the shrimp I had grown up peeling at our Thanksgiving lunches were not from the salty shores I knew, but rather, somewhere across the Gulf.

I’m not the only one surprised at the origins of their favorite foods, however. Gary Paul Nabhan explores the trade of foods between the United States and Mexico in his essay, “A Brief History of Cross-Border Food Trade.” He, too, was surprised to find out “three-fifths of the fresh produce [people] buy and eat [is] harvested from the West Coast of Mexico” along with most fish and shrimp (156). Nabhan admits he was unaware of this discrepancy even while living just miles from the Mexican border in Arizona. Continue reading →

Sweet Research and the Joy of Cooking Just Enough

February 29, 2016April 6, 2016Leave a comment

Sweet Research and The Joy of Cooking Just Enough

“The calories and portion sizes of classic recipes may reflect prevailing tastes and norms. Yet, they may also establish or reinforce exaggerated norms in other settings…”

-Brian Wansink and Collin R. Payne, “The Joy of Cooking Too Much: 70 Years of Calories Increases in Classic Recipes”

In their research article originally published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Brian Wansink and Collin Payne analyze the calorie increases across 18 recipes printed in both the 1936 and 2006 editions of The Joy of Cooking. Using a variety of methods that I barely understand, Wansink and Payne tracked both ingredient changes and serving size adjustments for their analysis. These researchers did a lot of statistical analyses, made some impressive charts, and seemed very intent on telling me that “P<0.001,” though I have no idea what that means. In this highly formal and informative article, Wansink and Payne conclude that “the mean average calorie density in 18 classic recipes has increased 35.2% per serving over the past 70 years” (121).

…So I understand that eating too many calories is bad. And my hometown actually received a shout-out on the TV series Parks and Recreation for our history with high obesity levels. But I simply could not find a way to relate to or really care about Wansink and Payne’s article the first time I read it. This response had much more to do with my utter disregard for numbers than for their abilities as researchers and writers. But still, for all their talk about recipes, Wansink and Payne did not mention a single specific food in this article. I don’t even know which “classic foods” have become unhealthier. Why should I care about anonymous recipes in The Joy of Cooking? The only cookbook I use is a recipe collection from my roommate’s grandma. And Pinterest. Continue reading →

What’s in Charge of Your Gut?

February 28, 2016April 6, 2016Leave a comment

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture established the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in 1994 to promote the nutrition and well-being of Americans.”

– The United States Department of Agriculture

Bad things go at the top, right? Candy, soda, cookies – that sort of thing. And at the bottom is, uh, wheat? Bread and stuff. Look, the last time I really saw the Food Pyramid was in 4^th grade. Some group came to our school and talked about eating vegetables and that Mr. T pities the fool who does drugs. There were T-shirts and stickers, and some kid got in trouble for poking teachers with the metal pin buttons.

On second thought, I may be thinking of D.A.R.E. The point is, I didn’t pay much attention to the Food Pyramid, and I doubt anyone else did either. I had a general sense that I should eat more greens and less sweets, but my family wasn’t basing our eating habits on anything specific. The pyramid was just something there – everyone knew about it, of course, but that was it. Continue reading →