There was a spot on op-ed about our food system's role in health care reform by Michael Pollan (writer of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food) in the Times yesterday. I was going to put it in the general updates post but I think it deserves it's own. Not much to add since he says it quite well!
Highlight: "To put it more bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup."
Also, check out the NYC health department's recent campaign to get New Yorkers to cut down on soft drinks. You might have seen the subway ads already, here's some info behind them.
For my part, I've been mixing up some TJ's organic mango lemonade with half a cup of seltzer for Shaun recently whenever he has a Mountain Dew craving. It's not half bad...I can't blame him for reaching for the vodka instead of seltzer sometimes, though...but hey, vodka is sugar free too! :-)
September 11, 2009
September 10, 2009
All-Around Updates
Some general updates since I haven't had time for longer posts recently!
1. Composting is going well. I discovered that the community garden where my CSA pickup is located has a compost bin as well, so no more need to haul it into Union Square! I just load up my bike with the scraps on my way to pick up the vegetables, then drop them off and go on my merry way, non-scrappy vegetables in tow. Apparently most community gardens have a compost drop off - look into it if there's one in your neighborhood!
2. The CSA itself is going well too; I like the variety and I think the every-other-week option that Hearty Roots offers is just the right amount of food for a two person household. The only snag is that I'm pretty much out of luck if I happen to be out of town or otherwise occupied on a Saturday morning...it's either beg and plead for a friend to snag 'em, or cut my losses, like we had to over Labor Day weekend. Fortunately they donate everything that isn't picked up to a food bank, so at least I can feel good about that. And for your viewing pleasure, here is a lovely picture of me mulling over corn at the pickup two weeks ago, taken by my awesome photographer friend Patrick (who's going to be doing more photos for the blog, yay!)
3. The day after I blogged that I thought cutting down on sugar was giving me more energy, I felt totally drained. It probably also had to do with being in the middle of the busiest season of the year at work, but I was downing multiple diet Dr. Peppers (which I usually never do!) to plow through. But I've been sticking with it and now I feel fine. And I discovered that peaches are even better than blueberries in Greek yogurt!
4. My landlady is apparently no big fan of my gardening attempts. I guess all the little herb pots create quite the hassle for her when she goes to sweep our porch once a week. I'd be happy to sweep the porch myself, but there's a bit of a language barrier and I'm not sure she wants to relinquish her porch sweeping responsibilities to me anytime soon...
5. My tomatoes definitely DIED. Died died died. Never even produced any little green fruits. I think it was the blight, but as my landlady liked to point out when discouraging my gardening attempts, we're on the north side of the street and nothing will grow there, ever-not-ever-never, because it doesn't get full sun. Except, you know, my herbs that are doing quite nicely.
6. Somebody stole my $2 Ikea watering can the very first day I bought it! Never even got to use it. My money's on the garden-hater upstairs. Did I mention she has the freaking Garden of Eden in our building's backyard? Rows and rows of healthy tomatoes and raspberries, which I can see every day out of my bedroom window but never ever touch...siiiigh.
7. I'm buying a COW! One quarter of one at least. Well, one fifth of one quarter, once I split it with four other beef loving pals, so I guess I'm buying one twentieth of a cow. My CSA's farm partners with a neighbor in the grass-fed animals business, and buying it directly lets us get our hands on delicious grass-fed protein for MUCH less than Whole Foods would have you pay for it. It's pretty much the cost of regular grocery store corn-fed beef, and cheaper in the case of certain cuts. Not quite sure exactly when we'll get our hands on it, but I'll do a full post when we do.
Moo.
(cow image not mine)
1. Composting is going well. I discovered that the community garden where my CSA pickup is located has a compost bin as well, so no more need to haul it into Union Square! I just load up my bike with the scraps on my way to pick up the vegetables, then drop them off and go on my merry way, non-scrappy vegetables in tow. Apparently most community gardens have a compost drop off - look into it if there's one in your neighborhood!
2. The CSA itself is going well too; I like the variety and I think the every-other-week option that Hearty Roots offers is just the right amount of food for a two person household. The only snag is that I'm pretty much out of luck if I happen to be out of town or otherwise occupied on a Saturday morning...it's either beg and plead for a friend to snag 'em, or cut my losses, like we had to over Labor Day weekend. Fortunately they donate everything that isn't picked up to a food bank, so at least I can feel good about that. And for your viewing pleasure, here is a lovely picture of me mulling over corn at the pickup two weeks ago, taken by my awesome photographer friend Patrick (who's going to be doing more photos for the blog, yay!)
3. The day after I blogged that I thought cutting down on sugar was giving me more energy, I felt totally drained. It probably also had to do with being in the middle of the busiest season of the year at work, but I was downing multiple diet Dr. Peppers (which I usually never do!) to plow through. But I've been sticking with it and now I feel fine. And I discovered that peaches are even better than blueberries in Greek yogurt!4. My landlady is apparently no big fan of my gardening attempts. I guess all the little herb pots create quite the hassle for her when she goes to sweep our porch once a week. I'd be happy to sweep the porch myself, but there's a bit of a language barrier and I'm not sure she wants to relinquish her porch sweeping responsibilities to me anytime soon...
5. My tomatoes definitely DIED. Died died died. Never even produced any little green fruits. I think it was the blight, but as my landlady liked to point out when discouraging my gardening attempts, we're on the north side of the street and nothing will grow there, ever-not-ever-never, because it doesn't get full sun. Except, you know, my herbs that are doing quite nicely.
6. Somebody stole my $2 Ikea watering can the very first day I bought it! Never even got to use it. My money's on the garden-hater upstairs. Did I mention she has the freaking Garden of Eden in our building's backyard? Rows and rows of healthy tomatoes and raspberries, which I can see every day out of my bedroom window but never ever touch...siiiigh.7. I'm buying a COW! One quarter of one at least. Well, one fifth of one quarter, once I split it with four other beef loving pals, so I guess I'm buying one twentieth of a cow. My CSA's farm partners with a neighbor in the grass-fed animals business, and buying it directly lets us get our hands on delicious grass-fed protein for MUCH less than Whole Foods would have you pay for it. It's pretty much the cost of regular grocery store corn-fed beef, and cheaper in the case of certain cuts. Not quite sure exactly when we'll get our hands on it, but I'll do a full post when we do.
Moo.(cow image not mine)
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