Apple on the balcony

My first bin arrived last night from Green BEAN delivery.  I was very excited.  My friend, over at my house for our traditional Friday night movies-and-wine evening, was, I think, a little amused at my delight.  But then, she eats fruits and vegetables routinely.

Everything looked so neat, packed into its little brown paper bags.  I was surprised at how small the apples and pears were, compared to the ones at the grocery store.  Maybe it's the grocery store fruits that are unnaturally huge.

I unpacked the bin, and we immediately washed and ate some of the strawberries.  Fruit doesn't normally delight me, although I don't dislike it in the way I dislike vegetables.  But ever since I started bicycling more often, my body's been sending odd, barely comprehensible signals that it would like some more natural food.  Last night I gave it strawberries, and my body immediately responded positively.  "Yes!"  was the signal I got from myself.  "Like this!  Send more like this!"


So, yes, the strawberries were just lovely.  This morning, rather than my usual rice-with-soy-sauce breakfast, I took one of the little Empire apples out on the balcony, to enjoy the September sunshine with a good book.  It was a tasty little apple, and a very pleasant start to the day.

My life as a reality show

Apparently, TLC is introducing a reality show about people with problematic eating habits, called "Freaky Eaters."

I'm actually quite curious about the science behind food preferences.  Is there something different about my brain chemistry, or my taste buds, that makes the vegetables that taste good to other people taste bad to me?  My sister doesn't like vegetables, either- could it be hereditary?  Or could it be related to our upbringing, and the way mom used to make us finish our food even when we found it unpalatable?  Is there any treatment or technique that's proven to be effective in broadening a person's palate?

Somehow, though, I have a feeling that, despite being on "the learning channel,"  this show isn't going to explore these interesting questions.  I have a feeling that it's going to be a freak show- everyone, come and stare at the man who will only eat hamburgers!  Isn't he strange?  Aren't you glad you aren't him?

Peppers on the moon

At the University of Arizona, they're working on ways to feed people living away from home.  Far away.  Researchers there have designed a greenhouse that they hope could be used to grow plants on the moon or Mars, to contribute to long-term missions there.

Giacomelli said the research also could lead to plant colonization in another traditionally hostile environment -- large urban centers.

"There's great interest in providing locally grown, fresh food in cities, for growing food right where masses of people are living," Giacomelli said. "It's the idea of growing high-quality fresh food that only has to be transported very short distances. There also would be a sense of agriculture returning to the everyday lives of urban dwellers."

"I think that idea is as exciting as establishing plant colonies on the moon."

High protein, low carb, die earlier

In other shocking news, while the Atkins diet will make you lose weight, it won't make you healthier.  A nice stir-fry, even with white rice, really is better for you than a pile of steak.  Shocked?

A major study was just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine from Harvard. In approximately 85,000 women who were followed for 26 years and 45,000 men who were followed for 20 years, researchers found that all-cause mortality rates were increased in both men and women who were eating a low-carbohydrate Atkins diet based on animal protein.

Sexy, sexy carrots

About a block from where I work, on a bus shelter, I pass an enormous advertisement for carrots.    Specifically, baby carrots.  As it happens, I know that in this context, the word "baby" does not mean "young," but "small."  As in, "normal carrots, cut into smaller pieces, the way you could do with ordinary carrots yourself if you cared to spend your time lovingly sculpting carrots into smaller carrots, instead of just slicing them up and eating them."  What makes baby carrots special is that, for the privilege of buying them in pre-sculpted baby carrot shapes, we get to pay just about twice as much for them.  But, hey, if that's the shape you like your carrots, it really is very time- consuming to carve them individually, so why not pay someone else to do it for you?

And why not advertise them like they were junk food?  One of the reasons we eat a lot of junk food- not the only reason, not by a long shot, but one reason- is that the advertisements make us crave it.  So it's not such a bad thing that I am seeing a huge advertisement for carrots instead of advertisements for Chee-tos.

And then there's this video, advertising carrots with sex appeal.  Sexy, sexy carrots.  But not in the way you might be thinking- full-sized carrots would be more appropriate for that.  These are sexy, sexy baby carrots.  And that makes them special.

Advice from Coach Nicole

Sparkpeople's Coach Nicole became a vegetarian without liking vegetables, and taught herself to enjoy them.  She offers her advice here.

An excerpt:

Say no to plain vegetables. One of the main reasons people don't like vegetables is because they try to eat them plain. If you're just starting out, this is one of the worst things you can do. Most people don't have the taste buds for a plate of steamed broccoli or spinach. And why should you have to suffer through that for the sake of your health? The thing I did most when I started eating healthier was put vegetables into things I already ate: broccoli mixed in with macaroni and cheese, chopped carrots mixed in with seasoned noodles or rice mixes, and frozen spinach added to a can of soup are just a few examples. This is a great way to introduce veggies into your diet, where the flavors of the other foods you eat them with help them taste better and less noticeable. Start by adding small amounts of veggies to your standard meals, and as your taste buds adapt, you can add more and more. 

I'm in the majority.

In today's news, I learned that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vegetable-avoiders are in the majority in the United States.  Or, at least, that less than a third of Americans typically eat more than 2 fruits or more than 3 vegetables in a day.

That's definitely me.  I don't.  I sometimes put a little fruit in my lunch box, but breakfast and dinner are usually free of fruits and vegetables.

So why do Americans eat so few fruits and vegetables?

Maybe it's for the same reason I don't- because they don't taste good, and it takes an effort to make yourself eat them, when just eating food that tastes good is so much easier.  Or maybe it's because when you have been eating a lot of processed food, natural food tastes unpleasantly weird- have you noticed that?

It works the other way, too- I gave up processed food for Lent one year, and on my first trip to McDonald's after the season was over, I was surprised at how I could taste the chemistry in my McNuggets in a way I never had before.