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. 

Green BEAN Delivery

Step one to learning to appreciate vegetables would seem to be obtaining vegetables.  So I've subscribed to Green BEAN Delivery, which promises to deliver organic, locally-grown fruits and vegetables to my home regularly.  I chose the every-other-week delivery, and today, I got my first list of things to be delivered next Friday.

I actually do care about the organic, locally-grown bit.  I know that one person doesn't make much difference, but then again, my choices influence the choices of the people around me, and from what I've read from Michael Pollan, the world really would be a better place if more people did what I'm trying to do, and ate food that came from the ground nearby, rather than food that comes in heavily processed forms from halfway across the world.

Here's the list: I'm just starting to work on a menu based on incorporating these into my food in ways I'm willing to try.

1 bunch carrots
4 Empire apples
1 leaf lettuce
1 pound of green beans
3 red Bartlett pears
24 ounces of fingerling potatoes
16 ounces of strawberries
16-20 ounces of yellow slicer tomatoes