ABOUT

Posted under "Hubbub"

11 Aug Green Love

More substantial posts about my break up with sugar, my love of brown rice syrup and pooping in the woods are coming, but in the meantime, enjoy this ode to an often intimidating Asian green: bok choy. (Yes, I know the pic above is of a different Asian green, but it’s what I had, so… there you go.)

Bok Choy…It’s Delicious.

Thanks for letting me post this, Patrick!!

04 Aug Quick Health News Round Up

source: prs.heacademy.ac.uk/news/

Just a few interesting bits of health and nutrition news of late:

According to the New York Times, exercise is good for you, but not as effective as eating well, too.
But when you are exercising, slow and steady wins the weight lifting race (That’s Fit)
More evidence that good fats are good for you – even if the nut industry paid for the studies (NYTimes)
Grist wants you to look pretty and smell good, but not poison yourself.
Another reminder of the potential risks of feeding the standard American diet to kids. (Grist)

I’m off to Yosemite. Happy reading.

22 Jul One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish ….

Fish. I love fish. The past two years – since I stopped being a vegetarian and welcomed seafood back into my life – have been so. much. fun! Eating fish I’d forgotten about, tasting the butteriness of real, fresh crab and tuna again for the first time, learning to cook fish myself (I’ve got cioppino down and am working up to a whole fish, with the head on and everything) – I’ve been having a blast and it’s been interesting to see how my body responds to this source of protein (but that’s another topic altogether).

There are many, many reasons to eat fish, including, but not limited to (1) it’s tasty, (2) there are so many varieties and endless ways to cook it, (3) it’s a leaner form of animal protein and (4) it’s nutritionally rich, especially in Omega 3 fatty acids. But, if you’re paying attention at all to the news, you know there are health issues (e.g. mercury levels, polluted waters) and sustainability issues (e.g. farm or wild) that make eating fish a little more complicated than picking up whatever is on sale at Whole Foods or choosing the seafood special when you go to dinner.

If you’re like me, you carry a little print out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s safe/not safe fish list in your wallet. If not, and you haven’t memorized the toxicity and sustainability ratings of different fish, get it – it’s a great resource, if a little awkward to whip out at a restaurant, less awkward in the supermarket.

If you want to know how to judge the quality of the fish you’re buying, I highly recommend Mark Bitman’s Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking, in which he gives the low-down on a dizzying number of fish (including a several ways to cook each type), as well as great tips for what and how to choose when you’re shopping.

And, if you want to learn more about the four fish that dominate our seafood markets – salmon, cod, sea bass and tuna – and the ins and outs of the commercial fishing industry, I highly recommend listening to Terry Gross’ recent interview with Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. It’s only about 35 minutes long and it’s a really interesting discussion that ranges from the nutritional difference between farmed and wild fish to sustainable polyculture models, to how WWII sonar lead to the ubiquity of fish sticks, and more. (To be honest, I’ve buried the lede in this post – this part about the Fresh Air interview is what got me excited today. So, listen to it and look at your fish counter a little differently the next time you’re there.)