Talk to Me About Food

In this episode I interview Michelle Baade, wife, mom, and grandmother in small-town Wisconsin, about how a whole-foods, plant-based diet has dramatically altered her and her husband’s health trajectory, and transformed their relationship with food.

Michelle and her husband were overweight, suffering from several ailments, and were at high risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Starting in 2016 they decided to cut animal-based products, and even oil to a great extent, out of their diet for one year. They’ve never looked back because they regained control of their health and wellness.

I  ask Michelle to tell me about what it was like to make this abrupt transition, both emotionally and practically. She explains how planning, shopping, and preparing  meals changed, and describes what they eat day in, day out,. She also shares some her family’s new favorites recipes, including a twist on her mom’s lasagna, comfort-food tacos filled with jackfruit, and a General Tso stir fry using soy curls.

You’ll hear that one of the big changes in how they eat is that they don’t eat out (or order in) nearly as often as they did before. Michelle explains what they do when they eat away from home.

Finally, Michelle offers advice on how to adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet. She reiterates that she and her husband  don't have any super powers that enabled them to make this change in diet. She claims that if these "meat and potato" folks could do it, anyone can adopt a whole-foods, plant-based diet.

In this audio blog post I break down bread as I think about breaking bread at Thanksgiving. It's back to the future for better tasting, more nutritious bread made with sustainably grown wheat. 

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response - ASMR - is that relaxing sensation all over your scalp and down the back of your neck in response to a range of stimuli. Getting your hair cut. The tone and timbre of a specific person's voice. Whispering. Repetitive tapping or scratching. Just the suggestion of one of these triggers, just thinking about it, anticipating it, or watching someone else experiencing the triggering activity, is enough to induce ASMR. 

Inducing ASMR through video has become a thing all over the world. YouTube and other services provide a platform and gateway for all kinds of folks looking to provide a few,  stupefying minutes of escape.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of food-centered ASMR videos out there. Viewers are invited to be hypnotized by interesting-looking edibles and the eating of these edibles. An expressive face methodically working through a  platter of brightly-colored confections of different shapes and textures, for example, nibbling, chewing, or chomping on each piece in turn.

In this episode I experiment with food and ASMR. What you'll hear (mostly) is my peeler, knife and cutting board at work preparing the seven vegetables I chose for a Friday couscous stew.  

Audio blog post pondering the sources of the record amount of food waste in America and the mindset change needed for consumers to do more to  reduce food waste.

Can zesting and juicing a lemon, and then savoring a lemony morsel of cake lift your spirits? 

The School of Life recently published a book of recipes developed through a collaboration of philosophers, chefs, and psychologists. The book promotes the idea that certain foods and recipes can change your mood in specific ways.

The authors of this book called “Thinking & Eating” assign symbolism to sixteen foods. A lemon is a symbol of hope, while mushrooms are associated with pessimism, for example. The book provides recipes that help you cope with various inward-focused emotional need states as well as dishes that help with entertaining situations. There is guidance for relationship challenges and suggestions for how to sharpen your thinking.

In this podcast you’ll hear snippets from several friends and colleagues about their experiences making recipes from this book and eating the end dishes. It’s a somewhat diverse group in terms of overall background and comfort level in the kitchen. This plays out in their reactions to the recipes and the degree to which specific recipes do or don’t affect their moods...and thoughts.

Sounds courtesy of Audeption, eyenorth, and cemagar at freesound.org

So called “DNA” diets have caught the public’s attention in the past few years. In the never-ending quest to find a diet regimen that really will take off the pounds for good, millions of us Americans have been at least intrigued by the idea of letting your genes tell you what to eat and drink, and what not to. Many more of us are also curious whether our individual genetic pre-dispositions say something about enjoying better health depending on what we consume.

In this podcast I talk to two researchers in the field of nutrigenomics, a gastroenterologist, and a nutritionist to help me better understand the promise of personalized nutrition recommendations based on our individual genetics.

Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy, professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, and founder of Nutrigenomix, talks about a landmark study around caffeine, and other studies looking at the links between nutritional factors and health outcomes.

Dr. Nathan Price, Associate Director of the Institute for Systems Biology, describes his findings around genetics and cholesterol, and helps put nutrigenomics within a broader context of personalized nutrition.

Dr. David Alpers, Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University urges caution in interpreting findings to date based on nutrigenomics. He also underlines the importance of understanding each person holistically in order to factor in what your genes might one day say about your nutritional needs.

Ann Swanson, RD, has a practice called New Way Nutrition. She shares her front line experience with clients and their DNA test scores.

Cover art courtesy of Zephyris

Audio blog post reflecting on some of the "winning" new packaged food products of the past 25 years. Our desire to eat healthy or healthier is evident in the splash items like Snackwell's and CarbSmart made when they launched. The culprits (fat, carbs, refined sugar) have changed over time but the underlying emotional needs that drive us to experiment don't. 

We’re in the middle of a pandemic that’s made us put extra layers of protection between us and everything we come in contact with. That means a lot more plastic overall, and a lot more plastic food and beverage packaging for all the take-out and delivery. We’re starting to drown in plastic just as momentum was starting to build around alternatives to single use plastic packaging. It’s just a pause, I hope.

Pioneers are still forging ahead on the main strategies to reduce our reliance on producing millions of tons of fresh plastic every year; REDUCE, REPLACE, RECYCLE, AND REUSE.

I focus on REUSE in the episode - each of us can make a direct impact when it comes to reusing packaging - with the help of three entrepreneurs and a solutions designer.

Jocelyn Gaudi Quarrell, CEO and owner of GO Box talks to me about this reusable container service that made its start with food trucks in Portland.

Brian Reilly, CEO and Founder of muuse describes how their reusable model works, and shares his vision for how ”reuse” will grow beyond the network of coffee shops muuse started with.

Chris Krohn, Portfolio Lead at IDEO, a global design firm, explains what they’ve learned about how people like and you and I are responding to a Bay Area reusability pilot test across several services. He also shares his thoughts on a “pack free future.”

Brian Bauer, who leads Circular Economy & Alliances at Algramo, talks a bit about their nascent home refill delivery pilot test in Santiago, Chile.

America's Grow-A-Row began as a weekend daddy daughter project to get a four year-old to want to eat fresh, healthy food by planting and harvesting herself. In the process Chip too has adopted healthier eating habits. And the more he gave away of the overabundance of produce from his oversized plot, first to co-workers and neighbors, then to those who really need much more fresh food in their diet but who don't have access to fresh produce, the clearer it became to him that he had stumbled on a calling to serve in this way. 

What also became clear to Chip is that many people want to be more actively involved in addressing hunger and malnourishment. This is why America's Grow-a-Row now has nine thousand volunteers. 

Chip talks about the kids who come from urban areas with limited access to healthy food. Many of them have never been to a working farm.

What really makes America's Grow-a-Row work, it seems to me, is this valuable exchange built around food for people who share the same patch of Earth. A willingness to work, learn, and serve others flows into the farms, and fresh, healthier food flows to where it's really needed. Goodwill flows in both directions.

There is more talk of food sovereignty and food security these days. Down-to-earth, grass roots organizations like America's Grow-a-Row can play a needed role in acting on these lofty goals.

Audio blog post about the importance of the ritual of making the time to make your own food.