Money doesn't heal all wounds, time does.

What Mr. Pac meant was, "They got money for the war but can't properly subsidize produce to compete in the marketplace with heavily subsidized processed food products."

Eating healthy, organic food is snobby because it is expensive. A yuppie couple buying organic produce and artisanally crafted tofu is for 2  will spend more than a minimum wage worker will pay for a fast food meal for four. When I came at this argument after reading David Freedman's well written rebuke of this movement, I wrote:

Eating only whole, fresh produce and meats are only for the rich. I agree eating this way is more expensive, but food should be more expensive. There will be less waste, less over-eating and more appreciation for this resource. Not to mention paying our food producers properly so they can afford to use more sustainable methods and pay the bottom of the work force better.

In sum, my answer is yes, it is expensive partially because you get what you pay for, and if poor people just ate less, we'd all be good. I still feel this way (not just for "the poors", but every one else should consume less, too) but I understand how I'm really just provoking class-warfare rather than offering anything to calm the waters or offer a new solution. Mark Bittman just addressed the "eating well is too expensive for the masses" argument in a new piece in the NY Times this past week, and he strips it back to it's essence.

Look at it this way. Tons and tons of exercise is great. However, most people have to work and have families, so they can not work out 17 hours a day, 7 days a week. Exercising two or three times a week is very, very good. Still, some people just don't have the time, and may only work out once a week. That's not ideal, but it's still much, much better than never exercising at all.  The benefit of exercising just an hour a week as opposed to nothing is considerably better than exercising for 4 hours a week as opposed to 1 hour of exercise.

When his hip-bones started jutting out, it wasn't a warning sign that perhaps he was working out too much....

And the same impact of scale can be applied to eating well. Sure, eating 7 days a week of nothing but organic, homemade whole foods in rational portions is ideal, but few of us have the time or budget for such a luxury. Eating just one home made meal a week is still a lot better than none. Still, truth be told, some would regard what I call a luxury as a living hell....

The core problem is that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch. “People really are stressed out with all that they have to do, and they don’t want to cook,” says Julie Guthman, associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of the forthcoming “Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice and the Limits of Capitalism.” “Their reaction is, ‘Let me enjoy what I want to eat, and stop telling me what to do.’ And it’s one of the few things that less well-off people have: they don’t have to cook.”

And cookies and donuts and big macs and KFC and then a wafer-thin mint.

Food has been redefined by industry into what Bittman describes as a "carnival" of food. Sit back, let us do the cooking, let us assume the responsibility. Regardless of nutrition, consequence or thought, you will enjoy what you eat. For the sake of industry profit, food scientists have refined food to the most basic elements that will make a person want to buy more. And more. And more and more. This is a public health issue, a cultural issue and a moral issue. However, with most things in western society, when you really need to figure out a large problem is follow the money.

Truth be told, before I went to culinary school, I could barely cook. My mom hated to cook for a variety of reasons, and my dad had a small handful of dishes that carried over from his college days. My grandma could cook, but due to time and gender, she never really taught me anything. I grew up in a time where one depended on pre-made frozen entrees and packaged convenience as your "home cooked" meals, and restaurants and take-out to fill  in the gaps. All these things added up to the message: cooking is a complicated, messy chore that eats up all your time, so why bother because eating out is so "affordable".

Except that it's not. It's a myth, and all you have to do is do the math. Just as one does not have to work out 7x week to be fit, one does not have buy the most expensive organic greenery to cook at home. As a person who has spent some time working in restaurants, let me tell you a hard fact: any restaurant whose food costs are more than 1/3 of their total expenses are doing it wrong. In fact, that well-run local bistro that's been around for twenty years? Chances are only 20% of your check pays for the actual food going in your mouth. That's why industry has pushed us from the grocery shelves to the restaurant menu -- you're paying a huge mark up for the privilege. Selling broccoli and beans in a supermarket is a lot less profitable than a Big Mac or a breakfast taco.

No. Just no.

Since eating healthier this past year, I now cook about 75% of all the meals that go in my mouth. My grocery bills have gone up. However, it doesn't take a mathematician to determine that my bills over all have gone down, due to not paying for several restaurant's rent or fast food corporation's stock bonuses.

Again, look at this way: I grew up in a 2 car household and hated being trundled in and out of cars just to go somewhere local. At some point in high school, I had an epiphany: rather than take a long slog of a commute twice a day to school that involved a bus, a ferry, a subway and a walk, I could just ride a bike to school. I would be replacing one big fat daily negative with one big fat daily positive.

I had a similar epiphany that caused me to choose to go to culinary school: rather than try to cook as little as possible, why not treat it like a project or game where if I gain knowledge and skill, then I'll get to eat all sorts of great food...if I save money or gain health, well, that's nice but beside the point. Still, it was a crucial change in thinking that has lead me to where I am today.

Real cultural changes are needed to turn this around. Somehow, no-nonsense cooking and eating — roasting a chicken, making a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambling an egg, tossing a salad — must become popular again, and valued not just by hipsters in Brooklyn or locavores in Berkeley. The smart campaign is not to get McDonald’s to serve better food but to get people to see cooking as a joy rather than a burden, or at least as part of a normal life. 

"The poors" don't necessarily need more money to live a healthy lifestyle -- they need more time. There has been some coverage of national fast food workers protests in the media lately. To live comfortably in NYC on the wages a fast food restaurant pays, you'd have to work 208 hours  a week. Assuming one day off, you'd still have more than 5 hours off a day! In the end, time is money, and time is what is needed to relax, cook a proper meal for yourself, and cut out the middle men who profit from turning basic groceries into addictive food products.

Thanks to the Hungry Vegan, who pointed out this piece to me.

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Mmmmm, paper calzones....

Damn, it's amazing how a little technique can go a long way. For the past year, my approach to all fish has been super bare bones. Spray a metal tray. Place thawed fish on tray. Sprinkle with Old Bay. Cut up piece of butter on top. If a flat fish, place under broiler for 5 minutes. If a round fish, stick in an electronic thermometer and roast until it has an internal temp of 140 or so.

After a year of several different kinds of fish fillets this way, I'm getting bored. So I reached into my c-school tool box and thought about what my favorite fish preparations were. The one that first came to mind was loud and direct: en papillote. This is just a fancy French term for putting the raw fish in a sealed envelope with a little liquid and some aromatics, and baking the whole thing for a nice combo dry/wet, roast/steam kinda deal. I recalled using parchment paper to make a very fussy large square paper box, and placing all sorts of high-falutin' ingredients along with the fish. 

It was Thursday, I was tired, didn't feel like looking up a recipe. I riffed: Took my frozen Costco hake loin and placed it in the middle of a large piece of tin foil. Pat of butter, splash of red wine, Old Bay seasoning and a butt-load of fresh basil from the CSA that would go bad if not used soon. Placed the probe of the thermometer in the fish and closed up the foil tight, sealed around the probe and allowing some space for steam to form inside. Baked at 400 until the internal temp of this thick piece of fish reach 140. Oh. My. Gawd. The smell of wine and basil wafted forth when I opened up the packet, and the fish was flaky and moist. The basil was limp and kinda gross looking, but despite tossing it, the fish tasted redolent of it's herbal essence. 

This boring, work-a-day fish just became hot n' sexy with minimal effort. Gotta reach into this tool box more often.

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I'll try to come at OA next week -- the little research and experience I have has shown me that I may not understand what I'm talking about yet.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2452

Again, the average is above my daily calorie budget of 2200-2350, but I don't feel bad about it (yet.) Two days I rode, which revs up my needs, and other days when I surpassed the budget, it was after clearly finding I was honestly physically hungry, not acting on sugar-urges or compulsions.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2020

Good way to start the week, stresses are ebbing a little. Put myself to bed soon after my evening snack, as I was looking to be up ridiculously early, which helped with appetite control. Can't eat if ya sleepin'.

AM SNACK:4:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 140 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 220 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, peanut butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, health salad, 590 cal

PM SNACK: 4:15 pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 8:30pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 8:45pm, shirataki noodles with shrimp, mushrooms & tomato sauce, 470 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 790
TUESDAY COUNT: 2675

Up early and pounded out a training ride to Coney, averaged 13.1, best speed in a long, long time. Is caffeine considered a legal drug in competitive cycling? I definitely think the granola bar dose was in part responsible for revving me up. Crashed hard in the afternoon, over ate in the evening due to stress and just being exhausted

AM SNACK: 2am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BIKE SNACK: 2:30am, caffeinated granola bar, 390 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 165 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, fage whole yogurt with almonds, vanilla and agave, 310 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, Indian spinach and cheese, steamed string beans, 490 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45 pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, 2 small ice cream cups, +/- 200 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa, poppa salad with miso tahini, 1110 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Frito's, 600 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2500
Really tried to resist the second evening snack, but after 30 minutes of feeling hungry, concluded it was real physical hunger, not a sugar urge or emotional compulsion.

AM SNACK: 4:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 170 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, fage whole yogurt with almonds, vanilla and agave, 310 cal

LUNCH: 12;45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, quinoa, 685 cal 

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 7:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 7:45pm, hake loin, asparagus, kimchi, 435 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Frito's, 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, Frito's, 300 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2415

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, steel cut oatmeal, 350 cal

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken breast, roasted broccoli, sofrito black beans, 545 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, babganoush, 200 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 7:45, Subway veggie burger, chips, 12oz diet coke, 760 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 1450
FRIDAY COUNT: 2650

Work had a "morale building" event unpaid for freelancers (hows that for morale!) so I skipped it and road the bike about 70 miles. Was gonna push through the rain but B called in the morning and said Edie wasn't feeling well, so I turned around. Nice to bang out miles and be home by 1pm, but fell asleep on the couch before 8pm.

BREAKFAST: 3:15am,steel cut oatmeal, green tea, 350 cal

BIKE SNACK: 5:45am, granola bar, 420 cal

BIKE SNACK: 7:45am, granola bar, 420 cal


BIKE SNACK: 9:45, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat, 840 cal


BIKE SNACK: 11:45am, digestive cookies, 520 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, tortellini and sauce, momma salad, +/- 700

DINNER: 6pm, Sicilian pizza, house salad, +/- 700

2550 - 1100 (1250)