I've been posting on veganism

Hi everyone,

Long time no speak. I became a vegan! So I started writing about it on my blog.

Tim

Class is Over, Not Our Appetites

So this is it. Our class has end and our food experiment has ended as well too. When I started, I was doing really well, getting, eating great, and feeling good! Over the course of the semester, especially in the last few weeks, it has been harder, but I still eat well for the most part. I think now that we know the rules and became more conscious of food, we are more aware of our food choices. I'm glad we were exposed to so many different foods and practice. It was great for us to have this honest dialogue about food and the way we eat, especially here in America. We're so detached from our food and we don't see it as living organisms, just consumption products. Does matter what we eat, the way we eat, but now we're talking about food. We're asking what it is, where does it come from, how was it's life, what are the chemicals in it. These are the things that everyone should be asking. WE're still going to eat what we want, but many of us less than before and are eating more consciously because of what we're eating, how is it affecting our bodies, and where does it come from.

I hope that everyone will continue their food practices even after this class. I know I will. I'm about to study abroad in The Netherlands next semester and I think it will be interesting because once again I will have to change my diet! I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm embarking on this whole new food rules experiment which the lessons I've learned from Pollan and this class. I think we all took a lot from Food Rules regardless if we agreed with it or not. It got us thinking and that is always the start for anything. Happy eating to everyone and I hope everyone will continue to try new foods, no matter how strange or different they are. Could be yummy! Had a great time on this blog.

eat your roots

So I am about to attend my first Christmas party of the season in the Center for International Education at Loyola, where we will congregate with the international students. After reading Bayou Farewell, in which the Vietnamese crabber shares with Mike Tidwell Vietnamese gumbo, or "sour soup" according to Tien, I was reminded how different cultures have their own variations on the same dishes, perhaps related to what kinds of foods were most accessible to them in their region and they are therefore accustomed to eating (culture derivative of place/the land), as well as how different cultures celebrate the same holidays with different traditional dishes. Here are some variations of "Christmas food."

http://www.ivillage.com/christmas-foods-around-world/3-b-301021

I will be spending my Christmas in Puerto Rico visiting and friend and staying with his family, and am excited to experience the new foods and customs of a Puerto Rican Christmas. I found this website that gives an overview of some of these practices:

http://www.elboricua.com/pr_christmas.html

and also found this:

Eat Your Grapes New Year's Eve in Puerto Rico is appropriately called Año Viejo, or "Old Year," and it's a fun time to be outside; fireworks, honking cars, and the cacophony of celebration can be heard everywhere. At the stroke of midnight, local tradition demands that you eat 12 grapes for luck. You'll also find some people sprinkling sugar outside their house for good luck or throwing a bucket of water out the window to expel all the negatives of the old year and get ready for a fresh start.

I could not find the history behind the grapes practice, and was wondering why they had chosen that particular food to symbolize luck. Speculatively, perhaps grapes were associated with the wealthy and upper classes (image of royal prince being fed grapes and fanned with palm leaves) and therefore good fortune. I think its interesting when you look into the history of food, and how the eating of a food at a specific moment in history could have been the "last resort food" of an oppressed group of people, but has carried through today to be a preferred food that allows one to identify with a culture, however conscious or unaware of its origin. Another example I can think of off the top of my head is the infamous PoBoy, which came out of a national transit worker's strike that included New Orleans in 1929. Two brothers that were former streetcar conductors until they opened a restaurant and coffee stand showed their solidarity to the workers ("poor boys") by handing out these sandwiches, which featured a new modified size of French bread. And it stuck.

http://www.poboyfest.com/history

So for this holiday season, I wouldn't say we should necessarily throw the Food Rules out the window, but perhaps lean a bit more heavily on the "exception" rule, and hopefully easily fulfill the not-eating-alone-rule. We don't want to miss out on the bonding that happens over food, and the rich cultural history that our most common plates may inconspicuously suggest. I say know a thing or two about what you are eating and why, and dig in.
Cheers.

Food Rules: The Edible Experiment, Week Fourteen

Journal Entry
Week Fourteen
December 9, 2010

Rule: "Eat Food that will Eventually Rot"

Wow, it is a strange feeling to know that I am entering my final journal entry for this semester’s Food Rules project. Does this mean that I will stop following Food Rules altogether? Of course not! Pollan has influenced me in such a positive way, and this project by FAR has been one of my absolute favorite aspects of this entire semester!

This week I found myself taking my Organic Salad mix out of the fridge and picking out the leaves that looked as they were going bad. There were plenty that were still crisp and fresh, but you always get those few in the bunch that start turning sooner than others. And ew, who wants to eat that? Although, I guess according to Pollan, despite the “grossness” of picking out the wilty brownish leaves, I’m doing the right thing by eating food that will eventually rot! So that made me feel better. I didn’t like to waste what I did throw out, but, unfortunately I couldn’t eat it in time. The still-crisp lettuce I had on my turkey sandwich today was delicious, though!

A friend of mine has been following a rigorous diet of 5 – 6 small meals a day eating unprocessed foods and a balanced proportion of protein, fruits, and veggies. She texted me yesterday wanting “carbs.” This struck a chord with me, because first of all, I think diets are restricting that that while you must practice discipline and self-restraint when eating, depriving your body of certain foods such as “carbs” (like the Atkins diet, etc) is not healthy. Your body was designed to eat these types of foods and needs them to be healthy. I expressed my concern and she rephrased her sentence to say “I want bread.” Well, that was weird because while she could have potatoes and oatmeal and other whole grains, she couldn’t eat bread because it was “processed.” I glibly told her to bake. (hey, Pollan would agree) but again I don’t think restricting foods as essential as bread is a good idea; and I don’t think Pollan would disagree with that. Was it Darrell who posted something mid-semester saying that although it took some searching, he did manage to find a bread that followed the Food Rules? Anyway, this little blurb about bread is an aside, but I do think it shows how Food Rules has kind of just infiltrated my life when it comes to eating, haha.

Also, I do plan to compile the blog posts of ideas we came up with for Pollan and send them to him.

Its been a great semester y’all! Thanks for all of your sharing and input and have a blessed Merry Christmas! (or whatever other Holiday you celebrate! :)

Thanksgiving in New Orleans

I spent this thanksgiving here, in New Orleans. My friend's mother is a famous local chef, and made some amazing traditional Louisiana dishes that I'd never had before. Completely disregarding my attempts to not eat meat, I had fried turkey for the first time with oyster dressing, creamed carrots, and some sortof baked dish I can't recall the name of. This reminded me of rule #29 which says to mix up the types of foods you eat and try new things. If I were to eat food like that all the time, I would definitely not have the healthiest of diets. But some of those items would be a good addition to my diet; the creamed carrots for example, and the oyster dressing which had more vegetables and less butter than my traditional idea of dressing which closely resembles stove top stuffing. Experiencing traditions of a different culture reminded me alot of how many things we can adopt to our own diets in order to resemble those of other cultures, taking the best and most health-conscious ideas from every culture, (including cultures within the United States) and including them in our "American" diets to become more well-rounded.

Merry Christmas?

In light of the upcoming holiday season, I found this particularly disturbing image. It takes the using meat to flavor food rule and disregards it completely.

when all i want is a big fat chocolate chip cookie...

I have a tendency to crave sweets when I feel overloaded with school work. So even though I sort of hate these types of webpages, I figured if anyone else is in my boat maybe it could be useful to remind you all not to jump ship on Food Rules just because it is finals week (even if I do first).

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/11-healthy-ways-to-destress-with-food/article181243-3.html#slide

If you are a caffeine drinker, I've found a good way to make it through long study days without crashing is to switch to tea throughout the day, and then if you really need it, drink coffee later on. It'll help you not overdo the caffeine and end up feeling simultaneously sluggish and jittery. I am not exactly sure if promoting coffee late at night is a healthy recommendation, but for those of you who may do it anyway, I figured I'd let you in on that discovery I've made.

trying new things

Most of the food that I eat is brown. Today I started off by making an omelette and adding onions, spinach, feta, and mushrooms. It was great because I have a hard time getting protein and usually resort to bars and powders with several ingredients which I can't pronounce. Then for lunch I had a grapefruit, which was pink and tasted alright. I must admit that I haven't drank water for the past several days. I am pretty sure I have either had a coffee or a chai latte or cran-grape juice for every meal. i have always disliked the way water tastes. The only time I drink water is when I am forced to, which is surprisingly often. I also need to work on not eating snacks instead of meals. A lot of the time I will have popcorn for dinner. Tonight I will have a meal for dinner and it will have colors and it will have been prepared.

Food Rules: The Edible Experiment, Weeks Twelve/Thirteen

(I'm combining this two weeks since one of them was Thanksgiving and we were off :)

Journal Entry
Week Twelve
November 12, 2010

The first rule I have been working on is as follows:
Rule 49 “Eat slowly” and "Put your fork down between bites"

While "eating slowly" has been a challenge, I have been more successful with putting my fork down between bites! Growing up, I had a friend who always put her fork down between eating. She was thin as a rail and I always wanted to be like her because I equated putting your fork down while eating to "staying skinny!" (Ok so we were like 7 but still, that's what was going through my 7-year-old brain). I always had a hard time doing that, though, because my mom was a terribly fast eater and so a typical family "dinner" would last about 10 minutes on average, maybe 15 minutes on Sunday.
Yet over the years I do think I have learned to eat at a more reasonable pace, and since practicing this rule, I've actually noticed myself putting down my fork inadvertently now! Progress!!


Journal Entry
Week Thirteen
November 12, 2010

SO! Thanksgiving has come and gone! Can we say Food Hangover?? My family enjoyed the following: Filet Mignon, Garlic Barbequed Shrimp, Grilled Rosemary Asparagus w/ Hollandaise, Baked Sweet potatoes, Eggplant and Shrimp Casserole, Green Salad, and Sweet Tea... Ok so we're Un-traditional. But that's how we do it in the Morris Family ;) Yeaaah Thanksgiving!!

Reflecting on what I ate for Thanksgiving, I was estatic to realize that everything, (EVERYTHING!) complied with Pollan's Food Rules that I have been following this semester!

Filet Mignon/Shrimp - The rule about 4 legs, 2 legs, and no legs :)
Asparagus - Of course, a vegegable! Seasoned not with salt, but with pepper and rosemary, tossed in a little bit of olive oil, and grilled over an open flame. Delicious!
Hollandaise sauce - I don't particularly care for this sauce so I didn't eat it, but my family was still in line, Lol - egg yolk, REAL butter, and fresh lemon
Sweet Potatoes - a healthy starch (and one of my favorites!!)
Eggplant and Shrimp casserole - It is what it says! Perhaps a few breadcrumbs were thrown in the mix, and maybe some eggs to hold it all together.
Green Salad - pretty self explanatory :)

Even the dessert which normally would follow the rule to "break the rules once in a while" pretty much complied with the Food Rules book! My dad is a HUGE fan of Lemon Meringue Pie, which consists of Fresh Lemon juice, condensed milk, egg yolk, and whipped egg whites. That's it! Put it in a pie crust (flour and butter - maybe lard - but hey that might be the only rule we broke) and you've got yourself a Food Rules friendly dessert.

Needless to say I was extremely full and pretty stoked that we actually had a delicious, healthy, Thanksgiving dinner!

Off the Train

So here we are wrapping up the final weeks on this food rules ride. I'm not sure if it was the holidays or I just got lazy, but I've noticed I don't stick to some of the rules as much. It might also just be from the laziness and stress of exams time, but I surely don't put in as much effort as I usually do. This week especially I've been eating candy, cakes, ice cream, white rice, and all sort of other no-no's. On the bright side, I notice I've been eating a lot less meat more so than I usually do. It takes a lot of effort to keep up with all this, but I know I can't just go back to the way I use to eat. There are slip ups here and there, but overall I know I have to and want to remaining eating healthy and mindfully. I always known that everything has a lot of ingredient in it, but more than ever before I see that everything has a crap load of ingredient in them that I wouldn't have even expected! It's so odd.

Last night, my friends and I went to go eat at a buffet, probably wasn't the best idea, but I made some healthy choices I think. I saw two of my friends eating frog legs (I still find that strange they serve them at buffets) and i was just looking at them. Frog legs really look like chicken wings or legs. It was about the same color meat and the bone structure was similar too. I've never had frog legs, but it didn't seem so different, and apparently my friends said it's leaner than chicken which I can believe because frogs hop around all day so they get plenty of exercise. Will I try it? Probably not.

"Your food is ready"

So far most of what is studied is food, the ingredients, how it is prepared etc. but one major thing that is overlooked even though it is probably in everyones kitchen is the microwave. The microwave is a serious hazard that is used every single day. I must admit I am guilty of it too, but for a few years now I have used it less and less. I have always been told by my mom it is not safe and I find that my food taste ten times better actually prepared. It is pretty much logical, how can food that takes and hour to cook on the stove be prepared in the microwave in a matter of minutes be healthy? It isn't! Most of the nutrients that are in the food being heated are completely destroyed in the process. I looked up a little information on the matter and this is the link ...

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.html

the Senate passed the Food Safety Bill

Its implementation will:

_Allow the FDA to order a recall of tainted foods. Currently the agency can only negotiate with businesses to order voluntary recalls;

_Require larger food processors and manufacturers to register with the Food and Drug Administration and create detailed food safety plans;

_Require the FDA to create new produce safety regulations for producers of the highest-risk fruits and vegetables;

_Establish stricter standards for the safety of imported food;

_Increase inspections of domestic and foreign food facilities, directing the most resources to those operations with the highest risk profiles.

The bill would not apply to meat, poultry or processed eggs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/30/food-safety-bill-fda-modernization-act-s510_n_789775.html

A New Perspective on Eating

I have just started on Food Rules and I am a little overwhelmed. I have always considered myself a "healthy" eater, but I am seriously rethinking that. Most of my diet consists of processed food. I eat either a lean pocket, lean cuisine, cereal, cereal bar, dannon yogurt, or canned soup for every meal. Sometimes my roomate cooks punjabi red beans or curried chick peas, but not usually. Most of the meals that I eat with real food I get at resturaunts, and I don't really know what they do to their food. I feel like I don't have time to prepare food and eat at a table. I usually just find something quick and eat at my computer.

Food Fight

Check out this link to an article titled A Stale Food Fight, written for the New York Times by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. It is dated November 28, 2010. I think you will find it wonderfully interesting as usual!

Eating Meat

So after reading Don Lepan's animals I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for complaining about the price of organic and free-range products from places like Whole Foods. My perspective on what I eat has completely changed. Especially considering the fact that I am not trying to feed an entire family (a different problem altogether) I think I can afford to pay more for meat, and eat less of it. I'm also trying to embrace the idea of change a little bit at a time because it's so easy to be overwhelmed with all of the products I feel like I shouldn't be eating, and then end up wandering in circles around the grocery store looking for something acceptable to eat (I did this on Friday afternoon). Pollan's Food Rules goes well with the movement not to eat factory farmed animals-- especially Rule #23 "treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food" and Rule 24 "eating what stands on one leg is better than two legs is better than four legs etc." and Rule #27 "eat animals that have themselves eaten well."

Animals not sitting well in the stomach

Against my better judgement, I bought a package of sushi the other day from Tulane in an impulse rush-buy, and as I was in line to pay for it, I looked down and read the tuna had been treated with carbon monoxide for preservation of color. It was too late to leave the line to get something else, I had to get to work, and I struggled deciding if I should eat nothing or force it down and try to put it out of my mind (it was hard enough conceding to eat fish to begin with). The line grew shorter and shorter (I thought again of Animals), like I was waiting for my doom. It was the worst sushi I've ever eaten--it felt like a punishment for eating flesh of an animal--and I am confident I will never get processed packaged sushi again.

Since reading Animals, I have not been able to look at or consider eating meat without a sense of uneasiness. When I go to the grocery store, the pale and slimy enlarged body parts in bulk stare up at me eerily from their plastic packages in remembrance of their harvest. When I see ground beef, all I can think of is flesh oozing through a grinder. Meat is no longer an object, a block of the food pyramid to me, I look at the chicken "wing" and see it for the limb it once was. It's not that I find it disgusting that one animal should consume another, I have accepted and been a part of predation my whole life, but the mechanized processing of it has become all too estranged and horrific to swallow without lump. Part of the curse of realizing how things are made from cradle to grave is a sort of x-ray vision that accompanies: I look at a food prospect, and now "see through it"--see what it's made of at molecule (plastic, carbon, faint moo), how it was made or grew or grazed (or didn't), what's in it that shouldn't be, whether or not it should actually be considered food. In a way, it "takes the fun out of" eating. In another, I am less of a fool for being able to choose to not participate in a culture of synthetics and mindless mass slaughter. But then again, I guess I am even more of a fool then for knowing and doing it anyway.

Food Rules: The Edible Experiment, Week Eleven

Journal Entry
Week Eleven
November 12, 2010

Rule 54 “Breakfast like a king, Lunch like a prince, Dinner like a pauper”

This particular rule has always proved to be a challenge for me. I was the queen of skipping breakfast in High School, and it was only after some major health issues later on in my life that I realized that this, among other bad habits I had developed, was the complete wrong course of action.

I’ve since worked extremely hard on eating healthily and really focusing on taking care of my body through exercise and good habits. Needless to say, breakfast is now my favorite meal of the day – so much so that I often eat breakfast for breakfast AND for dinner! Haha!

However, I often struggle with eating a lot during the major portion of the day and having a lighter supper. I was raised on eating a simple breakfast if any at all, a sandwich or whatever for lunch, and then a real meal at dinner time when dad would come home from work and mom would have supper prepared. These habits have stuck with me, and oftentimes, I find myself “waiting” to eat dinner and having a light(er) breakfast and lunch.

Plus, coming home from an 8 hour day of classes with an 1.5 hour commute on either end of that 8 hour day makes me RAVENOUS. So, I usually plan to eat a good amount at dinner.

HOWEVER, surprisingly enough – (or not surprisingly, as Pollan would say) – I’ve really found that if I eat a good breakfast and a decent sized lunch (aka, more than just a sandwich and a piece of fruit or something, maybe add a cup of yogurt and some veggies) I am not at all as hungry later on in the day!

So I guess this rule really does work… if/when you follow it… 

ReFresh

Animals has given me a lot to think about. Though I already don't eat mammals, I wonder if I can take it to the next level and not eat chicken or turkey, and eventually give up seafood altogether too. I'm not too hard on myself about it because I have reduce my intake of poultry and it's a process so it is hard to give up everything at once. I just wonder and feel horrible about the conditions that these animals have gone through. I'm definitely having more of issue of the way they are treated than actually eating meat. As you know I grew up in Vietnam and we tons of animals around our house. There were chickens everywhere, and they had a nice comfy place to nest and lay eggs and they were allowed to walk where ever they wanted and eat what they wanted. There was no lock or door, they came and went as they pleased. I had no problems eating those eggs and we've eaten some of those chickens, but they were killed humanly and quickly. They also had a good long life, usually at least 6 to 12 months if not longer. Compare that to the factory farm chicken which takes about 50 days or so from hatching to the slaughter house! 50 days! they are even bigger than the ones that are free range so can you just imagine all the hormones and toxins they inject these chickens with!!! It is crazy. I also remember how my aunt was raising about 60 ducks to sell at the market, but in Vietnam you always walk your animals and tend to them. They were allowed to swim in the ditches and ate what they want. It's just the way we have taken to producing animals that is so horrible and it wouldn't kill anyone to eat less meat. When I do my vegetarian period, so many tell me they couldn't be able to do it because they meat so much. I think a study once said that we are eating way more meat than we actually should, so if people just skipped the extra burger or steak we could help reduce the production of meat. It's just so frustrating to think about and knowing that if everyone made small efforts, then we could really change things. I'm not asking people to become vegans or give up meat completely, but if we reduce our intakes it would make a world of difference.

Back to my food rules, I'm going to celebrate Thanksgiving this Sunday because that's the only time the family can be together and I'm debating about getting a pecan pie or not. I LOVE LOVE pecan pie, though I know it's so horrible for you, but I can't help it. (I did end up buying that pie, and I don't feel bad at all) Then there is also the issue of the turkey, and how I feel about it. I just wanted to say that I am back on the Food Rules train and eating well again. It's okay to eat other things once in while especially with thanksgiving coming around, but we can't fall off track now. So close and almost at the end, but we'll have to continue this even after the class is over.

I disagree

I have decided I disagree somewhat with one of the food rules. I currently do not have my book on me as I type in the library but it is the rule where one should not pay attention to the nutritional information on containers. Example: antioxidants. I think people should be aware of what is in their food and should know what these are and how they help the human body. Of course I do not think it is a food companies responsibility to do so. I like being aware if certain things are in my food. However, it is my job to investigate the claims made. I understand the rule is trying to make things simple but food itself is not simple, at least not in todays world. I think these such words are making people more conscious of what they are eating. Maybe some people read such a label and think "what is an antibiotic." Perhaps this will lead one to know more about their food. Maybe in their findings it will say such and such a food helps fight breast cancer and one will eat more of the food. Also, if people where more aware they would know about such claims as "low fat" and that the products, in most cases, actually contain more sodium or sugar to replace flavors added by the fat.

just a thought.

Animals, Mongrels, and Chattel...oh my.

Reading Don LePan's Animals truly disturbed me. I finished it last night and was actual nauseous for a good half hour afterward. Honestly, I haven't been very good with keeping up in our Food Rules experiment, but last night made me rethink Pollan's rules on meat as a delicacy.

I really feel like I am gain more and more perspective of not only what goes into my body, but also the destructive outlets I support just by buying certain products. It made me think of the times I (cave in) for my annual McDonald's run or my love of cheese and crackers - where the hell is that cheese coming from??? Finally, I even thought of Anne, my little beagle who I could never imaging living as Sam.

I think that these perseptives are not easily obtained and reading Pollan's Food Rules isn't enough. In order to really question the American Land Ethic lifestyle, you have to gain the knowledge and emotional understand why and why not to understand. More importantly you need out outlets than just a rule book to turn ignorance and laziness to concern and care.

This is my dog by the way:

*I know that she looks pissed, but I promise she was just really annoyed with me taking pictures. Shes actually a really happy dog.