Meatless Monday Musings as a New Year Begins

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At a weekly address in June of last year Pope Francis berated our “culture of waste” and urged us to follow the example of our grandparents stating, "Our grandparents used to make a point of not throwing away leftover food. Consumerism has made us accustomed to wasting food daily and we are unable to see its real value…Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry."

Anyone who reads this blog will know how much these words resonated with me. But let’s take this one step further. When food is discarded it is a waste not only of the food itself but also of all the resources and energy that went into growing it, harvesting it, transporting it, and preparing it. 

Our American food system is only one of the factors contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases. But changing the way we eat is one of the easiest actions we can take as individuals to help heal our planet, while making ourselves healthier as well This is why I will continue to be a Meatless Monday blogger during the coming year. 

It is my intention to get back to the basics in my posts this year, with recipes geared to eating lower on the food chain, saving resources, and also saving money [who couldn’t use a bit of that right now?]. There will be also be tips to help ensure culinary success, product reviews, food news, and suggestions for further reading.

I don’t have a recipe today, but I do have a great link to share.

One of the most prolific writers on the topic of “Eating Well” is Michael Pollan. The recently released PBS documentary, In Defense of Food, produced by Kikim Media, is based on Pollan’s 2008 book with the same name. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to accompany author/narrator  Pollan on his fascinating journey around the world to answer the question: “What should I eat?” The documentary first aired at the end of December; you can watch it for free here until January 28.

I attended a Michael Pollan talk and book signing in 2008, shortly after In Defense of Food’s release. His inspirational words that day changed how I thought about shopping and eating and were a big factor in my starting this blog.

Perhaps he will motivate you as well. I suggest his small volume Food Rules to get you started on your Michael Pollan reading list.

That’s it for today. I hope that as I continue writing in the new year that you will continue reading.

Happy Meatless Monday. Have a great week!

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Not So Meatless Monday

Food labeled “Certified Organic” comes with several promises, one of which is that no synthetic pesticides were used during its production. While the promise is a good one, I have been aware for a while now that it does leave the consumer vulnerable to certain other risks. (And I am not just talking about going over budget.)


I have my own Food Rules when it comes to dealing with organic food purchases.

• If it is produce, wash it well. Very well. Several times.
• If it is perishable, get it into the refrigerator right away.
• Eat it quickly.
• If it comes in a plastic bag, inspect it thoroughly and put it into an airtight container for storage.

I did that with the organic almonds I bought fairly recently. Well, almost. I got them home. I put them in the cupboard where they remained in their sealed plastic bag for a couple of weeks. When I eventually did open them, I promptly emptied them into a clean Italian espresso can with a screw top. For days I have been eating them by the handful and enjoying them on top of oatmeal.


This morning I had some on my Stonyfield Banilla yogurt. A short time later my husband noticed some very fine white powder on the kitchen table with the tiniest brown ants milling around in it.


Where had they come from? What had been in that spot? The almond can! We unscrewed the lid and looked inside to find almonds on top and little brown ants and white powder underneath. Lots of white powder. Lots of ants. It was humid today and we had a small fan set on low, apparently creating a breeze just strong enough to blow some of the fluffy powder (with its lightweight occupants) to the table while I was pouring the almonds out. I’m so glad this happened and even happier that we noticed. Otherwise I still would not know what was transpiring in the espresso can. Take note that even the most vigilant of the food police can become an innocent victim.


I am pretty certain I got a little animal protein with my vegetarian breakfast. I hope it was organic. For today I have inadvertently joined the world’s insect-eating majority. So much for Meatless Monday this week.


PS I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Food Rules

Many of us in the US are eating large quantities of food which has traveled many miles to get to our tables, most of it highly processed and overly-packaged. There is little dispute that how we eat in in this country is making us unhealthy. And it’s also not very Green.

Several years ago, Michael Pollan set out to discover exactly what we should eat to be healthy. He came up with a succinct seven word formula: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

He elaborated on this answer in the best-selling In Defense of Food, in which he contends that “most of the nutritional advice we’ve received over the last half century…has actually made us less healthy and considerably fatter.” In this book Pollan also delved into the history of the Western diet and the diseases of civilization, and concluded with a guide to healthier and happier eating.  

For those of you short on time but still wanting to eat well, let me recommend Pollan’s newest offering, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, a handy pocket guide for which no knowledge of science is required, a perfect companion to In Defense of Food.  In this slim volume, he presents 64 simple rules on how to eat well (more than seven words, but still easy to manage.)

Some of my favorite rules include: Rule 13: “Eat only foods that will eventually rot;” Rule 20: “It’s not food if it arrived through the window of you car;”  and Rule 64: “Break the rules once in a while.”

To find material for this guide Pollan solicited help from a number of sources, including the readers of Tara Parker-Pope’s New York Times online blog Well. In response to the words: “I’d like your help gathering some rules for eating well.” (posted on Well on March 9, 2009), he received 2,791 comments. (I am comment No. 2201 on page 89 of the blog.)  He acknowledges that this “overwhelming response enriched the project immeasurably” and thanks us all (as a group) in both the introduction and the credits.

I don’t want to spoil the book for you, so I will just mention one more rule — 52: “Buy smaller plates and glasses. The bigger the portion, the more we will eat —upward of 30% more.”

Coincidentally, portion size was much in the news last week. In a paper published in the Obesity Journal on March 23, Brian Wansink, a food behavior scientist at Cornell University, and his brother, Craig Wansink, professor of religious studies at the Virginia Wesleyan College and an ordained Presbyterian minister, announced the results of their study of 52 Last Supper paintings made between the years 1000 and 1800. The results are summarized by Dave Itzkoff in his Arts Beat blog (New York Times online March 23). “After the sizes of the food in the art works were indexed against the average size of the disciples’ heads (which can vary from painting to painting), the study found that the main courses grew by 69 percent, the plates grew by 66 percent and the size of the bread grew by 23 percent.” If art mirrors life, then this study confirms that we have indeed been upping our serving sizes for far more years than we had realized (and if Michael Pollan is correct, the amount of food we consume).

Also in the news is Britain’s Jamie Oliver, aka The Naked Chef, who has been taking on the lunch ladies of Huntington, West Virginia (dubbed the unhealthiest metropolitan area in America) on primetime TV in the hopes of reforming their school lunch program. I am pretty sure Huntington hasn’t heard about Meatless Monday or Food Rules. If you watch the show, you will learn that some of the school children can’t recognize a potato, let alone a beet or a tomato. Jamie is doing his best to get the children to eat more plants, but he has a difficult road ahead. You can follow the saga on Friday nights on ABC for the next few weeks.

Let me urge you once again to check out Food Rules and to share its wisdom with those you love. It is a quick and entertaining read. The rules are simple and painless, and by following them you will be making yourself, those you feed, and the planet healthier.