Changing our nation

The American lifestyle is one of great consumption. From the suburbs to the city, Americans spend, consume, eat, and waste more than any other country in the world. Same as the American lifestyle, our eating habits are overly indulgent and wasteful. Our indulgent natures combined with the race towards earning money and success demands us access to a greater and faster food supply. This demand has caused livestock and corn industries to produce and over yield crops, turning out less nutritious food and pushing high levels of toxins into the environment. The consequences of our food consumption affect our country’s health, climate, and economics and until we change our overall philosophy to a less meat-oriented nation, we will not be able to change the food supply structure that is negatively impacting our lives and futures.

In the past few decades, advertisements and marketing have helped mold the American view on what we eat. Although organic foods have always been available, it has only been in recent years that companies have been advertising organic and all natural products. In our supermarkets, products are going “Green.” Going “green” has become a successful trend in marketing and has improved general awareness towards leading healthier lifestyles.

The overall global awareness in recent years is an important step towards changing the American philosophy about food, but faster change is needed in order to reduce the current issues we face. Overexposure to antibiotics, access waste and toxins in our water supply, and less nutritious food are only the highlights of a very long list of health and environmental problems we face from being a meat oriented nation. The best and easiest possible way to change our nation’s ideas of how we eat is through positive advertising geared towards changing our views on food. Such successful marketing as “Go Green” helps companies profit for their efforts in environmental responsibility. The incentives to participate in this trend influence the food industries way of providing what consumers want. Through marketing a new diet to the American people, change towards a new relationship between us and our food could alter American eating habits and reconfigure the way food is supplied.

No other country in the world consumes as much meat as the United States. The idea of reducing our meat consumption requires great marketing strategies. Such marketing towards a “less meat” diet would need to resemble the “green” movement in that it would need to entice people to participate in it. Being green is becoming part of the American lifestyle, especially because of how accessible it has become. Such trends in our society gain popularity when it is available and useful to the consumer.  When such a trend is fully acknowledged by American society, great leaps in developing change spreads across the world.

Small steps can turn into permanent habits. If a new slogan or campaign was created to help advance our beliefs on what a meal needs in order to be healthy and easy,  Americans might be influenced enough to get past our obsession with having meat at every meal. Such a change as this could restructure our eating habits and demand for food, changing the food industry entirely.

Molto Batali è molto bene!

A new cookbook is always a motivator for me. Its like a game to see how many recipes I can master. A good friend of mine gave me a cookbook for Christmas, the 2011 Mario Batali's Molto Batali: From My Home To Yours. I've already cooked a few dishes from it and I must say its no wonder Mario is so plump if this is how he eats at home. His twist on dishes is fun and flavorful, like the Spicy Pumpkin Soup (which had cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes- I thought it was  a great flavor combo with the pumpkin). But since I'm not feeding a family of 6, the challenge is getting these recipes to meet my life's criteria. I'm cutting ingredient quantities in half and not using as much salt and oil as the recipes call for, but still the calories and fat content I'm assuming is probably up there. 


Just to be clear, my goal in finding healthy ways of living is not about dieting, so I'm not going to count calories or grams of fat. I just want to create better eating habits and eat right. My definition of eating right isn't going to be the same as others, but for me it means eating healthy, having lots of veggies in my meals, and portion control (this is difficult for me since I like to eat a lot of whatever tastes good). I want to have a well rounded diet. I am not overweight and looking to lose pounds, but I absolutely need to shape up and a huge part of that is shaping up my diet. The true goal is to eat well, feel well, and live well. 


With this in mind, I've focused in on the vegetable dishes in my new cookbook, but some of the ingredients are a challenge. I would love to find zucchini flowers (my grandmother used to pick them out of her garden and fry them) but I'm pretty sure they're hard to come by in grocery stores. I wish I knew what a cardoon or kohlrabi was and I may sometime venture to google them, but until then I'm not letting these unusual ingredients dampen my Batali spirit for cooking. 


Last night I made the stuffed cabbage, "Lingurian style." I give it a 3.5 of 5 hearts (for how much I loved it). Here's the recipe if you're interested:


http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Mario-Batali-Stuffed-Cabbage-Ligurian-Style


I recommend anyone who is trying this recipe to give yourself enough prep time. I  spent over an hour chopping, combining and sauteing on the stove before I could roll those suckers up and stick them in the oven. I am also working with very little counter space so that was a factor in what slowed me down. I had all the ingredients accept for the fresh basil (mine wilted) so I used dry basil. I wish I didn't use the full amount of parsley the recipe called for because it was slightly overpowering, however overall I'm very happy with my results. I have plenty of leftovers and extra filling which the book notes to try using in a frittata. Sounds scrumptious. 

I took the cabbage rolls for lunch today, and had one at dinner. There's plenty of leftovers for a single girl but if you try this recipe, plan to share! Is it healthy? Cabbage, potatoes, onion and ricotta cheese.... I say its a wise choice for a Batali dish.

A day, a month, a year

Its officially 2012. I have stuffed my face from Thanksgiving to Christmas and now I'm back here writing to the world wide web on how I'm ready to get back on track. Its been great eating everything I look forward to enjoying over the holidays- pasta, seafood, pizza, pastries...and the list goes on. Now I am back at work after a week and a half vacation and am being forced to get back into a routine.

Its another day, month, year, semester... but I'd like to make things better for myself this time around. The same obstacles exist from 2011 but I think I'm ready to handle things a bit differently for 2012. I'll be 29 this year (just a few months away) and I'd really like to feel and look my best for my birthday. I also have my best friend's wedding coming up and that is also another motivation for me. 

To start off I have decided to give up red meat for the next month. Starting today, Jan 10 until Feb.10th. I think my body needs a break and I'd prefer to get back to my vegetarian roots. Lots of veggies and fish for the next 30 days! Any suggestions on easy recipes for healthy meals and such, let me know!