madness

A column in New York Times by Mark Bittman, offering some "vegan" (no meat, no dairy) recipes -- oh my gosh what a storm of Commentary: kind of funny because political articles usually draw the most comments, but another column in the same issue hammering at the hammering attack ads for Iowa Repub. primary (attack ads can now come from pacs that don't have to identify themselves, &, due to current supreme court's "Citizens United" decision, have limitless funding flowing from God-knows-where...) drew a total of One -- ONE! -- Comment, while the Food column was peppered with 580+ Comments!

While many people will (I'm beginning to think, intelligently) eschew politics & its related news, Everyone believes they Know Food, by George...
the "I eat meat and cheese and that's the only way to do things!" Comments
and the
"I don't eat any living creature, and P.S. tofu is Delicious!" Comments rivaled, answered, and peppered one another, & badgered, battered away at Mr. Bittman's Jan. 2 entry, for hours, apparently....

(Mushrooms aren't a vegetable! They're a fungus! So -- when eating mushrooms, you're eating an animal!!)

(For us to eat honey, they take the honey from the bee, and that is invasive. And wrong!)

(The reason humans have such large brains -- [and do so many intelligent things...?!] -- is because we EAT MEAT!)

(I'm a vegan except for fish sometimes.
--"If you eat fish, you're not a vegan!")

(Tofu is disgusting and tasteless!
--Tofu is delightful if you prepare it correctly!)

(I went vegan and have never been healthier / slimmer!)

(I went vegan and my hair started thinning. Began eating steaks again, & now my hair got thicker again...!)

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Just typing these makes me giggle. It goes on and on. Some of it's the same people, but a lot of the comments are original. Of course it's natural, everyone thinks they know how to eat. ...
Also reflected in many of those comments was what is, to me, the most irritating common thread in all diet / nutrition / fitness advice that I've heard during the 800years I've been alive -- the demonizing of some particular food or food group, and then its later rehabilitation.

And now with internet, seems like everything goes faster, so that nutrition advice (decrees?) touting and/or demonizing some kind of food are lobbed at us almost simultaneously:
Low-carb!
Eat nothing but carbs!
Meat will kill you!
You'll die if you don't eat meat!
Vegetables all the time!
But never starchy vegetables!
Red wine!
Dark chocolate!
No chocolate!
Nothing that tastes good, ever!
Potatoes!
Never eat a potato, they should be outlawed!
Cholesterol is bad!
Except for Good Cholesterol -- good cholesterol is Good!
No soda, ever, except for Diet!
No Diet Soda!
Whole wheat!
No wheat!
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When I was in college there was a movie called "Reefer Madness" that would be shown around campus sometimes -- I never saw it, as I understood it, the routine was, people would get high and then go to the movie and laugh at it -- it is supposed to be something the govt. made, or commissioned, to frighten people so they wouldn't smoke pot...
thinking, now, about all the vegetable advice, like "only eat berries and leaves" I want to informally christen it, "Leafer Madness" ...
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One Commenter, Musician in Cleveland, wrote -- "I love dairy. It makes me happy. I eat it, as well as meat and fish, in smaller quantities. I eat well by cooking from scratch, reserving over half my plate for non-starchy vegetables, and regarding sugary dessert as a rare treat. I already keep kosher, adding another layer of absolutism would do nothing for me."

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"Absolutism." That is a word to think about.

Cleveland guy -- eats sensibly, and --
"I already keep kosher, adding another layer of absolutism would do nothing for me."

Drawing the line, somewhere.
Leafer Madness

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