Health for life

I dont keep track of all the designated days for things... and in fact, often, various organizations just randomly make up a day, out of the blue, whenever they want to promote something... (Not necessarily a bad thing, really.)

So, apparently, today is Type 2 Diabetes Alert Day. 

The American Diabetes Association wants to create awareness of the risks a person might have for developing Type 2 Diabetes... by having them answer some basic, simplistic questions. Yeah, pretty basic and simplistic:

• Are you old?
• Are you a man or a woman (because apparently men are more screwed than women)?
• Do you have high blood pressure?
• Did you have gestational diabetes (which should be a big DUH, right)?
• Did you have a mother or father with Type 2 Diabetes (another big DUH)?
• Are you a fat, couch potato? 

Dear American Diabetes Association,  

When I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, the first thing I did (like any other person newly diagnosed), was to go visit your site. I studied it quite a bit... and gleaned some buzz words like "tight control," and goals of keeping my blood glucose under 180 mg/dL.  

Then I thought to myself... wait a minute? 180 mg/dL is awful close to 200 mg/dL. That sounds... quite dangerous and irresponsible. That cant be right...  

So I googled, more, and more... and even the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists suggests keeping blood glucose levels under 140 mg/dL, and perably, as close to normal as possible. 

I understand blood glucose goals are individual, and should be consulted with ones doctor, ADA... (Some of us have other illnesses and hurdles that might make tighter blood glucose control difficult.) But you are giving people a very risky, and low MINIMUM hurdle to shoot for, without much other guidance!! WHY???? Please excuse me if I dont immediately reject the theories that you have deep conflicts of interests with big pharmaceutical representatives lining your pockets.  

Now, dear ADA... you claim you dont embrace any particular diet, but say we should ALL just eat healthy as healthy should be considered for ANY person without diabetes, without further explanations... Honestly, ADA, shame on you. We all know thats just veiled talk for telling people they ought to eat a diet made up of 60% carbohydrates, rich in fruit, starchy grains, and vegetables. (Yes, a world in which corn is good for your health.) It sounds charming, and wise... But even to my mind, back then, that was just hogwash. Normal people dont have a BUSTED pancreas... If this were the case, then hey! Everyone, throw your glucose meters, oral medications, and your insulin away. 

So through more research of my own, I found out I could eat following the guidance of my glucose meter, instead. The way it SHOULD be. Oh, imagine that...?! I should eat meals, and use my glucose meter to TEST those meals, to see if they exceed 140 mg/dL! And OMG, instead of just eating whatever because its "healthy..." Wow, what a concept! Im sorry, but oatmeal, for my diabetes, is NOT healthy. Hope Warshaw might lie -- but my glucose meter NEVER will.

Dont get me wrong, ADA... some people DO need meds, as their poor pancreases are too pooped out... But why the hell should I put the BURDEN of my care and how well I do, on just meds and insulin? Requiring more and more meds as time goes on, and more and more insulin... and then, oh no... developing complications I could have delayed, or reduced a risk for? I would be just accelerating the damage, and pancreatic beta cell failure, by willingly keeping myself at 180 mg/dL goals all the time.. when I could help it.

Its not easy, ADA... but why should we lie to people and make them believe it is? You know whats harder? DIALYSIS. NEUROPATHY. AMPUTATIONS.  

Then I thought to myself... "Hey? Who the hell are the American Diabetes Association, anyway? Theyre not even endocrinologists! What THE fructose!"  

Yeah, thats right...  Just a bunch of six figured salaried talking heads for big pharma sponsored researchers.

So, in essence, American Diabetes Association... here is my success story: I went and read your site, and then I did the opposite. 

Okay. That’s more like it, baby. There’s a loaf of Banana Bread in the oven, and by the time Husband-Elect is done with it, we’ll end the day with some excellent numbers.

Despite a sinus issue that’s threatening to take over my soul, Day #2 was a bit easier than Day #1. I think I got it into my head that I’m not cooking for myself, which helps. Also helping: pasta. Its cheap, its tasty, and if I could, Id live in a house made of penne. You know how we roll here.

With his customary eloquence and panache, Husband-Elect notes, “I feel great. I’m [expletive deleted] excited about it.” I will now bestow on him a noogie of love.

But first, today’s info!

DAY 2 TOTAL: 2594 calories, 59.2 g fat, 38.2 g fiber, $3.50
GRAND PRICE TOTAL (SO FAR): $7.46

BREAKFAST
2 servings Maple Morning Polenta: 516 calories, 9.2 g fat, 8.2 g fiber, $0.63
1 banana: 121 calories, 0.4 g fat, 3.5 g fiber, $0.23
TOTALS: 637 calories, 9.6 g fat, 11.7 g fiber, $0.86
PREP TIME: 10 minutes

LUNCH & SNACK
1 apple: 77 calories, 0.3 g fat, 3.6 g fiber, $0.17
1 serving Easy Vegetarian Bean Chili: 243 calories, 6.6 g fat, 9.1 g fiber, $0.70
1 medium baked potato (5.7 oz): 157 calories, 0.2 g fat, 3.7 g fiber, $0.11
2 Snickerdoodles: 300, 13.6 g fat, 1 g fiber, $0.20
TOTALS: 777 calories, 20.7 g fat, 17.4 g fiber, $1.18
PREP TIME: 0 minutes (did it while prepping breakfast)

DINNER
6 oz pasta: 631 calories, 2.6 g fat, 5.4 g fiber, $0.25
2 jumbo eggs: 191 calories, 12.8 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.41
1/2 cup peas and carrots: 38 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g fiber, $0.22
1 teaspoon vegetable oil: 44 calories, 5 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.03
Salt & pepper: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.02
1/2 ounce grated parmesan: 79 calories, 5.2 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.33
TOTALS: 983 calories, 25.6 g fat, 7.4 g fiber, $1.26
PREP TIME: 20 minutes (mostly waiting for the pasta to boil). I got dishes done in the meantime, which was exciting to a disturbing degree.

DESSERT
1/10th loaf Light Banana Bread: 197 calories, 3.3 g fat, ~1.7 g fiber, $0.20

NOTES

• We’ve been buying humanely raised eggs ever since watching Food, Inc., and I got a fantastic deal on ‘em this week. $2.50 for a dozen Jumbos! They will be used wisely. Except for the one I broke on the counter. I salute its sacrifice. Godspeed, Bob the Egg.
• Thanks to my sinus monster, dinner was a bit simple tonight. Pasta and veggies topped with two fried eggs and parmesan. (It makes its own sauce!) Tomorrow, though: slow cooker pulled pork. Color me excited.
• A little clarification on nutrition and price calculations: if I make a recipe already posted on CHG, I’m using those numbers. That is, unless I: A) find a much cheaper ingredient, or B) change the dish significantly. For example, I left the milk out of this morning’s polenta, which lowered the price and calories quite a bit.

"Well, my husband is a board certified endocrinologist, and he told me that whenever a Type 2 patient is good, and gets their numbers normalized, that he removes the Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis, and changes it to a Metabolic Syndrome diagnosis, instead, to help them out." -- Misinformed Mrs. Know-It-All.

The woman was very angry at me. How dare I suggest Type 2 Diabetes has no cure. And furthermore, I could go get a gastric bypass surgery, if I wanted. That, for certain, was also a cure. This, of course, was followed by a few "You people will never be like us; you need to stop comparing yourselves to us... You keep trying to act like we are the same, or have it worse than us, or that your disease is just as bad as ours" type of comments. I cant say that I blame her entirely for her misinformed, self righteous attitude. (Okay, I know she was being kind of a bitch. Im just trying to be nice, here.)

This is the every day bread of Type 2 Diabetes awareness. Raising Type 2 Diabetes awareness is not easy. In fact, its one of the most painful things Ive ever had to do in my life. My husband certainly doesnt understand it, sees a redundant theme in it, and wonders why I dont just get out of it... since its obvious I cant change the world. Ive gone to bed crying, on more than a few nights.

The comment above, is of course, ridiculous. If there is a board certified endocrinologist out there, doing this, he needs to have his license revoked. Simple as that. He is doing NO ONE any favors. He is hurting his patients a lot more than he knows. I understand that insurance companies love judging us -- hey why not, the media has done a great job of misinforming the world, and insurance companies get their news just like the rest of us, and want to use that to safeguard their old, mighty dollar -- but the value of a small defense against an insurance company does NOT outweigh the psychological harm and denial you feed into a person by acting like their diagnosis doesnt exist. Would these people dream of telling someone who had AIDS "If youre good, and your labs come back good, Ill change your diagnosis to HIV positive, instead?" Yeah, I dont think so! (Its not entirely a perfect analogy, but you get the idea...)

But people dont GET the permanence of Type 2 Diabetes. Whats worse is that, while we preach day and night that this is an epidemic of epic proportions, our medical establishment does not act like it! (Oh, lots of people are acting like it, dont get me wrong... but its, mostly, the people who want to scam us, and take advantage of us...) If this is such a serious threat, why isnt the American Medical Association, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, making it a priority to get doctors educated, and prepared, for diagnosing, and empowering patients? Why are they not working hard to give patients the weapons to fight back, and effectively not feel themselves the hopeless victims of this disease? (I know someone out there will claim that they are... but the proof, or lack of proof, is in the pudding, folks.)

• Patients are out there, going undiagnosed, not because they dont regularly see a doctor (though some, undeniably dont...), but because doctors dont know how to recognize the signs of diabetes, or are UNWILLING to mark down a "diabetes diagnosis" in a patient record, thanks to insurance company scheming. More and more Type 2 Diabetes patients are being diagnosed by other medical professionals, such as gynecologists, urologists, dentists, and eye doctors. Often, a patient even gets misdiagnosed based on ridiculously old knowledge, like assuming that an adult could not be a Type 1 Diabetic, instead, leaving the patient vulnerable to Diabetic Ketoacidosis, and Diabetic Coma.  
• Most doctors, especially Primary Care Physicians (or Family Doctors), get a MINIMAL amount of diabetes education in medical school, and NO extended diabetes education throughout their careers. Diabetes information, care, and knowledge is growing about as fast as technological advances are... why should doctors remain in the dark, if we, as patients, cant afford to do so? Some doctors are going by on 20, and 30 years of OLD diabetes education! As a consequence, when a diabetic patient gets diagnosed, thanks to this lack of knowledge and insurance company scheming, patients get denied access to specialists, denied access to certified diabetes educators, denied access to dietitians, denied access to insulin, etc. Doctors, ROUTINELY, give NO information or direction to a newly diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes patient, leaving them vulnerable to whatever might be out there, on the internet. There is something vastly wrong with an insurance company that denies access to a dietitian, or certified diabetes educator, but is happy to approve gastric bypass surgery. In other scenarios, doctors give patients extreme misinformation, such as "STOP eating ALL fruit because they are high in carbs." Ummm, hello, not all fruit is made the same... We need to learn to MANAGE food, not put the fear of God in people.   
• The medical establishment is allowing itself to be ruled by the treatment guidelines of the American Diabetes Association -- an Association with clear conflicts of interest, per a recent study done by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and which has been SLOW AS MOLASSES in embracing the future of diabetes tight control, and management. Whats worse, they have GREATLY contributed to diagnoses getting delayed and delayed. This is WRONG and unacceptable. Doctors and Endocrinologists need to be educating the ADA, and not the other way around! 
• Instead, more and more "doctors" and "medical professionals" are taking advantage of the serious need for diabetes patient education, as a door to write books, push supplements, spread their own pseudoscience, and MAKE MONEY. 

 

Big news this week, as the USDA released their new food guidelines and Mark Bittman started his new occasional editorial series for The New York Times. Also, there’s this … thing? This Sunday? I don’t know. I think some people are eating at it. And there’s some kind of ball.

1) Get Rich Slowly: Fight Rising Prices By Building Your Own Food Bank
This guest post from Donna Freedman advocates – in a new and intelligent way – the stockpiling of food in your home. It’s not so much that you’ll never eat it, but enough to get you through the winter, especially when Mama Nature feels the urge to drop another three feet o’ precipitation on your car.

2) Lifehacker: The Geek’s Guide to Rebooting Your Kitchen
Dig this one-minute video about maximizing kitchen efficiency. Then read the more detailed descriptions, which will undoubtedly help you in your quest to reorganize. Then think about the video again, asking yourself, “How did the cat manage to be in the way at all times?” Then ponder cat ownership.

3) New York Times: A Food Manifesto for the Future
Remember that Bittman piece we spoke of up top? This is it. His proposals for a better food future read wonderfully, but have a long way to go before they’re actualized – if it ever happens. Still, it’s nice that they’re even out there. (Think positive!)

4) Cracked: 6 Subtle Ways You’re Getting Screwed at the Grocery Store
Perhaps not as classic as Cracked’s “6 Animals That Just Don’t Give a F#@k” from November, but very helpful nonetheless. Caution: Beware the saucy language. (Also, the Ides of March.)

5) Food Politics: The 2010 Dietary Guidelines: Enjoy your food, but eat less!
Marion Nestle breaks down the new USDA guidelines in easy-to-understand bulletpoints. (Seriously, they’re really easy to understand. They average about five words each.) Bonus: she’s attached the link to the PDF itself. Browse through if you’re feeling motivated.

6) Zen Habits: The Simplest Diet for Lean Fitness
In which Leo Babauta counsels against extreme changes to your eating and exercise plans. He adjusted his gradually, until it his body was working optimally. Best part? Never felt a thing.

7) xkcd: Learning to Cook
This one-panel comic has been all over the food ‘net this week, but it’s so good, I’m linking to it again. (No picture, so you have to click! MUAHAHAHAHA!)

8) The Kitchn: Halving Casseroles: Tips for Reducing the Size of a Recipe
Oooo … I need to do this ALL THE TIME, since it’s only HOTUS and me at home. (Also, the cat. But he has a pretty strict casserole policy. If I make one, it’s all his, or we get clawed.)

9) New York Times: Mushrooms Fill in the Blanks for the Meat-Free
Ahh … the power of fungus. I’ve known of mushrooms’ curious ability to sate ever since my friend H. grilled me my first big ol’ Portobello in college. Now, the Times is sharing five recipes of its own. (Or, of other people’s. You know how it goes.)

10) Café Johnsonia: S.M.A.R.T. Goals
The SMART system to creating goals means they should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and should have a timeline. (There are also a few other acronyms in there, but the internet only has so much space.) They guidelines are pretty much applicable to anything, but especially achieving bodily health. Mama likes. (P.S. Beware you spell “SMART” right. Otherwise, this.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Business Week: TV – A Sneaky Part of the Food Pyramid
USA TODAY: Kids Fed Unhealthy Foods Learn to Per Them
USA TODAY: Catch of the Week – 8 Ounces of Fish in Your Diet
Washington Post: Military personnel take extreme measures to meet body-fat and weight rules

AND ALSO

Parks and Recreation: Ron Swanson’s Pyramid of Greatness
INTENSITY: Give 100%. 110% is impossible. Only idiots recommend that.


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New research shows that a Mediterranean-style diet and diets low in available carbohydrates can offer protection against type 2 diabetes. The study is published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and is by Dr Carlo La Vecchia, Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy, and colleagues.

The authors studied patients from Greece who are part of the ongoing European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC), led by Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou, from the University of Athens. From a total of 22,295 participants, actively followed up for just over 11 years, 2,330 cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded. To assess dietary habits, all participants completed a questionnaire, and the researchers constructed a 10-point Mediterranean diet score (MDS) and a similar scale to measure the available carbohydrate (or glycaemic load [GL]) of the diet.

People with an MDS of over 6 were 12% less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest MDS of 3 or under. Patients with the highest available carbohydrate in their diet were 21% more likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest. A high MDS combined with low available carbohydrate reduced the chances of developing diabetes by 20% as compared with a diet low in MDS and high in GL.

The authors say: "The role of the Mediterranean diet in weight control is still controversial, and in most studies from Mediterranean countries the adherence to the Mediterranean diet was unrelated to overweight. This suggests that the protection of the Mediterranean diet against diabetes is not through weight control, but through several dietary characteristics of the Mediterranean diet. However, this issue is difficult to address in cohort studies because of the lack of information on weight changes during follow-up that are rarely recorded."

They point out that a particular feature of the Mediterranean diet is the use of extra virgin olive oil which leads to a high ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fatty acids. But again research here has been conflicting. One review of dietary fat and diabetes suggests that replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats has beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and is likely to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, in a randomised trial of high-cardiovascular-risk individuals who were assigned to the Mediterranean diet supplemented with either free extra virgin olive oil or nuts and were compared with individuals on a low-fat diet (comparison group), there was no difference in diabetes occurrence between the two variants of the Mediterranean diet when compared with the comparison group.

Regarding GL, the authors say: "High GL diet leads to rapid rises in blood glucose and insulin levels. The chronically increased insulin demand may eventually result in pancreatic β cell failure and, as a consequence, impaired glucose tolerance and increased insulin resistance, which is a predictor of diabetes. A high dietary GL has also been unfavourably related to glycaemic control in individuals with diabetes."

They conclude: "A low GL diet that also adequately adheres to the principles of the traditional Mediterranean diet may reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Food Network Liveblog Marathon! We had such a ball doing the Biggest Loser finale last week, I figured a 19-hour running diary of Food Networks entire broadcast day would be nice way to extend the good times.

Most of this is just for fun, and to see how many ¾-sleeve sweaters I can spot, but I’ll also be keeping a close eye on how Food Network addresses the issues of health and frugality throughout the course of its normal schedule. This will involve a few holiday-oriented shows and possible multiple viewings of Paula’s Cookie Party, so don’t forget to cut ‘em some slack.

Feel free to chime in, too! I’ll be checking comments constantly, and highlighting my favorites as we go along. Criticism is good as long as its not personal or too mean. Funny is encouraged.

P.S. As with the BL Liveblog, this will go backwards, with the most recent commentary appearing up top.

1:59
On to Part II - 2:01pm to 7:00pm!

1:58
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: zero
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: er ... pretty low
HEALTH QUOTIENT: um ... also low
VERDICT: 10/10. Its Ina, and dissent will not be tolerated.

1:57
Jeffrey is playing a trick on Ina, to make her think he ate all the food. This is cruel and unnecessary. Also, I dont know how to spell "unnecessary."

1:51
The lobster pies were just dubbed "rustic." In cooking, is "rustic" a synonym for "messy"? If so, my apartment is very rustic.

1:49
Ina wants us to place pastry dough in the fridge for 30 minutes "to chill and relax." Unmentioned: "to light up some doobage and listen to Steve Miller albums on shuffle."

1:42
She is now making lobster pot pies. I was taught to appreciate fresh-from-the-animal lobster meat from a very young age, and always hesitate to use it in any recipe. I mean, what if I mess it up? And why would I want to dilute lobster flavor? But Im going with this, Ina. I trust you. Be caul with my heart.

1:40
Ina is visiting her fishmonger. I like to picture her being personal friends with her various mongers, and at the end of every year, they all have a giant monger party. Where they mong out, presumably.

1:36
Ina is wearing a black button-down instead of her usual denim one. If youre not a regular viewer, this means nothing to you, but if you are, its a plot twist on par with The Sixth Sense.

1:34
Husband-Elect, are you reading this? If so, can we go to Inas kitchen for our honeymoon? I will let you have the Gandalf ice carving if you say yes.

1:32
Shes making chocolate gelato. For Jeffrey, of course. CURSE YOU, JEFFREY!

1:31
THE SHOW: Baoot Contessa! WOOOO!
THE HOST: the lovely Ina Garten
THE CONCEPT: incredible food served by a woman you want to hang out with ALL THE TIME

1:28
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 0, though the sleeves of her regular sweater were rolled up
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: high
HEALTH QUOTIENT: negative numbers
VERDICT: 7/10, for too many "yummos

1:26
On a related note, do you ever wonder if RR narrates her everyday movements when shes at home? "Well, Im goin to pick up my toothpaste like this. Awesome! Then Im going to grab my toothbrush like this. Yummo! Now Im gonna bring it up to my mouth, and run it back and forth across my teeth. All right! And we end by spitting the froth into the sink. Big finish!"

1:21
Toffee Hot Cocoa was just described as "SUPER delicious." Just once, I want a TV chef to say, "You know what? Its a broccoli recipe. It tastes slightly better than burlap, but if we dont get some veggies in our diets, well die."

1:19
Rachael is excellent at remaining upbeat. When youre makin TV, its really, really tough to turn on the cheer when youre not feeling it. But she manages. I dig that.

1:14
A haiku for Rachael:
You carry so much
but is that nutmeg ever
a burden too heavy?

1:11
Were having "ahh-some wanh-ffles" here everybody, but not before we eyeball the molasses.
 
1:06
Whenever RR asks us to "eyeball" something, I picture pouring the item (fennel, cloves, oil, etc.) on our actual eyeballs. This is not the intended meaning, I understand, but ... need more coffee.

1:03
Rachael is making sausage, and her accent ("sah-sidge") is making me miss my friends in Rochester and Buffalo. (*sniff*) You guys, lean ground chicken breast reminds me of you.

1:00
THE SHOW: 30-Minute Meals
THE HOST: Rachael Ray
THE CONCEPT: A nice woman from Western New York makes a meal in an unmentioned allotment of time.

12:59
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 1 (You can always count on Giada.)
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: medium; risotto is cheaper than you think
HEALTH QUOTIENT: pretty low
VERDICT: 10/10, for much-appreciated gratuitous use of champagne

12:57
For dessert, its Raspberry Limoncello Champagne and an Espresso Panna Cotta. Forget plain ol pregnancy. These will get you a Duggar-style reality show on TLC.

12:51
I love that PR folks think well enough of CHG to send us offers, but ... uh ... my name is Kristen. Not Christine. And I dont have kids. And I hate mayonnaise. Just sayin.

12:48
Champagne Risotto with Asparagus is Gs next date night recipe. (P.S. The theme of this show is "Date Night." Now you know.) Served with Chiarellos Peppermint Chocolate Tiramisu and Nigellas Espresso Martini, there is a 100% chance you will be pregnant by the end of the night.

12:46
This is the 37 millionth time the Le Cordon Bleu commercial is airing, and its only 12:46. If I hear, "Get your career cooking ... LITERALLY!" one more time, I will literally jump through the TV and broil that guy.

12:42
Giadas "this is so good" claw: check.
Giadas tasting O-face: check.
Still waiting for first pronunciation of "pan-CHET-tha."

12:37
Giada is frying some oysters. When shes done, they will be "sweet and tender, which is how your date will act after he eats them." I assume this means my date will also be breaded and covered in marinara sauce.

12:34
My Ma is as Irishiest of Irish ladies, but insists on pronouncing Latin and Italian foods as they would be in the native language. This means "mozzarella" is "mooz-a-dell" and "parmesan" is "parrrr-mi-jhan." Giada also does this. Giada is my Ma.

12:32
Giada starts out with panna cotta, or translated, "theres a cot in my pan."

12:31
THE SHOW: Everyday Italian
THE HOST: Giada DeLaurentiis
THE CONCEPT: Hot, talented chef makes authentic Italian dishes and funny tasting faces.

12:29
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 0, though her blouse has shorter sleeves, yall
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: high, yall
HEALTH QUOTIENT: super, super low, yall
VERDICT: 9/10, for gentility, yall

12:23
Gingerbread Michael (Paulas husband) has white chest hair, a mohawk, and appears to be wearing a diaper. How does Real Michael feel about this?

12:19
Edit - Paula is making gingerbread men AND women. Later, they will create gingerbread babies together, unless they use gingerbread prophylactics.

12:12
Paulas making Gingerbread Men, and "when we come back, Im gonna show you how we bring these little [guys] to life." This is going to involve lightning and tiny brain transplants, isnt it?

12:06
Analogy time!
Paula Deen is to Fantasy Grandma as George Clooney is to _______.
A) Fantasy Boyfriend
B) Fantasy Shortstop
C) Fantasy Island

12:04
How you can tell this is an early episode: wrinkles, natural lighting, no cackling, zero appearances by Bobby and Jamie. I miss the cackling, yall.

12:02
Butter count: 1 stick so far.

12:00
THE SHOW: Paulas Home Cooking
THE HOST: Paula Deen, yall!
THE CONCEPT: Today, its cookies. But most days, its butter. Just butter.

11:59
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 0 (it was full-length)
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: high - nothing was outrageous
HEALTH QUOTIENT: very low - I question serving some of these to kids as dinner
VERDICT: 6/10, for questionable usage of vessels

11:58
Robin blended strawberries and yogurt, and I thought for sure it was going to be a smoothie. But she poured it in a bowl, so now its a soup. If she poured it in a votive glass, would it be a candle?

11:52
Chopping montage! In general, wouldnt cooking would be much more awesome if all our chopping was set to Michael Jackson? Here, try it.

11:50
Good tip from Robin: make vinaigrettes and dressings in the bottom of the salad bowl, then toss everything afterward.

11:45
Once and for all: is cumin pronounced "keeyou-min" or "coo-min"?

11:43
Weve moved on to Mexican fondue, meaning cheese, spinach, artichokes, and salsa melted together. Im still deciding how I feel about this. Also: "take it to a whole new level" should be retired permanently, as should "outside the box."

11:36
Robin is having a tough time lifting her skillet. I can relate, having the upper body strength of a fetal chihuahua.

11:32
Robin is searing some scallops, and she just poured a dang gallon of olive oil into a large skillet. Look, I know olive oil is one of the healthier cooking fats, but 1/4 cup per serving doesnt do anyone any good. (Now getting off my high horse before I hurt myself.)

11:31
THE SHOW: Quick Fix Meals
THE HOST: Robin Miller
THE CONCEPT: Week-long dinners for busy families, with Oprah-esque theme song.

11:30
End of show. How you know: the wine comes out, and Mike changes into a red t-shirt under a charcoal grey blazer. Very Napa.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 1/2
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: low
HEALTH QUOTIENT: low
VERDICT: 8/10, for Peppermint Chocolate Tiramisu and general attractiveness

11:27
Why dont the Food Network hosts ever wash their own pots and pans? They should have a show made up entirely of Ina Garten and Bobby Flay doing dishes. I guarantee it would be a ratings winner.

11:23
He just poured about a cup of red wine into risotto, making it look like brains. Delicious, delicious brains. Again, the ugly/tasty paradox has been proven.

11:19
While I like Michael Chiarello, he suffers a bit from John Kerry Syndrome: you know hes totally great at what he does, but you dont necessarily want to have a beer with him.

11:15
Food Network Drinking Game, Rule #5739: Drink whenever a host claims he/she is "going somewhere," "checking the market out," or "has some errands to run" during the commercial break. We know you need more than four minutes to hit up the orchard, Chiarello.

11:13
Up next: a Peppermint Chocolate Tiramisu. I have never heard a finer collection of words. (P.S. Did you know "tiramisu" means "pick me up"? Me neither. Thanks, Mike!)

11:12
Currently, hes adding a TON of ground fennel to already fennel-heavy roast. Moderate amounts of fennel are always appreciated, but this looks like its going to taste like a bag of black licorice exploded in your mouth.

11:10
Chiarello isnt wearing a 3/4-sleeve sweater, but his pullover sleeves are rolled up to just under the elbow. Does that count?

11:09
Coffee procured! Urge to kill ... fading.

11:04
So far, this is an onion- and beet-heavy show. Not kid food, apparently. In first grade, either of those words would have thrown me into total gag lex failure.

11:01
THE SHOW: Easy Entertaining
THE HOST: Michael Chiarello
THE CONCEPT: "Formal fare in your formalwear." Clever boy.

10:59
End of show.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: a shocking 0
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: good - salad and tamales are pretty cheap
HEALTH QUOTIENT: nada, though points for trying with the salad
VERDICT: 7/10, for gratuitous shots of blending.

10:55
Emerils jacket has remained perfectly clean through the entire show, despite making salad, mac and cheese, tamales con queso, and cheesecake. No mess at all. I would look like Pizza the Hut after a day like that.

10:52
Have you seen the ice cream sandwich bench? Its $950, though if Trading Spaces has taught me anything, you can make it at home with $15.62 and a bedsheet.

10:49
Can I tell you how much I love it when Emeril adds alcohol to recipes? Everyone in the audience cheers like crazy, as if to say, "WOO! This flan is gonna get us totally sploshed!"

10:46
Holly from Ohio is the next winner of Emerils Say Cheese contest, and she has a very, very red kitchen. Like, all her appliances and countertops are a fiery crimson. Wouldnt that make you angry when youre cooking? Like youre in Hells Kitchen? "Dont TALK TO ME when Im making CHEESECAKE, DAMMIT!"

10:43
Time for a multiple choice question! What kind of degree does Doc Gibbs have?
A) Funkiness MD
B) A PhD in smoothosity
C) A doctorate in jazz hands
D) Gastroenterology

10:40
As Emeril rolls his second tamale, I find my mind wandering to faraway places. Like Morocco. Were fez hats just decorative, or did they have a purpose? They dont shade the eyes or protect the head very well, so Im figuring they were invented for aesthetic purposes. In a related story, I think its time for some coffee.

10:37
Another ugly-but-delicious food: ried beans. We can all agree it looks like baby puke, right?

10:33
Emeril is making tamales con queso, and keeps asking for "lahwd." I wondered why he would be using the lord in his cooking, until it occurred to me that hes saying "lard."

10:32
Food Network Drinking Game, Rule #437: take a shot every time you wonder how a food show can pay for a full band. Youll be sploshed inside an hour.

10:30
Re: Emerils accent. Hes from Boston, right? Because it sounds so Brooklyn sometimes, I imagine him selling me knockoff sunglasses on the corner by the Halal Chinese Food place.

10:27
Emeril is stirring white-gray crabmeat into a yellow-gray macaroni and cheese mixture. You know that scene in Empire Strikes Back, when Han makes Luke a bed out of TonTon intestines? It looks like that. Which is okay, because sometimes ugly food is the best food. (See: eggplant.)

10:23
Bathroom dilemma, solved. Thank god for commercials. Did you guys need to know that? Also of note: my computer is resting on a hummus tub so the bottom wont overheat. In Brooklyn, we work with what we have, folks.

10:20
Augh! The vertical rotisserie ad is back so "Dad" can school us some more. I think Ive found my nemesis for the day.

10:18
Emeril is both a "spoon guy" and a "whisk fan." Can you be both? Is that like rooting for the Yankees and the Mets?

10:16
Emeril is running a "Say Cheese" recipe contest. Pam from Maryland is a winner, and she reminds me of every nurse or teachers assistant Ive ever met. Pam is using crab in her macaroni and cheese, which "kicks [it] up to notches unknown." NOTCHES UNKNOWN.

10:11
Speaking of golf, what happens now that Tiger is in the permanent doghouse? I imagine curling will finally have its day as THE sport for people who dont like sudden movements.

10:08
Were watching a split screen of the blonde mom and Emeril blending a dressing. Its still more interesting than golf.

10:06
First tip, from an at-home video segment with a blonde mom: "Never walk away from your pine nuts." Truer words, never spoken. How many times have I set them to toast and sniffed the air three minutes later all like, "Whats burning?"

10:05
The theme of the show is cheese. I can get behind this.

10:00
THE SHOW: Emeril Live!
THE HOST: Emeril Lagasse
THE CONCEPT: The godfather of TV cheffery hosts a cooking show in front of a live audience, says "BAM" a lot. Theres a band, too.

9:58
Nigella ends the show scarfing potatoes on a crimson couch by a roaring fire, while angels play smooth jazz in the background. This is a Luther Vandross video.
3/4-SLEEVE SWEATERS: 1
FRUGALITY QUOTIENT: nothing too expensive here
HEALTH QUOTIENT: Well let it slide. Its a Christmas show.
VERDICT: 10/10, for sexiness

9:54
Were up to fully loaded baked potatoes. Cooked by candlelight, naturally. Ive never been attracted to a potato before today, but somehow, Nigella is making them look sexy. Maybe because she just "splodged" them with sour cream, and now - I swear to god - is "forking them together."

9:52
Its not even time for Price is Right, and Nigellas guests are eating Christmas tree cakes and getting sploshed on espresso martinis. I want to go to there.

9:50
Her strata is (direct quote): "Like a toasted cheese sandwich, but a celestial one, as if eaten by angels." If heaven is filled with grilled cheese sandwiches, I will feel a lot better about death.

9:47
Unconsidered when planning 19-hour blogging marathon: when do I go to the bathroom?

9:45
Nigellas cake batter is "perfectly plain, but anything but austere." Husband-Elect just kissed me goodbye and went to work. Are these related somehow?

9:43
A Nigella haiku:
Oh, metric system
You make baking funny with
your grams and liters

9:40
"Let Dad school you with a vertical rotisserie." is a sentence I never hoped to hear, in a commercial or otherwise.

9:37
This entire show is candlelit and set to saxophone jazz. I think Food Network is trying to seduce me.

9:35
Nigellas casual vocabulary is my favorite. Shes making jam, and has described it as "fiery crimson" and "volcanically boiling." This is the stuff that goes with peanut butter, right?

9:32
Nigella is sploshing cider vinegar into sugar. I enjoy sploshing. Someday, I hope to splosh my way into college.

9:30
THE SHOW: Nigellas Christmas Kitchen
THE HOST: British cook/woman Id date if I went that way, Nigella Lawson
THE CONCEPT: homemade Christmas gifts

T-minus 24 minutes…

Before we get to today’s links, the results are in from Tuesday’s Ask the Internet question. We queried: do you include tax when you tip a restaurant server?

THE READERS HAVE SPOKEN, and between thread comments and Facebook replies, it came down to a single vote. A single vote! No kidding:

• Yes, I include tax when I tip: 29 VOTES
• No, I don’t include tax when I tip: 30 VOTES

Henceforth, you don’t have to include tax! (Unless you want to.) With that dilemma solved forevermore, let’s go to el linkage.

1) River Front Times: 20 Unholy Recipes – Dishes So Awful We Had to Make Them
Possibly the post of the millennium: St. Louis bloggers attempted 20 different vintage recipes of varying awfulness, from Vienna Sausage Shortcake to Pickle-Stretcher Salad to Asparagus-Macaroni Loaf. The results are the culinary equivalent of Kurtz’s death scene in Apocalypse Now. (Thanks to Neatorama for the link.)

2) The Atlantic: The Great Grocery Smackdown
Great piece on Wal-Mart’s new produce initiatives, which include more organics and locally-grown fruits and veggies. In a blind taste test, the author matches some of the megacorp’s products up against Whole Foods versions of the same things. The results are surprising and encouraging. A must-read.

3) New York Times: When Children Are Overweight, Changes for the Whole Family
Solid piece on how a family’s lifestyle changes when its trying to correct a child’s poor eating habits. While you should never put a minor on a medically unsupervised diet, these subtle switches seem to make sense.

4) Wise Bread: 7 Ways to Cut Your Food Bill Without Clipping a Single Coupon
Quick-but-thorough primer on the basics of frugal grocery shopping. Definitely check it if you’re new to the field. (Which I call “grocerologyiatry.”) (Im still working on the name.)

5) GOOD Magazine: The Emotional Quotient of Soup Shopping
This is super interesting, and probably emblematic of how food graphic designers work nowadays. Campbell’s just redesigned their label to appeal more to shoppers’ emotional reactions. Did you know, neurologically speaking, that we don’t give a crap about spoons? It’s true.

6) New York Post: My Personal Kitchen Confidential
Not Eating Out in New York blogger Cathy Erway saved $7200 over two years by cooking at home, avoiding takeout, and skipping restaurant meals. When you live here, it’s so, so, so super easy to blow all your dough on food. This is a valuable reminder that theres another way.

7) Re-Nest: How to Buy and Store Bulk Foods
As my storage is limited to whatever I can cram in an unplugged toaster, this wonderful post doesn’t apply so much to me. But sweet readers, with your newfangled “pantries” and “shelves,” might find it super helpful.

8) Jezebel: Jared Fogle and the Plight of the Celebrity Dieter
Subway’s weight loss poster boy has gained back 40 of the 200 pounds he lost. In the grand scheme of things, this is still a huge triumph: the guy lost 160 pounds and kept it off. However, advertising-wise, this means big trouble for Subway, much like Kirstie Alley’s gain was bad news for Jenny Craig. It’s a warped, twisted way of looking at dieting, but an interesting media discussion nonetheless.

9) The Simple Dollar: The Minimal Tip
Rounding out our discussion on restaurant tipping: have you ever given nothing? Trent has, and here, he discusses the reasons. (Honestly, it sounds merited.) Followed by a massive comment debate.

10) CNN: Jamie Oliver: Eat your chips, just not every day
Go for details on Jamie’s victorious TED plan for correcting childhood obesity in America. Stay for the accent. Roit!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Dad Cooks Dinner: Weekly Dinner Plans
A different way of attacking menus. I like.

Hillbilly Housewife: 5 Steps To Safely Disinfect Your Wooden Cutting Boards
Non-bleach secrets to purifying your chopping blocks. (Note: not with hellfire.)

The Kitchn:
Quick Reference – A Guide to Herbs and Spices
30 Gold Medal Tips that Pack Some Punch in the Kitchen
What’s the Deal With Reactive and Non-reactive Cookware?
This week’s highlighted posts include an excellent primer on jarred flavors, kitchen hacks galore, and a question that has puzzled pan purchasers since the beginning of time.

Money Saving Mom: What is Your Stock-up Price on Toilet Paper?
If you ever wanted to learn about price discrepancies across the nation, read this comment thread. Mine: $0.66/roll. It don’t get much better in BK.

The Simple Dollar: Optimizing Your Grocery List
There’s efficiency, and then there’s EFFICIENCY. These strategies fall into the latter category.

BLOG CARNIVALS

Hey! We made some blog carnivals this week! Check ‘em out yourselves for a cornucopia of craft and personal finance articles, from every corner of the interweb.

• Len Penzo: The Carnival of Personal Finance #244
• 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven: Make it From Scratch Festival

AND ALSO

Esquire: Roger Ebert – The Essential Man
A few years ago, film critic Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw to a series of cancer-related surgeries. Since then, he hasn’t had a bite to eat or a drop to drink. He’s completely lost his ability to speak. Yet, he’s living louder than ever, mostly through his blog, his movie reviews, and his prolific Twitter feed. This moving, revealing article chronicles a day in the life of new Ebert, and if it’s not too cliché, it gets a huge thumbs up.

Chicago Sun-Times: Roger Ebert’s Last Words
Heres Ebert’s response to the Esquire piece. Filled with astute observances, including but not limited to, “Low self-esteem involves imagining the worst that other people can think about you,” and "Resentment is allowing someone to live rent-free in a room in your head.” Win: Ebert.

Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

And Im back for part 2 of my AHS 2012 review.  Read part 1 if you missed it.  And no, this blog is not about AHS, the leader among home warranty providers.  Its the Ancestral Health Symposium.  Only the biggest event in the paleo nutrition world, everyone knows that.  Now read......

Can you believe Mark Sisson is 60?  I guess this paleo thing works.

Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf Q&A
This was another highlight of the weekend, in which Mark and Robb took questions from the audience.  It was only a 40 minute session, but I could have listened to this for hours.  I honestly dont remember what any of the questions were, so I guess I dont have much to talk about here, but they were very engaging and hilarious.  Great stuff.  I would love to spend a night socializing with these guys over NorCal margaritas.



Gut Health and Obesity
Stephan Guyenets talk on gut health and obesity was just fascinating.  Hes been one of my favorite people in the paleo community for a while now, Ive learned so much valuable information from his blog.  The gist of his talk, from what I can remember, was on how your intestinal health affects your propensity to gain weight.  And he made a major distinction between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat (visceral being the fat gained within the abdominal cavity, and subcutaneous fat being fat located under the skin).  Theres a big difference.  A person with more visceral fat will be at much higher risk for metabolic abnormalities and chronic disease, while someone with mostly subcutaneous fat is likely to be metabolically healthy, regardless of the fact that theyre obese.

Ill certainly need to go back and watch Stephans presentation again to really take in the information (once they get the lectures online, that is).  But as I recall, the most interesting part to me was about gut bacteria and obesity.  He talked about a few studies in rats, in which they performed fecal transplants to transfer gut bacteria from one rat to another.  Yes, that means taking the poop from one rat and sticking it up the butt of another rat.  We do it in humans too.  But the basic idea was that the gut flora differed between lean and obese mice.  But when the gut bacteria from the obese rat was transferred to a lean rat, that lean rat then became obese.  There was much more to it than this, but as I said, I need to go back and watch it again and take notes.  But its very intriguing to me that simply changing the gut flora of an animal could make them become obese.  It sounds like this area has a lot of potential for future study, and its definitely something Ill be following.

On another note, on the last night of the conference I was able to meet Stephan and chat a little bit.  He was super nice and down-to-earth.  We talked about beer and other manly things, apparently he brews beer.  But I also talked with him about probiotics.  Probiotics can be found in either food or in supplement form, but they are essentially healthy bacteria for your gut.  The idea is that they make it to your large intestine, set up shop there, and do good things for your digestion and your body.  But according to Stephan, and I suspected this to be true, probiotics dont significantly change your gut bacteria, and they dont really have any effect at all.  Most of the bacteria get killed on the way to the large intestine, and the few that are left just dont make a dent in the billions of bacteria that are already there.  Ill be sure to look into this more in the future as well.

Maybe the best part of Stephans talk though... the opening.  "Hi, Im Stephan Guyenet, and Im not going to talk about carbs."  Loved it.


Lustig and His New Research
Dr. Robert Lustig gave one of the better talks at AHS as well, about sugar (as if he ever talks about anything else).  It was really great though.  Even though Ive seen his lecture Sugar: The Bitter Truth, and Ive seen his 60 Minutes special on sugar, I still learned something.  He discussed the danger of fructose overconsumption, per the usual, but one thing he stressed this time was that fructose is only toxic if it is consumed in the context of a hypercaloric diet.  Translation:  if youre in caloric balance, or caloric deficit, fructose doesnt exhibit the same dangerous effects on insulin sensitivity, weight gain, etc.  Only if you are overconsuming calories will it exhibit these toxic effects.  I had read this on Stephans blog as a criticism of Lustigs work, so I was happy to see Lustig evolve his information.  In a real life situation though, it seems as though many people who consume a lot of sugar would be in caloric excess, especially those who consume a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages.  High-sugar foods typically arent satiating and can lead to overconsumption.


Dr. Lustig also revealed some data on a new sugar/fructose/metabolic syndrome study that hes working on getting published.  He asked the audience not to take any pictures of his slides since this study isnt published yet, and as a result, I have no way of remembering any of the details.  However, he was very pleased with the results, and as you can guess, it made sugar look pretty shitty.  Cant wait for that one to be published.


Okay, thats it for this edition of my AHS review.  Ive still got much more to talk about, so come on back for part 3 tomorrow!

A group of researchers in Spain recently performed a meta-analysis, or a systematic review, of 29 studies that investigated metformins effectiveness when compared to other oral medications, insulin, or dietary changes.

They found metformin used as a single therapy was the best first-line treatment for controlling blood glucose long-term, especially for overweight patients.

Metformin (Brand name: Glucophage) was approved by the FDA for use in type 2 diabetes in December, 1994. A generic form became available in January 2002.

________
For a summary of the study:
Diabetes drug controls blood glucose, cardiac risk

For the study itself:
Published in The Cochrane Library, July 2005 (abstract only, subscription required for full article)
Metformin monotherapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus

As part of its 2010 dietary guidelines released on January 31, the USDA recommended that the average American eat approximately 4.5 cups of produce per day. Broken down a bit more, that’s 2.5 cups of vegetables, and 2 cups of fruit. In a study released days later by the USDA’s Economic Research Service, researchers concluded all 4.5 cups could be purchased for between $2 and $2.50 per day.

Reactions on one major food blog ranged from supportive (“[I] like that they are promoting the fact that eating healthy doesnt have to expensive.”) to skeptical (“Where the hell are they shopping?”) to outright critical (“God, the USDA is full of such bull****”).

While I think the ERS researchers are correct with their $2.50 number (more on that in a minute), some of the skepticism is merited, for three big reasons:

1. They used food prices from 2008. A certain economic meltdown makes those numbers highly suspect today.
2. Among the vegetables counted towards the $2.50 total are white potatoes and corn, starchy foods not exactly known for their vitamins and minerals. Also included is iceberg lettuce, which has the rough nutritional value of licking a rock.
3. Juice is counted as produce, though the USDA itself admits, “Although 100% fruit juice can be part of a healthful diet, it lacks dietary fiber and when consumed in excess can contribute extra calories.”

With that in mind, for the huge majority of us who don’t live in food deserts, is it still feasible to pay $2.50 for 4.5 cups of produce per day? How? And going one step further, is it possible to purchase a variety thereof? Because anyone can buy seven bananas for $2, but cramming in spinach, yams, berries, and pluots gets a little harder.

My answer to each question is a resounding, “Heck yeah, but you have to do some legwork, first.” To that end, here are some suggestions to keep costs down, and nutrition way, way up.

Buy in season and on sale. These two occurrences frequently coincide, since supermarkets have to move surpluses of in-season fruits and vegetables before they rot. So, pay attention to produce calendars, hunt for bargains at farmer’s markets, and look out for circular sales in larger grocery stores. To wit: I recently scored a 5-lb. bag of gigantic navel oranges (13 in all) for $4.97 at my local Foodtown. That’s $0.38 per orange, which comes out to more than 1 cup of fruit.

Buy whole. Not cut up, drenched in cheese, or (sorry) pulped into juice. Whole fruits and vegetables are almost always cheaper and higher in nutrients than those that have been doctored. The perfect example? The humble carrot. A pound of whole carrots at my old supermarket was $0.89. ($0.66 on sale.) A pound of baby carrots, which are actually regular-sized carrots run through a peeling/whacking machine, cost $1.50. Prep them anyway you like once you’re home, but buy ‘em big before then.

Buy generic, or with coupons if you can nail a better price. While this might not apply to fresh fruits and vegetables, generic frozen and canned produce is generally a big bargain. In studies, many shoppers cant tell the difference between house and name brands, and frequently, the foods are cut and packaged in the same buildings. HOWEVER: if you have dynamite coupons, or can pair coupons with sales, name brands could be the bigger bargain. Do the math and see where you end up.

Buy fresh or frozen first, then canned. Then juice, I guess. While the USDA claims there’s no consistent price advantage of one over the other, I find A) (tomatoes excepted) fresh and frozen produce tastes better than canned, B) fresh and frozen produce is often sold/frozen at the height of growing season, giving it a bigger nutritional impact, and C) canned mushrooms are the devil. (Seriously. You can tell a good pizza joint by whether or not their mushrooms are fresh.) As for dried fruits, try purchasing them in a bulk food store or ethnic market, since theyre ludicrously expensive in many big chains. If juice is a necessity (you have children, for example), buying 100% fruit juice is best, and even then, not if you have to sacrifice other means of packing in the produce.

Find a happy medium between big nutrition and big savings. Though tasty and inexpensive, potatoes are somewhat lacking in the nutrient department. On the flip side, berries are powerhouses of vitamins and minerals, but often prohibitively pricey. Don’t forgo either extreme entirely (since a world without blueberries isn’t a world worth living in), but concentrate most of your cash on the guys in the middle. Cruciferae, leafy greens, root vegetables, citrus fruits, stone fruits, and melons are among the many options, and compromise is the name of the game.

Buy from the secret bin. Shoppers will often shy away from lightly bruised fruit, slightly limp broccoli, or salad close to its sell-by date. Their loss becomes your gain, since supermarkets will sell these products at a steep discount. Hidden at the back of many grocery stores is that shelf, which can be summed up thusly: Looks Iffy, Tastes Fine.  Go to it. Learn it. Love it. (Of course, dont buy rotted produce from it. Thats silly.)

Buy from multiple markets if you can swing it. Supermarkets within the same general area will frequently offer competing deals to lure customers in the door. In my old neighborhood ("Back in St. Olaf…"), one store would offer a 3/$5 deal on berries, while the place down the street promoted stone fruit for $0.99/lb. Purchasing from both promised variety, as well as big savings. Even if theres not a second market near you, the occasional trip to Trader Joes or CostCo. (which rarely have sales, but keep their prices consistently reasonable), can mean more produce at a lesser cost.

Before you finish up this article with a, “Harrumph! I knew all this already, and I still can’t afford 4.5 cups of produce on $2.50 per day,” check out the edible cup equivalents in the ERS study. These numbers, averaged across the nation, probably figure more importantly than retail price per pound, since they don’t include inedible parts of produce (corn husks, plum pits, etc.). Here are some examples - mean costs per cup, according to their 2/11 study:


So, 4.5 cups - a cup each of kale, sweet potatoes, navel orange, and pears, plus a half-cup of tomatoes – can be purchased for a grand total of $2.16. As mentioned, these prices have probably gone up since 2008, but A) please note we still saved $0.34, and B) some caul shopping should net you much better deals.

Honestly, everything I just wrote/everything you need to know can be found in two documents, both of which merit further study:

• The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
• How Much Do Fruits and Vegetables Cost?

Readers, did I miss anything? Do you think its possible to get 4.5 cups of produce for $2.50 a day? Any tips? Let er rip.

~~~

If this article interested you, you might also enjoy:

• 10 Cheap Ways to Simplify Food Shopping
• The 10 Cheapest, Healthiest Foods Money Can Buy
• 10 Foods You Should Always Splurge On