A Look Back at 2015 Through Food Cartoons

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all having a nice holiday season. As 2015 comes to an end, I wanted to reflect on the year through the lens of ever-satirical New Yorker food cartoons 

The issue of Genetically Modified Organisms in food production drew mass attention this year. While amazing groups like Vani Hari's Food Babe Army worked hard this year to bring change, there is still a lot to be done. I loved this cartoon for how it poked fun at the whole issue. It was an interesting interpretation...

"Foodie": pretentious snob or thoughtful gastronomer? I'd like to go with the latter, but regardless, "foodie-ism" spread like wildfire this year, especially on platforms like Instagram with the growth of the "foodstagram" community.

These two cartoons made me laugh. I cut both of them out of the magazine and they now hang on my bulletin board above my desk. I hope they make you laugh too.

With the rise in popularity this year of raw-vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, non-G.M.O. diets makes this cartoon a very accurate picture of what it's like to eat in 2015. I know that when my family gets together, the cook must first create a venn diagram to figure out what dish could satisfy everyone's dietary restrictions and preferences. 

And finally, a cartoon so accurate that I might as well be that man. Darn avocados! So delicious, yet so elusive. Has an avocado ripeness timer been invented? If not, I think I've found my next project... 

Cheers to a year of much more!!

Thank you all,

Gourmanda

All images courtesy of TheNewYorker.com 

The Bugs in our Bellies

"Probiotic" is a word that I learned back in 2011.  I was interviewing a cheese saleswoman at the local farmers market and she was describing their camembert cheese as probiotic. "It's basically the opposite of an anti-biotic," she told ten-year-old me. "It's the good bacteria, not the bad bacteria."

credit: sandhyamanoj.com

Fast forward six years and I am a junior in high school studying the effect of probiotic bacteria on our diet and mood. I am part of the high school science research program and have read tons of studies and articles on how the bugs in our bellies can effect our overall health and mental state.

How did I get here? It seems as if the microbes in that delicious camembert cheese infected me. Ever since then stories of their (literally) mind-boggling properties have followed me and piqued my interest.

In 2012, one of my favorite podcasts, Radiolab, aired an episode dedicated to Guts. They orated on the discovery of digestion, interviewed a man who battled with his gut (actually a family friend, Jon Reiner), and, most intrguingly, chatted with researcher John Cryan of the University College Cork who explained how eating probiotics can decrease anxiety and depression in mice. This amazing research led to an outbreak of similar literature in the "psychobiology" world and is causing people to think twice about the significance of the bacteria in our bellies.

After my first exposure, I consumed article after article, presentation after presentation, and book after book about the role of our microbiota. 

credit: The New York Times

• "Our Microbiome May Be Looking Out for Itself" by Carl Zimmer
• "The Scientists Who Want to Fix America's Guts" by John Swansburg
• "Missing Microbes" by Martin Blaser
• "Mind-altering Microbes: How the Microbiome Effects Brain and Behavior" by Elaine Hsaio
• "Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?" by Peter Andrey Smith

And just recently, due to all the hype around this exciting area of science, The Museum of Natural History in New York opened an exhibit "The Secret World Inside You."

Here is an excerpt from the exhibit description: 

"Our bodies are home to approximately 100 trillion bacteria living inside us and on us—a vast community known as the microbiome. The Secret World Inside You explores the rapidly evolving science that is revealing the complexities of the human microbiome and reshaping our ideas about human health, offering new perspectives on common health problems including allergies, asthma, and obesity. "

So, how has all this research effected me? Well, I think my meals can speak for me. Today for breakfast I had homemade granola with greek yogurt, for lunch I ate sourdough bread sandwich with pickles, and with my dinner I drank plain kefir. 

Cheers to our microbiota!

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Gourmanda

Food for Thought: Bacon Causes Cancer

Did you guys see Time Magazine's feature article about the detrimental health effects of eating bacon and other processed food? If not, scoot on over to read it and then share your thoughts in the comments.

Vegetarians: Has an enemy been exposed?

Carnivores: Has a friend been offended?

Everyone else: What do you think? Would you change your eating habits based on scientific research, even if the food in question was a staple so strong that there are entire Facebook communities created around it?

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Gourmanda 

Working at the Farmers Market

Every Saturday morning, I wake up at 6:45am, throw on my green t-shirt, and head down to Pleasantville to intern at the farmers market.

I love waking up to work with a smiling staff of volunteers eager to make the market's environment as accommodating and lively as possible. As media intern, I post a weekly collage and video to Facebook to get patrons pumped about the market. I photograph the weekly splendorous harvest of corn, apples, cheese, bread rolls, fish, kale, etc., and use the photos in my weekly posts.

Working at the Pleasantville Farmers Market has taught me about what it means to run a non-profit, about the life of a farmer, about how to take the most yummy pictures, about how to change money, about how to set up a tent, the list goes on and on.

So if you're ever in Westchester County, stop by for a "delicious good time" at the best and biggest market around!!
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Gourmanda

Food Product to Try: Blue Hill Savory Yogurt

saveur.com

The first time I heard about Blue Hill's new savory yogurt, I knew I had to try it. The yogurt is your average joe yogurt, except for one thing, it's comes in sweet potato flavor!!

In recent years, the yogurt industry has gone bananas trying to reel in customers with every dessert-turned-yogurt flavor you can think of. Some examples from Yoplait include Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Red Velvet Cupcake, and Boston Cream Pie.

But the minds at the world famous farm-to-table restaurant Blue Hill (Dan Barber et al.) are going against the grain and flavoring their unconventional dairy products with root and vine vegetables.

I took a trip to my local Mrs. Greens and bought a cup of Sweet Potato flavored yogurt. I immediately spooned it into my mouth upon arriving home and was met with a slightly salty and umami taste that almost made me forget I was eating yogurt. But then I came to my senses and realized that I didnt like this non-sweet yogurt. I added a little honey and some walnuts and tried it again. Much better.

The verdict: Based on my taste analysis of one flavor, this yogurt would go great in sauces and marinades, but maybe not by itself. I blame it on my tastebuds's affinity for sweet-tasting yogurt. Definitely give a try, and let me know what you think!

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Gourmanda

Avoiding the word "vegetables" in commercials

The perception (and half-truth) of American children and their relationship with food is that they are processed food-ivores, and incapable of ingesting such victuals as (whispered) *vegetables.* This perception and taboo on vegetables is only furthered by recent commercials for Bush's Baked Beans and Progresso Soup.

Allow me to regale you with my grievances about these two commercials in epistolary format.


Dear Bush's Baked Beans,

Beans are legumes, not vegetables.

Sincerely, Informed Citizen

Dear Progresso Soup,

The actor that plays the father in your commercial pronounces "vegetables" in a way that makes me uncomfortable. He practiced it way too many times in front of the mirror.

Yours truly,
Uncomfortable Viewer

Dear Bush's Baked Beans,

The fact that there is twice as many grams of sugar than protein in your baked beans makes me sad.

Regards,
Disappointed Consumer

Here's the bottom line: I don't want to write these pathetic letters to these apparently uneducated companies. Reinforcing the idea that kids won't eat vegetables and thereafter replacing the fresh, whole veggies with canned beans and soup is doing nothing to help this sorry perception in our country.

source: progresso.com

So I'm asking you, informed citizen, uncomfortable viewer, and disappointed consumer, to not give in and to spread the word: "KIDS CAN LOVE VEGETABLES!"

We should all be advertising agents for Vegetables & Co., so children are not reduced to meek creatures who live on diets of "Brown Sugar Hickory" Baked Beans and "Chicken Cheese Enchilada Flavor" Soup.

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Gourmanda

Junk Food is Linked with Depression

http://havefunwithenglish.eklablog.com/

Hello everyone!

I read today a very interesting article on Time Magazine online about a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that shows a link between junk food and sugar consumption and depression. The findings make sense in that those who consume excess sugar and junk food are probably trying to compensate for sad feelings. I know when I'm feeling a little down, I like to eat a square of chocolate to perk up.  We should eat because we are hungry, not because we are sad. Taking a walk or run is a much more beneficial method to clear away depressing feelings, in the long term and short term. And if you choose to eat unhealthy foods while you are feeling glum, it will only perpetuate the habit and lead you to believe that junky sugary foods are associated with happiness. The bottom line is this: you are what you eat. If you eat foods that bad for you, you will experience a brief sugar high, but then return back to feeling bad. If you eat foods that are good for you, you will feel better and your body will thank you for it.

More to come!

Gourmanda

NYTimes Article: Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?

Happy Friday!! I can feel in my gut that you guys will enjoy this great article from this week's New York Times. :)

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Gourmanda

Listen to Hippocrates

“Let FOOD be thy MEDICINE and MEDICINE be thy FOOD.”

                                             ― Hippocrates

The Organic Effect

Hi!

I found this really cool video on one of my favorite website the other day that I'd like to share with all of you. It's called "The Organic Effect" and it follows a family and how their health changes after going organic! I urge you guys to share this video to anyone who is a nonbeliever in organic food - it really makes a difference! 

See you later!

Gourmanda

Consuming at Consumer Camp: The Cornell University Food and Brand Lab

Hello everyone!

Did you know that roasted crickets taste like popcorn?  

I sure didn't until I went to Consumer Camp at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, the premiere lab in the country for the study of food psychology. And no, food psychology is not analysis of the inner thoughts of broccoli and its opinion of kale. :) Food psychology is defined as the study of the behavior of consumers in relation to food. 

I got interested in food psychology through my high school's science research program. When I found out about the Food and Brand Lab's Consumer Camp, I was so excited, I had to go. And so, my family piled into the car and we headed up to Ithaca for a fun food-filled weekend. 

Me posing in front of a food mural

At the Consumer Camp, I got to participate in several experiments, including one that was studying consumers reactions in response to "extreme foods," with one end of the spectrum being fried Twinkies, and the other being crickets! I learned that distinguishing between strawberry yogurt and yogurt with chocolate sauce while blindfolded is harder than it seems, as was trying to pour a healthy-sized bowl of cereal and guess calorie amounts in cookies. I also got to listen to a lecture by the head of the lab himself, Dr. Brian Wansink. He talked about the simple changes that we can make to our environment to help us make healthier eating decisions without having to diet. I strongly recommend his new book Slim By Design. It has tons of helpful healthy eating tips and compelling insights about an eating environment's role in our eating behavior.

All in all it was a great weekend and I am looking forward to possibly studying with them in the future!

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Gourmanda

I'm Vegetarian!

Hello folks! I have exciting news: I've decided to go Vegetarian!

This decision has been coming for a long time now, but it wasn't until this Tuesday that I went cold turkey (haha, food puns!) and stopped eating meat. You're probably wondering what caused me to ditch meat. I can't pinpoint one traumatizing experience or defining moment, it was more like a culmination of a lot of instances of being exposed to the disgusting machine our food industry has turned into through articles, documentaries and word-of-mouth. And what sent me over the edge was that one final day of being bombarded with all news and facts and statistics about the unsustainable practice of large-scale meat production and how this malpractice is affecting the environment and our health. When you're as in touch with food news as I am, its hard to avoid all of the facts, and I've come to the point where I can't ignore them anymore. It comes down to this: I cant be confident in the healthfulness and safeness of the practices that go into raising, slaughtering, and processing livestock in our country, so I must rule meat out altogether.

*The only thing that I am making an exception for is crickets or any other bug because crickets are raised using sustainable methods, and they are a great source of protein!*

So I'm turning over a new leaf and tearing open a fresh new package of herbivorism! And so far -although it hasn't been that long -  vegetarianism has been surprisingly easy! Prior to Wednesday I hadn't been eating that much meat anyway (besides chicken), so it has been a pretty smooth transition.

I'm excited to embark on this journey because it's a chance to be creative and to discover new foods and recipes. I've been searching Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration and have recruited my vegan (ex-vegetarian) friend to coach me. If you guys have any advice please tell me in the comments or via Instagram!

Thank you for your support! It's time for a new chapter!

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Gourmanda

MARTHA'S VINEYARD - The greatest place in the world!

I just got back from my happy place.

And I was sad to leave my happy place because I had a wonderful time. Especially because my happy place is a beautiful island with friendly people, gorgeous scenery, and 41 farms within 90 square miles. My family and I have been vacationing in Martha's Vineyard since before I can remember. It's our family tradition to go every summer, with our car stuffed full with beach toys and flip flops and bathing suits.  Which is why my whole family was so upset when we realized that we couldn't go this summer because of our pre-planned trip to España. So, we decided to go over spring break to make up for the summer trip loss. And even though the weather was a bit chilly and we didn't get to go swimming in the sound, we had an excellent time, and I will tell you all about it through the story of our meals.

Day 1 - March 30th 1:00 PM
We drive off the ferry and the vacation officially starts. I roll down my window to try to sniff out the

Art Cliff!

smell of fresh fish coming off fishing boats. Our first destination is Art Cliff, our absolute favorite breakfast restaurant located in Vineyard Haven. The reason for it's #1 spot? Their decadent, sweet and incredibly chocolatey chocolate pancakes. They are the best chocolate pancakes I have ever eaten. And we're not their only fans. The place is usually hopping by 9:00, so you have to get there early if you want to be seated. But when we pulled into deserted parking lot, we discovered that our favorite breakfast place was closed for the season and that we would have to forego our dreams of oozing chocolatey pancakes. Disappointment was to become a recurring theme as we found out that many restaurants were not open year round. Martha's Vineyard gets most of it's business from summer vacationers; with a winter population of 15, 000 and a summer population of 115, 000. Which explains why many restaurants and downtown businesses weren't open.

Lunch - Linda Jean's
So it was off to Oak Bluffs to Linda Jean's for lunch. We had never been to Linda Jeans, a modest American-style diner, and we were pleasantly surprised. I got a strawberry spinach salad with nuts and feta cheese. It was a fine salad. Enough to fill me up, but not enough to fill the gaping hope left by chocolate pancake cravings! :(

Dinner - Martha's Vineyard Chowder Co. 

I was very excited for dinner because the last time we dined at Martha's Vineyard Chowder Co., everything (including the chowder!) was delicious. I ordered the lobster roll and a side of asparagus and my brother and I shared the lava cake for dessert. My lobster roll was insanely good. It was the best lobster roll I have ever had. The roll was toasted and buttery, substantial and not sagging under the weight of the lobster - which is a very important quality! The lobster was obviously fresh, bright red and buttery and chewy and SO YUMMY! Of course I Instagrammed it (see right) so that all of you could share in my seafood euphoria. The asparagus was also obviously fresh, probably picked that morning from one of many island farms harvesting the spring vegetable, and roasted to perfection. And the lava cake, let's just say the plate was cleaned verrry quickly. ;)

Day 2 - March 31st
Breakfast - Nat's Nook
My brother takes the credit of finding the next morning's breakfast destination. He is a bit obsessed with Yelp, and loves to find new restaurants for us to go to. This gets slightly annoying when he gets fixated on going to a certain restaurant, but I can forgive him for his annoyingness because he found this great little place. Nat's Nook is exactly what it's called - a little nook within walking distance of our hotel (bonus points!!) To our delight we found out that they serve crêpes, really good ones too, and they serve coffee in mason jars! So hipster! The ambiance was really nice too - there were quotes from famous writers all over the walls and book shelves right next to our table containing a myriad of books! I guess it was what you call a "Writer's Café" so, a place that I would really like! I got a yummy crêpe filled with yogurt, strawberries, and bananas and drizzled with honey.

Lunch - The Scottish Bakehouse
The Scottish Bakehouse is by far my favorite place to eat on the vineyard. It is a small take-out or take-out-to-the-picnic-tables-in-the-front place where they have many healthy options for every meal diet - vegetarian, paleo, vegan, etc.!  One of my family's must-haves is their Curry Chicken Salad which we shared, and I ordered noodles with veggies covered in peanut sauce. It was SO GOOD! Their food nicely complements their ambiance - a very laid-back hipster feel; i.e. the cashier always is wearing a headscarf or has more than three piercings. I also love "Scottish" as we call it, because I associate it with the beach. Our usual summer routine consists of hitting Scottish for some take-out sandwiches and dips and salads to eat for lunch on the beach. All of this to say: This place is amazing and if you are a first-time Vineyarder, you definitely need to go here.

Dinner - The Newes from America
I am going to summarize this eating experience by this piece of advice: don't order a veggie burger from a place that looks like a cross between a pub and the captains quarters on a pirate ship.

Day 3 - April 1st
Dinner - Lucky Hank's
We spent the whole day bike riding all over the island, so the only real and noteworthy meal that we

Farm Share dinner <3

had was dinner. And boy was it good. Kudos to my brother again for his Yelp-searching skills because he found another awesome place that we had never been to. If you are fortunate enough to go to Lucky Hank's in the evening, the crushed-shell path is lined with lovely twinkly lights that leads you right to the front door. The whole place oozes Vineyard. Once we sat down, our drinks (yes, even my parent's wine) were poured into mason jars (It's a trend! Mason jar madness!!!) and our appetizers were served on blue ceramic plates from our friend Geoffrey's pottery business Chilmark Pottery. There were paintings by local artists for sale on the walls, and the booth side of the restaurant was decked out in cozy patterned pillows. I got the Farm Share, which consisted of sautéed carrots and collard greens (yum) mashed sweet potatoes with toasted pecans (yummy) and beet risotto topped with crumbled feta cheese (yummiest!). It was reminiscent of a Dan Barber concoction I read about in his book The Third Plate - a carrot steak drizzled with meat sauce. Why let meat have all the fun? Vegetables can be just as charismatic - if not more - if prepared properly. And this dish was executed perfectly.

Matcha tea and hot grain cereal

Day 4 - April 2nd Last Day! :(
Breakfast - Little House Café
Another find by my brother, Little House Café was another success. I tried matcha green tea for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised by its grassy taste and vibrant color. It was a little much on its own, but with the amazing hot grain cereal I ordered, it counteracted the sweetness of the honey perfectly! The cereal was a mix of three grains: amaranth, red quinoa, and brown rice and topped with banana slices it was phenomenal! I want to recreate it so I can eat it for breakfast everyday!

Lunch - Slice of Life
On the last meal of our trip I got a whole wheat wrap with shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, and other vegetables. It was a yummy end to a delicious vacation!

It seems that I learn something new every time I interact with food - whether its at the farmers market, supermarket, or restaurant - and on this trip I relearned something that Girl Scouts taught me many years ago (Friends being restaurants): "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."

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Gourmanda

"Inglorius Fruits and Vegetables" - The Ingenius Way Intermarché is combatting food waste

Team FNV

On March 7th I watched the livestream of the TEDx Manhattan "Changing the Way We Eat" event. There were so many incredible speakers, I wish I was able to attend. I learned so many new things, was inspired by chefs, activists, and foodies, and my tummy started to rumble half-way through.

Although there were tons of outstanding ideas shared, one new campaign that really excited me was one that Deb Eschmeyer, White House Executive Director of Let’s Move! and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy,  announced. It is called "Team FNV" and it is an ad campaign to promote fruits and vegetables because, "marketing works: celebrity-laden ads, billboards, you name it, they work." 

Here is a scary statistic: 98% of food related ads that children view (3,920 per year) are for products high in fat, sugar, sodium. If you think about it, there are no commercials for watermelon, or celery, or any fruits and vegetables. Just sugar cereal, sugary yogurt, and of course fast food. You'd think that advertising healthy foods isn't necessary, that people have enough common sense to consume what is obviously better for their bodies, but the stats state otherwise, and as obesity rates climb, it becomes apparent that if advertising is playing a role, it needs to be used for good, not evil. 

Would you buy more carrots if TSwifty endorsed them? I think yes

I first heard the idea of promoting healthier eating to kids from one of my favorite movies, Fed Up. Producers Laurie David and Katie Couric proposed an ad campaign targeting kids, but instead of promoting sugary, fattening fast food, they would advertise fruits and vegetables. I loved this idea, and found it to be a great way to get more kids to eat their fruits and veggies, so when I found out that it was becoming a reality, I was ecstatic!

I would give kudos to Hidden Valley Ranch because they have been promoting vegetable eating to kids for years, except that they're owned by the same company that makes Clorox, their dressing contains 15 total grams of fat, and they are not promoting veggies as much as their product. 


But anyway, back to Team FNV. They have already recruited an all-star cast of celebrities (sorry, no Taylor Swift yet) and have started to release video promos, but their real launch is yet to come. Even so, support this movement! Check out their awesome website and this great video!

More yummy things coming your way!
Gourmanda

An Open Letter to McDonalds + 2 Videos

Somehow I missed this new commercial from McDonalds when it came in January. Now that I have seen it, I need to rant about it, in letter form. First, watch it here, then continue reading.

Dear McDonalds,

I will start off with a compliment (but it all goes downhill from here), the term "Gastronauts" is genius. Okay, onward. First of all, do you care about the state of our country? Obviously you don't because you keep shoving burgers and fries and sodas into the hands of already overweight Americans. But still, do you care even the slightest bit? Because if you do, then you wouldn't diss Vegetarians and foodies at the outset of your commercial. You just lost about a 1/4 of the country; people who could've been potential customers. Although I doubt such people more educated about their food than all of your employees combined would choose to eat at your grotesque establishment.

Lettuce, you wish you were kale!

Second, what do you have against soy, or quinoa, or greek yogurt, or kale??? You are definitely just jealous because they are more popular and healthy foods than your menu items will ever be.

Third, you outrightly say that your burger is massive! You say it is massive! Do you think that makes it more appetizing or appealing? Because it doesn't!! I don't know anyone that wants to try to stuff a giant double decker sandwich of meat and bread into their mouth. Ew.

Fourth, foodies and vegetarians do not all have big egos. That is a stereotype that needs to be killed now. And even if we did, we are entitled to be egotistic because every time we put something in our mouths, we are making a smarter decision than any customers of your restaurant.

And finally, that sassy little, "bada-bap-ba-baaaa" at the end of your commercial was uncalled for. UNCALLED FOR. And the fact that you end with rainbow hearts after basically insulting the entire community of mindful eaters is ironic to the extreme.

I hope you seriously consider all that I have just brought to your attention. The food mindset of America is changing. People want to eat healthier. And healthier is not you.

Sincerely,
Gourmanda

And now watch this glorious video clip from the Daily Show (I love Jon Stewart. I will miss him so much when he leaves the show.)

And this awesome ad campaign by Only Organic which I honestly thought was a McDonald's campaign at first. You go Only Organic!!

And that is it for my rant today. I'll leave you with this tidbit of wisdom that I cannot take credit for:

Every time we eat, we vote with out forks.

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Gourmanda

Kuli Kuli is really Kool!

Hi guys!!!

Their logo

I was just surfing around on one of my favorite websites, TakePart.com, when I came across a story about a new superfood called "Moringa." It is an extremely nutritious plant that grows naturally in Africa and all over the world that company Kuli Kuli Foods is turning into nutrition bars and powder to be sold on the national market. If you guys want to be ahead of the latest food trend, or maybe just want to try something new, check Kuli Kuli out! They have a really interesting story and an even more interesting product.

Happy Saturday!

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Gourmanda

Fed Up with being Skinny Fat!

On March 10 TIME Magazine published a story titled "The Hidden Dangers of ‘Skinny Fat’" I was elated that this issue was written about in such a widely circulated publication because I have been concerned about it ever since seeing the movie "Fed Up" this past summer. 

I wrote my own article about the "Skinny Fat" phenomenon back in October in which I conducted an informal survey of students at my school. I asked them the question: "Health experts are now in agreement that which of the following is the leading factor causing obesity: fat or sugar?" Most answered sugar, but 1/4 of those polled answered fat. 

I love the video that TIME created explaining how avoiding fat over the years has made us fat. It elucidates the science behind fat and fat storage and whether or not we should still be avoiding it.

Below is the story that I wrote for my school newspaper. Bon appetit!

Are you 'Skinny Fat'?

Do you pile ketchup onto your hamburger, eat your yogurt out of a tube, or wash down every meal with a can of soda? Do you seek foods labeled “low-fat” because you think they’re healthier? Are you skinny-fat?

Over the past decade, we have been force-fed contradictory news headlines advising us on the “right” way to eat: “Eat a Low-Carb and Low-Fat Diet,” “Eat Butter,” “Use Sugar to Enhance Diet.” From all these mixed messages, it’s no wonder we’re confused. This past July, the documentary Fed Up served as a wake up call for Americans, revealing that since the 1970s, the sugar industry has been serving us a super-sized portion of false information− including that sugar is a leading factor in the obesity epidemic.

A study published this past February in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, “More than one-third of adults and 17% of youth in the United States are obese.” Think about that. In our country, 12.7 million kids in our age group (2-19), and more than twice that amount of adults, are obese.  

Here’s another frightening fact. You can be skinny and obese − skinny-fat − and not know it. There are two medical terms for skinny-fat. The first is MONW, which, according to Dr. Mark Hyman, practicing physician and contributor to Fed Up, stands for “metabolically obese normal weight.” The other commonly used term to describe this case is Tofi, or “thin outside, fat inside.” When you consume added sugar, it turns into fat, which is stored all throughout your body − not just in your stomach.

And when they say sugar, they don’t just mean a candy bar. Common foods like tomato sauce, peanut butter, cereal− and possibly the biggest offender, soda − all contain dangerous amounts of sugar, or more than the recommended daily allowance of 6-9 teaspoons. But have you noticed that this allowance isn’t included on the nutrition labels? Surprisingly, there are percentages present for every single ingredient except sugar.

Another misconception is that fat is the main culprit causing obesity, so you should eat foods labeled “low-fat.”  However, when you see products in the supermarket marked “low-fat,” it is almost always synonymous with “high sugar”− a larger health issue.

The only real way to know if you are skinny-fat is to get a MRI body scan that displays your personal percentage of body fat. In Fed Up, the brothers of an obese teenage boy were scanned. Although they appeared skinny, they still had an unhealthy amount of body fat, or more than 10-20%.

Given the evidence showing a relationship between a high-sugar diet and poor health, I asked Greeley’s health teacher, Nancy Becerra, if she thought we are doing enough to inform kids about the danger of sugar. She said, “We are definitely not doing enough. If I could have a semester to only teach nutrition, I think it would make a big difference.” We also discussed whether she thought that the eating habits of Greeley students are generally healthy or unhealthy. Ms. Becerra believes they are unhealthy, commenting, “First, kids are eating on the run. Second, they are not eating breakfast, making it harder to focus in class. And finally, kids are not eating enough homemade food.”

With the help of Ms. Becerra, I conducted my own survey to test how informed my fellow Greeley students are when it comes to the harmful effects of sugar.  When asked, “Health experts are now in agreement that which of the following is the leading factor causing obesity: fat or sugar?” approximately 75% of students asked selected sugar, but 25% thought it was fat. The fact is, we can all do more to educate ourselves on sugar’s detrimental health effects. If we don’t take action, even more Americans will suffer from heart disease in the near future.

Fed Up challenges its viewers to a 10 day no-sugar challenge. In light of this, I propose a 10-day soda ban in and out of school. What do you say? Are you fed up?

Thanks for reading! If you liked my article, please share it and also comment whether or not you believe that you or a loved one is "Skinny Fat."

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Gourmanda

Eating Nuts to Prevent Nut Allergies? Nuts!!

I wanted to share with you an interesting study that came out very recently. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and it tested to see if exposing at-risk infants still in the womb to peanut protein would prevent children from further developing an allergy. The researchers found that it indeed did work for most participants. Babies who were very likely to later develop an allergy to peanuts, did not after being exposed to it very early!

Although I am not allergic to peanuts, I know many people who are and many future people who will be greatly impacted by the findings of this study. Everyone should be able to enjoy the deliciousness that is peanuts and peanut butter and all peanut products!!

You can read the official study here.

To see the article in TIME Magazine about it, click here.

My podcast debut: a dream come true

Hi guys!!

I'm am thrilled to announce that I had the privilege to contribute my voice to the latest Gastropod podcast "Extreme Salads and Crazy Potatoes." If you guys are regular readers you probably know by now that I absolutely LOVE Gastropod and being able to open their latest episode is a dream come true! You can listen to it here: http://gastropod.com/extreme-salad-and-crazy-potatoes/

I am also pleased to announce that the Week of Lunchie is going really well! Keep liking (voting on) those Instagram photos and I might extend it to the Month of Lunchie! :)

Please stay warm everyone! If you need some help with that, here is a great list of awesome hot chocolate recipes: http://www.buzzfeed.com/chelseypippin/22-hot-chocolate-recipes-to-get-you-through-winter (btw, I tried the peanut butter one and it wasn't as great as it sounded :( )

More,

Gourmanda

Meet Lunchie! + Kickoff of "A week of Lunchies!"

For a while now I have been meaning to post about my dear friend Lunchie and now the time has come! As you may have suspected, Lunchie is my lunch box. I know, I know I'm weird for naming my lunch box, but Lunchie is such an important part of my life that I felt it deserved a name.

I bought Lunchie at Target last summer because I was starting to really get into the idea of making my own lunch to bring to school. Not that we don't have an amazing variety of foods to choose from at my high school cafeteria, but I prefer to make my own lunch. It's just more fun!

I was inspired by a video that Bethany Mota (of Youtube and Dancing with the Stars fame) made called "Healthy Back to School Lunches + After School snack ideas!" which by now I have watched maybe ten times. I loved the Rubbermaid lunch containers that she had in the video, so when I saw them at Target I bought them and the rest is history!

I make my lunch every school night right after dinner. The same time I make my Overnight Oats. I love  making my lunch and breakfast because it makes me feel more organized and in control. A common internal dialogue that I have is: "I may not have known that a project was due on Tuesday, but at least I don't have to buy lunch!" 

The reason I love to make my lunch is the reason that I like to cook in general, because you can be creative! For me, cooking isn't about perfection, it's about experimentation and trying new things. I love  creating fun lunches for myself because then I have something to look forward to during the school day. 

So what do I actually pack for myself? My classic Lunchie consists of an almond butter and banana sandwich on wheat bread sometimes sprinkled with sunflower seeds or chia, sliced apples, carrots and hummus. But my lunch typically varies from day to day. 

An image from the movie "The Lunchbox"

In light of talking about lunch, I recently watched a movie called "The Lunchbox" about the system of "Dabbas" (lunch boxes) in India and how they have an amazing delivery system that delivers lunch to working men and women all over India! It was a great movie, it made me have serious cravings for Indian food and really want the cylindrical lunchbox that they showed in the movie. Look at the picture! How cool is that?! 

I think I just really like movies about Indian food. For my birthday this year I ordered in Indian food from one of my favorite local restaurants Little Kabab Station and then my friends, family and I went to see the movie "The Hundred Foot Journey" which was excellent. 

Anyway, I digress. So the purpose of telling you about Lunchie was so I could kick of a week-long Instagram event in which I post everyday this week what I pack for lunch so you guys can get a taste (haha, food puns) of what I bring for lunch everyday and maybe I can inspire you guys, if you don't already, to start packing your own luck, because it is a great habit to have. And if this week goes well, maybe I will extend it to a month-long event!

At the end of the week, I want to know which lunch you liked the best! Vote by liking my pictures on Instagram and the one with the most likes, wins!

Get ready for a fun week of awesome lunches!

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Gourmanda

Overnight Oats: the solution to your breakfast quandaries

What is the most important meal of the day?

This is a question that causes serious debate in my house, so I would like to know, what meal do you value most?

Of course there is the old saying "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" which I think is great marketing by the breakfast people. But is breakfast all it's cracked up to be? According to the "Breakfast of Champions" podcast from my fav Gastropod, breakfast isn't really "the most important," although that doesn't mean you should skip it. Instead, opt for a quick, portable breakfast that you can make ahead for an easy breezy morning. My absolute favorite recipe for this is Overnight Oats. I love it because it is super quick, easy, healthy, and very customizable! See a quick little recipe below:

Overnight Oats

A drawing I did of my oat jar :)

1/2 cup of rolled oats

Almond milk (or any kind of milk you prefer)

Fruit (this can be dried, frozen, or fresh)

Nuts: peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax, pecans, etc. 

Honey or agave nectar (optional, I usually leave it out. Remember: all sugar is processed the same way!)

Almond butter (or any nut butter) 

1. Layer all dry ingredients into a jar. I prefer this order: oats, nuts, fruit, almond butter. 

2. Drizzle honey over the top (again, optional). 

3. Pour in the milk so that it covers the oats on the bottom of the jar. I estimate this step, usually I pour until it looks like all the oats are covered. You dont want too much milk or not enough. 

4. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy the next morning with a spoon! The oats will have absorbed the milk and become soft and creamy. 

I'm telling you this only takes 5 minutes. I make it right after I eat dinner every night so I don't forget, and it saves so much time in the morning. Because when you're trying to make the bus, every minute counts!

If you guys try this recipe, which I urge you to do, then let me know how it turns out! Comment below or post your delicious creation on Instagram and tag my account @gourmanda_ and I just might repost it!!

Oh, I almost forgot, HAPPY MARCH!!

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Gourmanda

Cricket Flour Pancake Recipe!

Hello and Happy Presidents Day to everyone reading this!

Today I will be revealing the recipe for my delicious cricket flour pancakes as requested by Aspire Food Group on Twitter! Get excited!!

But first I would like to share with you a cartoon from this week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, it made me laugh so hard! Here it is:

New Yorker cartoon by Will McPhail

Isn't that hilarious? All right, now to the recipe!

This recipe is actually a combination of two pancake recipes, one from Bitty Foods and the other from the amazing cookbook The Family Cooks by Laurie David which I HIGHLY recommend that you all purchase!

Decadent Cricket Flour Oat Pancakes

A heart-shaped blueberry batch that I made for Valentines Day

Yields: 10 (5-inch) pancakes

11/2 cups of milk (can be cow, goat, almond, soy...)

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

11/2 cups of cricket flour

1/12 cups of rolled oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

coconut oil (for the pan)

Optional: Add-ins like banana slices, blueberries, nuts, or chocolate chips

1. Blend the oats in a blender until desired grain size is reached, I prefer finer grains, but whatever floats your boat! Combine oats in a bowl with the milk, eggs, maple syrup, cricket flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and mix in an electric mixer until smooth. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes to let it thicken. 

2. At this time if you wanted to add anything in, mix in your fruit or nuts now!

3. Melt the coconut oil in the pan and let it heat up before spooning in your batter. Keep in mind that these pancakes are thick and that you will need to spread the batter around the pan in order to achieve a flat pancake.  Because these pancakes are thicker, they will need to cook for longer so cook and flip until both sides and edges are golden brown.

4. Serve with whatever fixings you want! I like to add clementine slices, banana slices, walnuts, ground cinnamon, and a spoonful of almond butter to top off my stack.

I just recently made a large batch of these pancakes and I have enough to have pancakes for breakfast for the rest of the week! Woohoo!!!

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe! Let me know how they turn out in the comments or you can show me via Instagram post with the hashtag #gourmandacricketpancakes. I want to see your beautiful stacks and I will repost all of your photos to my account @gourmanda_

Have a great Presidents Day!

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Gourmanda

Jiminy Cricket!

Last Sunday I ate bugs for the first time.

No they were not crunchy or bitter, salty or squishy. They were actually quite delicious! This probably was due to the fact that I was eating pancakes made from cricket flour (see previous post about crickets!), and not whole bugs, which I do plan on doing. In fact, if I was unaware of the fact that I was eating insects, I would not have known the difference!

I made cinnamon cricket pancakes with bananas, topped with almond butter more bananas, and almonds. They were sweet and savory, fluffy and nutty, a perfect weekend-morning pancake! I really feel that insects are the new frontier for American cuisine and that I am a pioneer by being the first to try it out.

That is why it was crazy when on last Thursday evening, I received an email from someone I admire very much. Cynthia Graber of the new podcast on the science and history of food, Gastropod, replied to an email that I had sent for Gastropod's giveaway to the first four emailers of cricket treats from Aspire Food Group. She said that she and Nicola (her co-host) had already chosen four lucky listeners, but that they had contacted Aspire and agreed to send a gift basket to me as well!! I will be honest here, I was so happy when I heard this that I collapsed on the floor of my kitchen and started to cry. Oh, teenagers! :) If by any chance Cynthia or Nicola are reading this, I would like to thank you again! I am so excited to receive my gift basket and will share my review of it on this blog.

Whew! So that is where we are in my adventures with crickets, stay tuned to learn what becomes of me after I O.D. on bugs and I will also tell you more about Gastropod and how much I love it!

As always,

More,
Gourmanda

My New Obsessions!

Hi foodies!

Here is just a mini post to tell you about my new food obsessions! If you follow me on Instagram (@gourmanda_) they you may already know about these, but if not, keep reading!

1. Dried Figs
The other day here on the east coast, we were all scared out of our minds by meteorologists and newscasters about the big "Blizzard of 2015." In preparation for said blizzard my brother and father were sent on a shopping excursion to Stew Leonards to stock up on storm goodies and non-perishables. When they came home, they had to take four trips from the car to carry in all the bags. I will guesstimate that there were around 40 bags covering our dining table and kitchen island and flooding the floor. It was insane. Why am I telling you this? Well, one of those 40 some-odd bags contained a bag of dried figs, which I discovered a day later in the nut and dried fruit drawer. I had seen plenty of pictures of fresh figs on Instagram, and heard the claims to their juiciness and yumminess. So I prepared some toast with goat cheese, sunflower seeds and figs for myself. Oh yes, figs are heavenly. And sweet. And delicious. I cannot wait until I can get my hands on some fresh ones, but for now I am perfectly content with my sun-dried version.

2. Tazo Chai Tea
As you readers may or may not know, I love to write! I am part of a wonderful writing program called Writopia in which you are mentored by a published writer and you get to write whatever you want! Sounds like heaven, right? Well it is. And as part of the program you get to go on trips, usually to Manhattan, to participate in events like reading poetry in a club (so cool!) or getting to go to a publishing house and learn about the publishing process. Well on this trip we went to go listen to Young Adult authors read and talk about their newly published books. On the way there we passed one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Max Brenner's and I insisted that we go in. I ordered a chocolate syringe (it's exactly what it sounds like) and my friend Kaley ordered Chocolate Chai tea. now I had heard about chai tea before, and since my vacation to California in 2013 in which I had a sore throat the whole time and ordered tea with honey and lemon at every restaurant, I was becoming an amateur tea drinker. Of course we tasted each others orders and hers was very yummy. Fast forward several months later and Tazo Chai Tea is a main stay in my day-to-day diet.

If you guys love dried figs and chai tea too, let me know! Or if you've never tasted either, let me know that too! What are your present food obsessions? Comment them beloooow!

More to come!
Gourmanda