health

This weekend was a great time to get dirty.  Many of you participated in the Market to Market ride from Hills Market to the North Market (or vice versa) and toughed it out through the rain and mud to celebrate local food.  Others of you (like me) also took the opportunity to get your seedlings into the ground and get your garden started. 

Being an apartment dweller I've had to find alternatives to the standard home vegetable garden.  I've been so impressed by the variety of options available to me.

My family has traveled a long road to be where we are now in our relationship with food.  Years ago my wife and I made a choice to eat in a more deliberate and health conscious way. We began this journey largely for the benefit of our oldest daughter, who is now eleven years old (wow, that’s scary). We’ve gone through many twists and turns in this journey we are on and just when you think you have arrived in life many times you find that you have to start anew. That is where we found ourselves recently; when we discovered that our family is susceptible to celiac disease. Celiac is a lifelong digestive disorder where people are susceptible to gluten, the protein found in many commonly used grains, such as wheat and barley to name a few.

Today's article in the New York Times ( "The Obesity-Hunger Paradox" ) explains that in many urban areas, hunger and obesity are not parallel problems, but "flip sides of the same malnutrition coin".  The paradox described in the article is that  very often the hungriest people are not underweight, but obese.

I must admit that I am by no means an avid Oprah Show watcher, and even at times become slightly annoyed with her many claims and "do this" shows that so many Americans seem to be mesmerized by.  She may not create my most favorite television show, but it is true that many people watch her religiously, and that she does have from time to time some helpful information.