Balance of Food

Oprah shows a road to being vegan, but there are multiple paths

About a year ago, when Oprah Winfrey had Michael Pollan on her show, Winfrey also had Alicia Silverstone on extolling the virtues of a vegan lifestyle.

Oprah must have been rather impressed with what Silverstone said because she issued a challenge that finished one week ago for herself and 378 staffers to go vegan for a week.

Most people don't have their boss force a significant eating change on them, but if you work for Oprah Winfrey, you can't be surprised when it happens.

Now, it has been a week since those staffers — and Oprah — went vegan for a week. Some went longer than a week, but most stopped at 7 days.

Of the 378 staffers, 300 were successful. And even the other 78 learned a lot from the experience.

Now, going vegetarian — even for a week — would be a challenge for most Americans. Going vegan, well, good luck.

Going vegetarian for a day is seen as easily attainable, thanks to programs such as Meatless Monday. Going vegetarian accidentally for a day without being aware is actually possible.

Yesterday's Jeopardy had a whole column on vegetarian options — "Don't have a cow, man." "What are lettuce, tofu, (fakin') bacon, soy, and portabello (mushroom)?"

Going vegan does feel like the thought of riding a motorcycle when your bicycle still has training wheels.

The outside of the rules are simple: eat vegetables, fruits, and grains while avoiding meat. The tricky part is the new stuff: butter, cheese, eggs, even gelatin is off limits.

Quinoa, beans, peanut butter, whole grain pasta — there are plenty of sources of protein that don't involve animals. But being vegan means a lot more forethought to finding the food supply that fits this lifestyle. Being omnivores requires much less work.

The pressure of having to go on national TV and admit that you "failed" would put pressure on you to give it a good try. Those in real life don't have those pressures nor do they get the benefit from having that pressure.

Silverstone's story didn't speak about the cruelty to animals; her concerns were about health and personal energy, both of which improved for her after going vegan.

But Silverstone shrugged off the ease in transitioning to being a vegan. This was a life lesson opportunity — a teaching moment — that was lost.

Why won't most people try being a vegan — even for a week? A lack of knowledge and a fear of failure. Oprah and her 378 staffers have a great story after having gone vegan for a week.

That story isn't necessarily that they succeeded or even that they loved it. Their best stories will be the point of temptation, and yes, even a few failures.

Making changes to your eating habits is one of the most difficult transitions to make. Unlike heroin and cigarettes, you still have to eat food every day.

Did Oprah and her staffers try eating more vegetables or did they use seitan, tofu, and other non-animal sources of protein? Did they accidentally consume an animal product? What was the hardest part of the experience? What was your worst temptation? Did you feel better? Healthier?

We got a little bit of that, but would love to have seen more struggles.

And for those who criticized the show for emphasizing fake meat over adding more vegetables, well, that bandwagon needs a few more floats to hold all the people who agree with that assessment.

Being vegan or vegetarian doesn't have to be the answer, and there are many good ways to go about that, should you make that decision. And the prestige of a national show draws needed attention to different options.

Just don't feel the need to do it because Oprah said so, and don't think the way on her show is the only way to make changes.

Jon Stewart, Spaghetti O's, and the food safety bill

We have talked a lot about how Stephen Colbert is a champion of food reform. And you might think we left Jon Stewart out of the equation.

Well, we have because while Stewart is also a champion of food reform, he hasn't done much lately. When was the last time you saw Stewart with pancake and sausage on a stick or baconnaise or the two together at once?

But Stewart did step up on Wednesday with his take on the food safety bill. And you won't be disappointed to find that there are several food props, including hot dogs and Spaghetti O's.

Stewart's take was thorough — from the list of foods that had been recalled in the last few years to Tom Coburn's rantings on the Senate floor to the potential "blue slip" that may endanger the bill due to the Senate's putting in revenue sources.

There was even some Glenn Beck sightings in the montages. Glenn Beck is none too happy we have a FDA in the first place. Clearly, Glenn Beck has never read "The Jungle."

In Glenn Beck's words about the food safety bill: "They control your food. They control you ... This is about control, and in the end, starvation."

Don't worry, Glenn, we won't starve. We just want safer food. This bill — if it passes — will help a lot, but it won't cure everything. And there will still be plenty of food, albeit safer, for Glenn Beck.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010 from Balance of Food

Hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with good food and great company. We are taking the day off and there will be no podcast on Friday.

If you are reading this while hiding from the family, and you need something to read, check out the back list of columns, essays, and podcasts. Tuesday's look at the true definition of cheese is worth a read. The exclusive with Nigella Lawson was really insightful. And for something lighter, there is the question of what would be your ultimate fantasy league sandwich.

Also, check out the Twitter feed with links to cool stories. This would be a great time to follow the Balance of Food Twitter feed if you aren't already doing so. We will be back on Monday with more columns.

Nigella Lawson shares her insights on her kitchen up close

"Anything out of a bowl is more comforting than anything out of a plate."

Nigella Lawson has made a reputation for going off the beaten path for TV chefs. And she did not disappoint at a book signing last night in a northern suburb of Chicago.

Watching TV chefs on TV, you might wonder how they behave outside the screen in your living room. From every indication, Nigella Lawson is one and the same.

Lawson was there to promote her book, "Nigella's Kitchen." Fans were just as eager to have their pictures taken with her as to have her sign their books.

Though on the book tour, Nigella is eating in a lot of restaurants and minibars, she emphasizes that home cooking is real food, "the sort of food that comes out of my kitchen."

As part of her personality/TV personna, Nigella did note that she had a hot dog on the way over to the signing, and had an occasional Pringles moment out of the minibar. she said that sometimes a meal has to be a not-so-great room service sandwich.

Too often, the world of TV chefs is portrayed as fantasy ideal. Seeing a more realistic portrayal of life come from such an icon was rather endearing.

Even though Lawson lives this TV life, she is ready for the quick satisfying meal once you are home. The easiest meal for her is a roast chicken with lemon and butter. She also talked her way through a recipe for lamb cutlets and a mint sauce. As she was going through the roast chicken recipe, I recalled the episode where she described that particular dish. Not that she matched it word for word, but it sounded right.

Nigella has three children, one by marriage, so I asked her about how she handles school lunches, a popular topic on this side of the pond.

She said it was "absolutely impossible to get enough calories for a growing boy" without having some form of carbohydrates. Nigella says she refuses to make packed lunches for her kids, encouraging them to eat what others are eating.

Lawson did make homemade soup, but found that the food wasn't always eaten. She did say that school lunches would be a problem "if you only get pizza and French fries." Jamie Oliver has apparently done wonders with the British school lunch program, and Nigella may not have enough experience with the U.S. system of using junk food to subsidize costs.

Whether she is working on the TV show or on books, Nigella insists on the staff sitting down to a "proper lunch," as she put it. Sounds like great advice for U.S. school children, and for everyone else.

Nigella did say that you can supplement children's diet with "punchy vegetables" such as carrots.

During the book signing process, Nigella gave some great advice on kids and vegetables. When it comes to getting kids and eating their vegetables, she says you don't want to disguise them, and how to be very careful, as failed attempts leads to distrust.

"Be careful about trickery, it may backfire."

Nigella's suggestions include treating them as valuable in a "it's mine, you can't eat it" attitude.

She suggests soups or carrot juice or pesto to help kids get their share of vegetables, or you can blend them to make them smooth since consistency is an issue for kids.

_{all pictures taken by me}

One in three with diabetes? Might finally be time to do something about it

If you are seated at a communal table, and you look at the person on each side of you and then look at yourself, theoretically, one of those people will get diabetes.

This would be true if projections from the CDC come true.

The fine print says that by 2050, 20%-33% of adults could have diabetes, with almost all of that being increases in type 2 diabetes. This assumes that nothing major will get done.

We have been told that 1 in 3 children born in 2000 would get diabetes at some point. This would be the fruition of that trend.

Diabetes, especially type 2, has been escalating, most prominently in the United States. The U.S. is the country that consumes more high-fructose corn syrup than any other country (though Canada and Mexico sadly are catching up).

Now we do know that high-fructose corn syrup isn't the only reason; but can we at least consider that there is a correlation?

Of course, with the inmates running the asylum, going the conventional route in eating will likely lead to bad consequences down the road. And diabetes is only part of that struggle. It's one thing to die early, but diabetes is a disease that can maim long before it kills.

The problem with eating junk food or food that is bad for you is that the category of food has become worse itself. As Michael Pollan noted, if you make your own junk food, you'll be better off.

The food revolution can't just be a bunch of well-minded films, books, and even a First Lady. The change that needs to come also can be seen in smaller battles, such as a soft drink made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup or a parent appealing to a school to serve healthier lunches or increased sales in farmers markets.

The United States has the most inefficient health care system in the modern world — right now. Imagine how much worse this will get if the CDC is even remotely close in its predictions.

Summertime taste of sweet pickles comes only from sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup

We all have out favorite summer foods, the foods that remind us of summers gone by, and taste really good when the weather is warm.

One of those food items for me is sweet pickles. Sweet pickles is something I don't normally eat year round, but summertime is when sweet pickles fits what I want.

Unfortunately, getting the sweet pickles of my youth is problematic. Virtually every offering in regular grocery stores has an ingredient that wasn't a part of my childhood: high-fructose corn syrup.

This isn't just another anti-HFCS rant; this is about choice in summertime.

Right now, I am eating sweet pickles from a farm near where my mother lives, made with sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. And the taste makes all the difference.

In eating less sweetness — sugar or HFCS, I don't feel like I can waste that opportunity on a taste that doesn't make me think of summertime. I can't eat as much ice cream as I used to, so boring ice cream doesn't interest me.

I can't just grab any candy bar; I have to really want it. In summertime, when I really want sweet pickles, I want the good kind, the one with the taste of summer in a jar.

Soft drinks were something I used to drink a lot, regardless of what was in them. At the time, I was hooked and all that was around me were versions with high-fructose corn syrup. I finally stopped, even as there were more options with sugar. So I drink an occasional soft drink but only ones with sugar in them, not high-fructose corn syrup.

We are starting to see some choice in the regular grocery store — there are a couple of brands of hot dog buns that don't have HFCS (but still have too much sugar — we shouldn't have sugar in buns). And finding a soft drink without HFCS is difficult, but not impossible in some areas.

Sweet pickles is still one of those product categories where HFCS-free is extremely difficult to obtain. Until that changes for the better, when that time does come, it's sugar or not at all.

Michael Pollan has talked about how it doesn't matter — that our foods are filled with too much sweetness. And I would agree with him. But when you are going to indulge — sugar has the better taste.

This is about choice. The grocery store shelves are limited, but when you search for sweet pickles with sugar, and they aren't there, we will go somewhere else.

If corporations think high-fructose corn syrup has the best taste, let's find out the old-fashioned way. Offer us both options and see which ones we choose. Right now, it's not a fair fight, and our taste buds suffer as a result, especially in the heart of summer.

Manny Howard shows us how not to do an urban farm on 'Colbert Report'

Stephen Colbert jokes about his "Colbert bump" — watching his guests' books do better after being on the "Colbert Report."

So when I heard Manny Howard was going to be on the show, I was hoping for a successful interview. After all, Howard had written a book on how he turned his New York City back yard into an urban garden.

This was one of the worst "Colbert Report" interviews. This was a great guide on how not to do an interview.

Howard mocks locavores. There wasn't much growing success. The farm costs $11,000 and he only got 60 meals. Maybe you can learn what not to do with an urban farm.

And there was a depressing story about a rabbit. You have to see it for yourself.

Maybe the book is better than the interview would let us know. Probably not.

The episode also featured Colbert's look at the recent recall of Spaghetti O's for being underprocessed. As part of the "Threat Down" segment, Colbert "attacked" actual food. As Colbert put it:

"If we don't have processed Spaghetti O's, what we are going to eat? Spaghetti? Do you have any idea how hard it is to tie those things into tiny O's?"

Next week, Colbert talks to Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America, on Thursday. That will have to be a much better interview.

Michelle Obama takes obesity fight straight to corporations

There is a person named Obama who is fighting hard against corporations' negative impact on our society. This Obama is taking the message straight to the corporations in an effort to get them to change their ways.

Did you think we were talking about Barack?

Michelle Obama, America's First Lady, spoke before the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to get them to create healthier products — here's a valuable difference — and market those same products to children. The GMA lobbys for its companies, some of the largest food making and processing companies in the country.

Coca-Cola, one of the targeted companies, makes Dasani water. But how many commercials do you see for Dasani vs. Coca-Cola?

Those of us who remember the McLean burger from McDonald's in the 1990s remember with pain how the giant burger chain had a good product with the healthier burger, yet never put the burger on sale or really promoted it with any vigor. McDonald's eventually discontinued the McLean burger, citing poor sales.

"We need you not just to tweak around the edges, but to entirely rethink the products that you're offering, the information that you provide about these products and how you market those products to our children," Michelle Obama said, speaking before the GMA. "You know what gets them to drive their parents crazy in the grocery store. And I'm here today to ask you to use that knowledge and that power to our kids' advantage."

Marketing unhealthy products to our children has been highly controversial, though the same should apply for adults. But since children are even more susceptible to the whims of advertising, they should be the primary focus.

Michelle Obama has been on the move, so to speak, having just launched Let's Move in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.

She has been talking to all different groups in the food chain, and put words into action with the launch of the White House organic garden.

Tackling the food industry itself is the hardest climb yet. But if anyone can show that it can be done, Michelle Obama is the one to do so.

On Blue Monday, getting a Michael Pollan fix

This is supposed to be Blue Monday, a combination of depressive events. And it's a holiday for some, which can promote unhealthy eating.

So it's probably a good time for a Michael Pollan fix. Here is an interview with Pollan that also lists a few of his rules from his latest book, "Food Rules."

Try and cheer up today. Limit the temptations. Spring isn't that far away.

Setting food rules is good, but make them your own rules

Michael Pollan has a new book out on "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual." You didn't need to come here to find this out, but what does having rules mean for you?

They say "rules are meant to be broken" and often we break rules on food, whether intentionally or by happenstance in the course of the day.

Pollan does have good rules, as exhibited in this excerpt.

#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.

#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

Then there are some silly ones:

#36 Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

#58 Do all your eating at a table.

#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

They aren't completely silly, but there aren't very useful in practicality.

Using Pollan's rules as a guidelines for building your own rules is more ideal. Pollan is smart and asks a lot of good questions. However, your rules have to suit yourself, even if they don't cover everyone who will read Pollan's new book.

Then there is how people interpret rules. If you get the general message of say, #11, the advice is solid. If you freak out that you ate a food that you saw advertised, you won't get much out of this game.

And you may have your own interpretation of which of Pollan's rules are sensible versus silly. You could sharply disagree with me on #39 and go nuts over any possible consumption of junk food.

As much as I like Pollan and his work, use his rules more as guidelines, inspiration for how you can do better. In creating your own system, not only do you have to create the rules, but also you have to note the times rules can be broken, what exceptions there will be, and what consequences result.

Jon Stewart asked Pollan Monday night on "The Daily Show" whether there was one overriding simple rule. Pollan said, "Eat Food ... and avoid edible food-like substances." Let's start the conversation there.