Why "food & stuff"?
We're here to explore how food shapes our identities and connects us to one another.
1. Why “Food & Stuff”?
In an episode of Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) enters a cooking contest with Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) to make the best burger, after Chris insists he can make a turkey burger taste better than a beef one.
Chris, the “healthy” one, purchases his ingredients at a health-food store called “Grain’N Simple” while Ron simply purchases beef at a store called “Food & Stuff” which sells basic groceries along with anything else you might ever need (like a garden hose or fake crows).
After Chris creates an over-the-top turkey burger (made with organic turkey, a toasted taleggio cheese crisp, papaya chutney, black truffle aioli, and micro greens on a gluten-free brioche bun), Ron presents a simple beef patty on a bun and stands out as the clear winner.
I love this episode because it underscores some of the major issues I see in the way we feed ourselves today: many of us are micromanaging our meals to the point of not enjoying them, and we are creating divisions among ourselves by building our identities around extreme eating philosophies. At the same time, we’re not doing enough to address important issues of lack of food access that are the reality for so many people.
2. If you want dieting advice, I’m not your girl!
As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and anti-diet Registered Dietitian, this space will never be one where you’ll find information related to fad diets.
Mostly, we’ll be exploring food to understand how it plays into our identities and connects us to one another, and hoping to build more connections. Food is about so much more than nutrition, so nutrition won’t be the only topic we discuss here.
In the event that something I write does discuss nutrition, please keep the following in mind: There is so much more to overall health than just nutrition. It’s up to you to decide how you want to eat within the context of what’s available to you!
3. There will be food, and there will be stuff.
Subscribers can expect to hear from me twice a week: one post on Monday mornings with a recipe (“food”), and another on Thursday morning with an essay delving into the cultural, social, and personal aspects of food (“stuff”).
