but seriously, folks

I’ve had a lot of fun with food and writing about food the past few

days.  When Jude got home yesterday, we had planned to celebrate

by going to our favorite pub and eating pub grub.  Why we didn’t

will be tomorrow’s topic, but today I’d like to finish this brief arc

about eating habits.

I was just half joking when I posted recently that I intentionally

chub up this time of year for the extra insulation. I’ve gained

winter weight every year of my adult life as I exercise less and

spend more time on personal reflection.  Then when the sun

returns, I’m reminded of how much of ol’ Sol I’m personally

reflecting.

That’s when I start to slowly shed pounds.  I have to remain

resolutely American on this, because it would take 220% more

effort to lose a kilogram than a pound.

I used to lose the weight easily as I got more active.  Anymore,

as I valiantly fight off the ravages and damned inconveniences

of old age, the bulk stays on almost as stubbornly as the years I

keep adding.  I’m slouching toward a vegetarian diet, but aspects

of it trouble me.  For example, did you know that it doesn’t allow

meat?

Please take a minute to let that sink in.  I can eat simulated bacon

bits, but not bacon.  Soybeans, no pig.  It’s enough to keep a guy

awake nights.

Jude assures me that meat can take years from a person’s life, but I

point out that those years come off the end — likely the worst ones.

I can’t win this debate, though.  Every time I come up with a con-

vincing argument, she deflates it with facts.  That’s not fair.

Food and food security are big issues in our community.  Most of

us do eat well and healthily as we move toward self-reliance, a

zero-mile diet, if you will.  As one of the wisest persons on the

island says, “we feast every day”.

Jude’s older son Jin once sent us this link from “Time” magazine.

It shows what families around the world eat in a week.  It’s just

incredible in what it says and what it doesn’t have to say.  Note

the amount of soft drinks bought in industrialized nations.

The most interesting family to me is the Namgay family of

Shingkhey Village in Bhutan.  They have six adults and seven

children, yet — minus that big bag of rice — all they eat in a week

could fit into one of our shopping carts.  They spent about $5

U.S. on it.

Bhutan, a tiny, predominately-Buddhist nation on the east end

of the Himalayas, is the only country in the world to measure

Gross National Happiness, an attempt to quantify its quality of

life in more holistic terms than Gross National Product.  Let’s

hope the Bhutanese are onto something.