Elizabeth Zott is a chemist at the prestigious Hastings Institute in 1961 in this summer’s bestselling novel Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Like many professional women in the 50s and 60s, Elizabeth faces discrimination, sexual assault, and other challenges. After being fired from her job, she is hired by a local television station to do a cooking show. The book traces her trials and … Continue reading Lessons in [food] Chemistry

In the last post, Linn Steward revealed that many of her recipes qualified as hyperpalatable with some even meeting the criteria for both hyperpalatable and ‘healthy’ foods! Who knew that was even possible? If so, what are some of the implications? Before I pursue the topic with respect to homemade foods, I turn my attention to manufactured foods–those formulated by product developers, processed in a … Continue reading Sorting out the differences between ultraprocessed, hyperpalatable, healthy in manufactured foods

Linn Steward and I have very different perspectives in ultraprocessed, hyperpalatable, and healthy foods. Over the years, we have discussed these differences in emails, on this blog, and even a debate in Food Technology. What we have tried to do is find some common ground on these very divisive topics. Sometimes we have succeeded. Other times we respected each other’s differences of opinions. I turn … Continue reading Sorting out the differences between ultraprocessed, hyperpalatable, healthy in homemade foods by Linn Steward

A year ago we were leaving a Gulf-coast barrier island in Florida that was in the path of Hurricane Ian. We had put up hurricane shutters before expecting to come back to an intact home with all our possessions waiting on us. It wasn’t to be this time. Now we are living in a nice apartment complex in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains … Continue reading Hurricane Ian and other storms in my life

The most powerful argument against ultra-processed foods came out in the form of a book by Chris van Tulleken, an infectious disease doctor. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food is now available. The book was a must-read for me as a defender of ultra-processed products. I am certainly not an expert on infectious diseases, although I have been a victim of respiratory … Continue reading Ultra-Processed People

Ted Kyle is pushing the envelope and pushing me out of my comfort zone. He is passionate about obesity and obesity treatment. I am passionate about (ultra)processed foods. Both Kyle and I tend to think of ourselves as independent thinkers. We have our core beliefs and evaluate new information about our topics of interest, presumably from an objective viewpoint. Sometimes that is easy when we … Continue reading Confirmation Bias, Motivated Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Staying Curious

Intrigued by the title and a review of What Technology Wants, I never expected to discuss it as part of a blog post. Provocative and difficult to read are only a few of the characteristics of this book. Kevin Kelly challenges those of us who embrace technology to think about its role in our lives. To those of us who rebel against technology, he suggests … Continue reading Can technology enhance food diversity around the world?

We live in a world driven by technology. It dominates our lives today at a pace unknown in the history of humankind. We decry our loss of freedom to the demands of the technological world. Yet few of us would rejoice at living off the grid and joining the hunter-gather world. Two books project diametrically opposed perspectives on the future of technology on life as … Continue reading Is technology destroying food diversity around the world?