Pleasantly surprised.
Mar. 15th, 2007 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivka"March is National Nutrition Month!!" said the announcement. It went on to explain that the hospital dieticians would have informational displays outside the cafeteria every Thursday in March. Boy, was I ever thrilled to look forward to a month of "you should be ashamed of how much junk you eat, you big fatty!" at lunchtime every week.
I am delighted to report that my fears were completely unjustified... at least, so far.
The first week, the focus was on eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. They set up a tasting table with samples of unusual fruits: I tried cherimoya, uglifruit, starfruit, and blood orange. They raffled off fruit baskets and tubs of fruit salad. They had brochures with recommendations on how to fit more servings of fruit and vegetables into your diet, and booklets of vegetable recipes.
A side table offered cups and pens that said "100% fad free," and brochures explaining that popular diets typically aren't based on scientific research and are often lacking in nutrients.
I missed the second week, which was on protein foods. Today they were focused on grains. They had a lovely display of about twenty different kinds of grains, in glass jars. There was a whole-grain bread tasting table, with your choice of butter or olive oil. A guy from a local organic bakery was there giving away unbelievably delicious rolls - made, he told me, with six different whole grains, plus flax seeds. They handed out recipes for kasha, bulghur, and other uncommon grains. I also noticed a number of brochures about gluten-free cooking.
Both times, I made sure to let the dieticians know that I appreciated the positive focus on tasty, enjoyable foods, instead of a shame-and-restriction focus on "bad" foods. Because really, in a culture where most people only ever use the word "sinful" to describe desserts, this is not what I expected.
I am delighted to report that my fears were completely unjustified... at least, so far.
The first week, the focus was on eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. They set up a tasting table with samples of unusual fruits: I tried cherimoya, uglifruit, starfruit, and blood orange. They raffled off fruit baskets and tubs of fruit salad. They had brochures with recommendations on how to fit more servings of fruit and vegetables into your diet, and booklets of vegetable recipes.
A side table offered cups and pens that said "100% fad free," and brochures explaining that popular diets typically aren't based on scientific research and are often lacking in nutrients.
I missed the second week, which was on protein foods. Today they were focused on grains. They had a lovely display of about twenty different kinds of grains, in glass jars. There was a whole-grain bread tasting table, with your choice of butter or olive oil. A guy from a local organic bakery was there giving away unbelievably delicious rolls - made, he told me, with six different whole grains, plus flax seeds. They handed out recipes for kasha, bulghur, and other uncommon grains. I also noticed a number of brochures about gluten-free cooking.
Both times, I made sure to let the dieticians know that I appreciated the positive focus on tasty, enjoyable foods, instead of a shame-and-restriction focus on "bad" foods. Because really, in a culture where most people only ever use the word "sinful" to describe desserts, this is not what I expected.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 04:25 am (UTC)