Maggie's Farm

"Are Americans Too Ignorant to Buy Good Mediterranean Food?" & "Making School Lunches Healthier doesn't mean kids will eat them".

So what is "good Mediterranean food" and what is "healthier"? We all know the answer and we all disagree. It seems that everyone has their own food biases and fads. Is the Mediterranean diet actually "better" for you? Some claim they live longer but most of the so-called evidence depends on statistical manipulation and misinformation. In fact it is the Japanese who live the longest in the world but oddly enough they have a cancer rate 3 times greater then the U.S. Another odd fact is that when you only measure the life spans of Americans of European descent their numbers are comparable with the Japanese. That is they are right up there as the longest living people, even longer living then the Europeans they descended from. So what is it that makes the Mediterranean diet so appealing? It fits the typical leftist model of less red meat and more "natural" foods. Not that there is a huge body of evidence to support it but simply because it fits someone's bias. Interestingly so doesn't the Asian and Japanese diet, except that it has the dreaded white rice in it. So how do the Japanese live so long eating that white rice that we enlightened people know is poison? Maybe we should try to convince the Japenese to eat the Mediterranean diet. Would that reduce their cancer rate? Maybe they could replace white rice with hummus. But then hummus isn't "provably" healthy it is simply the latest fad to sooth our biases. Something the "in" crowd can order to feel more "in" and better then us rice or pasta eating peons.

I know this is going to rub some people the wrong way but... In fact the British did help the irish in the great potato famine. With food and assistance to relocate. Many Irish relocated to England at the expense and effort of the English. Many more Irish relocated to the U.S. and many of them did so with the help of the English. It is great fun to blame the whole thing on the English but in fact this disaster was taken serious by all concerned and a great deal of assistance was given when they could have choosen to ignore it. Since I'm already pissing off the Irish I will add that after considerably investigation it is my opinion that the death toll for the great potato famine is greatly exaggerated as well, no doubt to spit in the eye of the British. Most of those who were "unaccounted for" immigrated to England or the U.S. Many died, mostly older people and very young children.