Pigs Are Smart

THE SMART BITE The KISS of Eating There's a principle in design and engineering called KISS — Keep It Simple. Turns out it applies to mealtime too. Nutrition headlines change every week. Online influencers make it even more confusing. And the fact that ultra-processed foods, meat, and dairy have massive marketing budgets — while whole foods have almost none — makes it worse. It's enough to make me feel like giving up. But amidst the noise, here's what I find clarifying and encouraging: when...

THE SMART BITE When Buying Organic Matters (And How to Keep It Simple) My family gives me a hard time about it. Not in a mean way — more in a "here she goes again" kind of way. Someone reaches for the regular strawberries, I quietly swap them for organic, and the eye rolls begin. "Does it really matter?" "Isn't this just a marketing thing?" And every time, I say the same thing: I wish it didn't matter. But it does. Farming in this country changed after World War II. Military chemicals got...

THE SMART BITE Your Body Already Has What It Needs Heart disease is still the #1 killer in America. And yet — according to the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation, 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. Let that land for a second. Your body already makes all the cholesterol it needs. So does every animal — because they need it for their brains too. So when we eat animal foods, we're just adding more on top of what our bodies already produce. Plants? They don't...

THE SMART BITE I Want My People Around For a Long Time I want you around for a long time. If you're here, you're someone who cares — about your health, your family, the world you're eating in. And I want you to have every piece of information that helps you show up for the people who need you. The more I learn about what whole plant foods actually do inside our bodies, the harder it is to look away. Not out of fear — out of love. For the people at my table. For the people at yours. The...

THE SMART BITE It's All Connected. It didn't start as a health journey. For me, it started with overhearing something about a pig. Think about your own story. What brought you here? Was it your health? The planet? Curiosity? Maybe you're not sure yet — and that's perfect too. The more I learn — about the planet, about animals, and what whole plant foods actually do for our bodies — the clearer it becomes: the foods that are good for us just happen to be good for everything else too. For the...

THE SMART BITE Soy: Good or Bad? Let's Dig In. This issue was inspired by a post I shared based on a January New York Times article: “10 Simple Things to Think About If You Want to Eat Better.” Number one on the list?Eat more legumes. Legumes aren't exactly an everyday word, so I simplified it:Eat more beans and soy. A gentleman commented:"More beans for sure! Heard soy is not good for you though." I replied:"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you wrote that! Soy is actually really good for us. I need...

THE SMART BITE Your Quiet Heroes For those of you who practice the Christian faith, yesterday was Ash Wednesday — a day that invites reflection, humility, and returning to what matters. And maybe it’s just a coincidence… but this week I’ve been thinking a lot about broccoli. (Stay with me 😉.) I made an amazing broccoli salad and couldn’t wait to share it with you. While writing this issue, I learned something: Cruciferous vegetables are called “cruciferous” because their flowers form a cross...

THE SMART BITE Feeding the World The world’s population is growing—so how are we going to feed everyone? That question is at the heart of what’s called global food security. Let’s dig in. In simple terms, global food security means making sure everyone—nearly 8 billion people and counting—has reliable access to nutritious food. Here’s the simple truth: What we choose to eat affects how efficiently the world can feed people. Today, animal agriculture uses about 83% of the world’s farmland...

THE SMART BITE The Magic in Variety There's growing evidence that the number of different plants you eat each week matters — not just how many vegetables you have at dinner, but the full range across every meal. Researchers have found that people who eat 30 or more different plants per week have significantly more diverse gut microbiomes, which is linked to better digestion, stronger immunity, and lower inflammation. 30 sounds like a lot. But here's what makes it simpler than you think: nuts,...