Pigs Are Smart

THE SMART BITE What Regenerative Farming Really Means and Why It Only Works If We Eat Less Meat Some of you may have noticed that regenerative farming is having a moment. You've probably seen it on a menu or a package: "regenerative beef," "regenerative dairy." Maybe you've read about farms bringing dead soil back to life. It's hopeful. It's real. And it matters more than most of us realize, because healthy, living soil works like a giant sponge, pulling carbon out of the air and locking it...

THE SMART BITE The Amino Acid Issue Our son got married last week (hooray!) and we were up in the Seattle area. I was having a lovely lunch on the shores of Lake Washington when a friend mentioned her son had just graduated with an agriculture degree. We got talking about the importance of soil, and she told me she's definitely a meat eater. She was all in on the sustainability case for eating more plants, but she had one real hesitation: was she getting the right amino acids? Well, let's dig...

THE SMART BITE The Fiber Issue Everyone asks the same question about eating more plants: "But where do you get your protein?" Good news. You don't have to pick. Plants deliver protein AND fiber in the same bite. A bowl of lentils. A handful of edamame. A scoop of quinoa. Meat can't say the same. Protein, yes. Fiber, zero. And fiber is the nutrient only 5% of us are getting enough of. What fiber actually does (hint: it's way more than regularity) Feeds your gut. Fiber is the food your good gut...

THE SMART BITE The Food Fight Nobody's Winning Have you ever stumbled into a food conversation online? One side is saying it's wrong to eat animals. The other is saying we evolved to be carnivores. Both sides are loud, both are certain, and nobody seems to be changing anyone's mind. Here's the thing. If you're reading this, we probably already agree on something. We care about our health, our families, and the world our food comes from. So, this week I want to try something different. Let's...

THE SMART BITE Why Is It This Way? Ever stood in the grocery store and wondered how we ended up eating the way we do? Not whether it's right or wrong. Just, how did this become the normal nobody questions? Most of us never picked it. We inherited it. And honestly, once you start pulling that thread, you can't stop. I couldn't. It didn't used to be this way. A few generations ago, most farms were small and mixed. Animals and crops side by side, a lot of it grown to feed the people right there....

THE SMART BITE Let's Talk Berries Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, picking blackberries was a part of every summer. They grew wild and free, and we ate them by the handful without a second thought. Now I think about it every time I reach for a container of organic blackberries at the store, and I realize what a treat those wild summers really were. Here is something worth knowing as the days get longer. There is real, scientific benefit to finding joy in your summer memories, spending...

THE SMART BITE Smart Habits — Setting Yourself Up for Success You've probably heard it before: just eat better. But if willpower were the answer, we'd all be thriving by now. The real secret? It's not about trying harder — it's about making the right choices easier. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, puts it simply: you don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. This week we're talking about how to set up your environment — and your life — so that eating...

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...