The Smart Bite

THE SMART BITE We're Part of a Delicate Ecosystem Last week hanging out on the sidelines, I overheard one of my favorite soccer dads being a bit sarcastic, "when people ask me why I'm a vegetarian, I say I don't have time to explain it all, but basically we're a part of a very delicate eco-system." Huh. I'd never heard someone use that explanation before. The day before I was at the Ohana Music Festival—yes, I got to see Pearl Jam—but I also got to listen to Darren Croft, PhD, Executive...

THE SMART BITE Who Are You Becoming? "I could never give up cheese." "I'm just not a vegetable person." "I don't have the willpower for this." Have you ever said one of these? They don't feel like opinions. They feel like facts, quiet and settled, the way you'd say water is wet. That's the part worth pausing on. Owen Fitzpatrick, a psychologist who spent thirty years studying how belief works, has a name for the voice that hands us those lines. He calls it inner propaganda. Not a critic you...

THE SMART BITE A Simple Way to Eat Well I was in a friend's kitchen recently, watching her cut up strawberries, and she started telling me how she learned about whole foods. Her son needed to lose weight, so she started reading labels. She realized the muffins they'd been eating every morning weren't actually giving them what they needed. Such a small thing. But it was a reminder to me of the quiet power of whole foods. Whole foods. What are they? Here's the simplest version. A whole food is...

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...