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November 19, 2004/Kislev 6 5765, Vol. 57, No. 12
Full stomachs, full hearts
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
"You are what you don't eat."
A New Yorker cartoon captured the American obsession with food.
From no carbs to low carbs, from high fat to no fat, the preoccupation with what we ingest - or not - engrosses. From soup (cabbage soup, that is, a 1970s diet fad now resurrected) to almonds, a rediscovered nutritional treasure, we are consumed, literally and figuratively, with what we eat.
Diets rule, and eating gurus have attained near god-like status as their books top the bestseller lists. Bread, bagels, even challah, are the politically correct no-nos for the Atkins and South Beach crowd. Pizza lovers assiduously scrape cheese from offending crust while sushi eaters assertively request rice-free rolls, denuded of their toothsome outer layer.
The food industry has taken up the gauntlet. From milk to meat to the lowly spud, purveyors are scrambling to tout the benefits of their products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has jumped on the bandwagon with new guidelines to promote a more balanced diet while food manufacturers rush to create new items to meet dietary demand. Stroll down the aisles of any local grocer to see the number of new selections - and the number of shoppers poring over labels to discern carbohydrate content, calorie count or fat grams.
Confusion reigns, though successful dieters are willing proponents - and convincing advertisements - for their diets of choice.
Add to the pursuit the mounting evidence that links poor eating habits with increased health risks, and it is a real incentive to restrain. A spate of recent studies indicates the incidence of serious disease - from diabetes to heart disease to stroke, to name a few - increases with our predisposition to overindulge.
The sages counsel that moderation is key, wise advice, but more difficult to follow as the holidays approach and the ineffable connection between full stomachs and full hearts is ever more potent. How to gather around the Thanks-giving table without the fulsome complement of family and friends - and comfort food? There has to be stuffing, redolent with onions and sage. And sweet potatoes with their gooey marshmallow cover. And homemade mashed potatoes, and corn relish, and pumpkin muffins and of course the bird itself and the requisite cranberry sauce.
And then dessert, apple, pumpkin and lemon, to name a few. And that's just Thanksgiving; Chanukah beckons with its crispy latkes and sugary sufganiyot (doughnuts), not to mention the surfeit of temptations of the winter holiday season.
And so, our Thanksgiving meal will be replete with carbs and calories. We'll eat too much and groan about our excess even as we relish that this is what holidays are all about. At least for one day, sated with our favorite foods and cosseted with the warmth of loved ones, we truly are what we eat.
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