Well Star, I don’t feel judgemental but am willing take time to retrieve info and post it and then other grownups can decide if there is any value in it or not. I have a strong interest in this area, feel very sorry for people who are ruining their health because I’ve seen a ton of results. Not very enlightening….the new American Cancer Society diet based on 4,500 studies, threads to the top Eating Disorder programs in the US where people can get info for free, etc, is not enlightening. Star, you seem like a nice woman. I wonder why so many of your comments are so cynical.

Kendra, I was thinking the same thing as read. Love ballet, the photo, the story, the writing. I’m going to guess Joan Juliet Buck….love her writing and sounds like her.

Andrea-Here’s a link for “In Defense of Food” looks interesting….but I rarely eat packaged anything so he’d be speaking to the choir here. Still, great cover…I’ll check it out in the bookstore. http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php

Cath—I agree that it takes shopping savvy. Worth it because helping the planet, plus it’s fun to shop Farmer’s Markets. In Carmel Valley they had one of the best that went to when lived in Carmel. One of the larger organic farms has a box of produce delivery service that is $25 a week. I rarely buy packaged things or to-go either to save all the paper and no processed anything. Plus the inexpensive light soup you described is very healthy….I make light things like that. I am 99% veg but do eat occasional shrimp. Just make soups up no recipe, baby bok choy, soba, sesame, garlic, shrimp, veg based..maybe mushrooms or carrots. Here, Alice Waters has gotten schools into planting their own gardens, the kids harvest and cook. Gets them interested in nutrition and cooking. When my son was young we took a lot of weekend trips and he had two friends whose parents couldn’t afford so I paid, but they worked in my vegetable garden as an exchange. They expanded it and sold their produce, very enterprising. Lucky you, the Hamptons!

Dona, The wine country’s especially beautiful in autumn just before harvest. Francis Ford Coppola’s is the most visited and he’s a regular at The French Laundry. Here’s a winery directory link: http://www.atlasofwineries.com/ The other place that’s really neat is Copia. The American Center for Wine, Food and Arts started by Robert Mondavi http://www.copia.org The Napa Valley wineries are the #2 California tourist destination after Disneyland.

Jittery Starbuck Coffee stockholders who’ve seen their share value fall 22% in the last 3-months will find this hopeful. The chain could print their napkins “More joe for your Mo-Jo, ladies” on one side…and the essential citation from the study on the other.

I’ve never smoked…and only know three people who have. Two are deceased, and my friend who went to Cal on a Football scholarship is now a hacking, thin stick and not long for the world. After massive heart attack he still smokes, very sad. He has one of the most beautiful gardens in Berkeley, a very artistic home, lost of friends. Very nice man.

Lily/Star, How is there a side? It’s a thread with opinions. Is someone going to vote? I didn’t know it was a contest. And you aren’t the only people in the world who get the complexities of eating disorders. And Collette Dowling’s recent social work degree/LMSW in the last couple of years , her very basic blog with links that don’t work, and her poorly written articles like this one: http://www.womens-wellbeing-and-mental-health.com/CompulsiveEating.html are not impressive. Serotonin imbalances in eating disorders are not news, that’s elementary from the 60s, and depressions v anorexia are misdiagnosed all the time…….people often overeat/don’t eat based on depression, which doesn’t necessarily mean they have an eating disorder. A person can get more and better information for free from the UCSF Eating Disorder Clinic website, newsletter, and free library. http://www.ucsfhealth.org/common/pubs/childrensnews/summer2007/eating/in… UCSF is rated the #7 top medical center in the US with an first rank Eating Disorder program and in their latest newsletter discuss how patients and thoroughly screened to ensure the depression vs the anorexia aren’t misdiagnosed. Collette Dowling is not a doctor, or even an RN, nor a nutritionist, she’s a social worker with a recent Masters and license…. I don’t know any mother who would chose an LMSW social worker when dealing with the serious eating disorder of their child, like my friend’s family whose spent hundreds of thousands in treatments over the last 3-5 years keeping their daughter alive, they might chose an LMSW after diagnosis to manage a treatment plan. And one of my friends is an atty/RN who is assigned case management of mostly very rich women after they are found incapable of managing their health and affairs, many have serious eating disorders that then create all sorts of other medical problems, and her job is to manage everything because it gets quite complex. And hopefully no one with an eating disorder is self-prescribing doses of sorotonin believing that because can buy it off the shelf can’t overdose, because too much can cause plumonary problems, just as people take too much Niacin to get a ‘Niacin flush’ and wind up in the ER with dangerously low blood pressure. etc I don’t live in the woods of (Canada?) I live in a City where I’ve managed major projects with some of the premier surgeons. doctors, therapists and researchers the US at UCSF, and UCLA Medical Center one of the best in the world. And I’m not so close-minded that I would think any one lone writer (with a recent degree) holds any kind of magic rubic in view of the mass of research, clinical trials, and treatment modalities that have arisen in the last few years. But you’re comfortable arguing for limited views— terrific. To each their own. It’s interesting how facts from the American Cancer Society’s report based on 4,500 studies from 41 states, or from the Surgeon General don’t get in the way of snide remarks.

I didn’t dispute they do….I’m familiar with her, and with all the choices available in the world, someone who rec’d her masters degree in social work a few years ago isn’t going to be on my list of people to read.

“Some even consider him a sham.” I read it. SHAM was used in the criticism by some unknown creating his own acronym meaning Self Help Actualization Movement.. Charlie Rose is delighted to have Robbins on the show. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5070588292701651217 Larry King features him on New Year’s Eve: http://www.energiseforlife.com/wordpress/2106/tony-robbins-interview-on-… Why he’s one the 1,000 on Ted Talks which is reserved for the top thinker and doers in the world today, Al Gore among them and even with his Nobel Prize, Oscar, Palme d’Or, his foundations and Green Tech VC Groups, and film and best selling books etc….there are people on this site that would label him a sham. Robbins foundation is rated four of a possible four by an organization that rates all charities. He’s been featured in Forbes, Fortune on ‘best of lists’ and has advised the US Army and Marines, a large number of CEOs, Reagan, Clinton, Gorbachev, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Francois Mitterand, and spoken a Harvard Business Shcool, etc. People who’ve endorsed his work without compensation include Fran Tarkenton, Quincy Jones, Erin Brockovich, Anthony Hopkins. Guest speakers at his events have included has Deepak Chopra and John Gray “Women are From Venus, Men From Mars” etc He bought a hospital for Mother Teresa, he feeds over 2 million people a year, and does prison outreach, and he makes $30M+ a year and all his books are best sellers because he’s effective. Since the 80s I’ve gone to hundreds of university talks and have worked with some of the best, like Norman Cousins. I went to a $600 all day talk of Tony Robbins, 1600 attended, many from out of state. He’s one of the most impressive speakers I’ve ever heard. And I went back to do the firewalk.

Star-I mentioned it because it was related and I thought pretty amazing….also I thought the Metabo word was nice.

Opinion is not intolerance it’s opinion and how you choose to frame anything, Lily, has nothing to do with me and everything to do with your own perspective.

Emma, My thoughts exactly. Cute little guy and she speaks very disrespectfully to him. Jack should glue all her drawers shut.

Lily, You have amazing energy. Very generous to provide a peek behind the scenes. You look terrific even with a towel on your head! Great necklace, too. Thank you.

Hi Buffy, My very smart Siamese is sitting next to me staring at the screen, and says meeoow.