The Parsnip’s P
roclamation
I love parsnips. Some have called this ardor irrational, hence the name of this blog. Here I will share what I’m cooking, with a dash of commentary on America’s bewildering relationship with food.
My main goal?
To increase culinary literacy and debunk a few food and cooking myths along the way.
Food is integral to life, and like many things we cannot do without, it is often a source of anxiety. Much of life is complicated, but feeding yourself does not have to be.
Yet I’m persistently puzzled by the schizophrenic relationship our country has with food.
Americans have done an excellent job of turning eating into something to agonize over. We seem to take perverse enjoyment in diets that espouse difficult and complex regimens, as if making basic activities like meal preparation and eating more challenging will lead us to health and righteousness.
So why is it that we are more unhealthy than ever?
Much ink has been spilled about this in recent years. But I believe that this preoccupation with food fads and the nutritional equivalent of get-rich-quick schemes creates an endless cycle of culinary disappointment, and ultimately more unhealthy behaviors.
I blame a couple groups for this.
First, the medical/nutrition field confuses the public by focusing its dietary recommendations on nutrients rather than food itself. It doesn’t help that these recommendations are constantly changing as scientists make new discoveries about human nutrition.
Throw “experts” like Dr. Oz and Dr. Mercola into the mix with their superfoods and supplements of the moment, and well, it’s a real clusterfuck of culinary confusion.
Also guilty is the food industry, which exploits nutrition messages to sell its products, while also convincing us that meal preparation is difficult, onerous and a waste of your valuable time.
But it’s not, and that’s the main motivation for this blog. The recipes I will share will be (mostly) healthy, always straightforward to prepare, and hopefully entertaining to read. I am not one to take myself too seriously, the rant above notwithstanding.
Like any experiment (and that’s partially what this blog is) there will be failures, successes and the accompanying expletives.
Love it? Hate it? Let me know by contacting me or leaving a comment.