Skinny Bitches Ruin Everything

They steal the attention of the cute boys at the bar. They wear all of the clothes that you can’t pull off. They go for quick five or six mile jogs. And they write books about food and fill them with so much horrifying information, they keep you up nights – and not in the good way.

If you’ve read the book, Skinny Bitch, you know exactly what I am talking about. There are details in this book about how pork is processed and what goes into your milk that could – quite literally – paralyze you into never eating again. (The good news? Then you get to be a skinny bitch.)

It is often said that ignorance is bliss – something that I never bought into. I like to be educated about things… that is, after all, how this whole organic/local food adventure began. I read articles, I read books. And, yes, I saw Food, Inc. It was all pretty eye-opening and scary, but I was glad to have learned what I did. I am not all that glad to know what I know after reading Skinny Bitch. Because, Skinny Bitch doesn’t let you get away with anything.

Skinny Bitch will let you know – in a terribly frank, no nonsense way – why Diet Coke could kill you. It tells you the real story about bacon. You learn about how the USDA is run by a bunch of corrupt f*&%ers. No Diet Coke? No bacon? Why go on living? (I already suspected as much about the USDA, so no great loss there…)

The book heavily promotes an organic, alcohol-free, caffeine-free, sugar-free, vegan diet. Yeah, right. I could potentially see myself giving up drinking wine or even coffee, but I’m gonna tell you right now, I could never be a vegan. And there is only one reason why: cheese. I love cheese almost as much as I love my iPhone. For those of you that know me personally, you can deeply appreciate what this means. I love cheese a lot.

With that said, lots of stuff that the book’s mean, evil authors wrote really resonated for me – particularly the parts about meat production and the affect of too much meat eating on your body. Reducing the quantity of meat that you eat is also something promoted by Food, Inc. Food, Inc. (via an organization called Meatless Monday) recommends – surprise – going meatless on Mondays, claiming:

“Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.”

So, as part of my personal food journey, I am actually flipping this recommendation around… I am trying to go meatless six days a week. I will fully admit that I am not quite there yet. I am probably still eating some meat about three days a week – but I am viewing this as a progression. I easily used to eat meat every day, so this is an improvement.

Thus far, I’ve had some hits and misses… on the positive side, I actually got my husband to eat tofu! On the less positive side, I tried to get creative with a beet-sweet potato salad that just ended in a mushy mess. Needless to say, submissions of your favorite veg recipes are welcome.

As for my monthly suggestion, think about going meatless once a week! It’s really not as bad as it sounds… and there truly are some great health and environmental benefits. Start with this recipe… it’s a gem and there will be lots of leftovers for lunch the next day: Vegetable Curry.