Information!

An obvious perk to being back in school is access to information. I like information, especially health-related information. And I like receiving health-related information in a classroom, as opposed to the fear inducing media. I don't like watching the news. In fact, I think if our professors told us information the way CNN (or ABC or FOX - really, I'm not picking on any particular channel here...) does than he would enter the classroom and scream "THIS JUST IN! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES!" And then break for a commercial. Okay, I'm exaggerating (a little).

Anway, today I learned about a freaky little chemical called BPa or Bisphenol A. BPa is in most plastics: plastic water bottles, plastic baby bottles, plastic food packages and it is also in canned food (think: Progresso Soup). The reason you should care is that it may or may not cause hormone changes within the endocrine system which may or may not lead to premature puberty in your children or cancer within yourself.

There isn't enough scientific proof (yet) to accuse this pesky chemical of causing either premature maturity or cancer - but then again it took scientists several light years to get around to fessing up about cigarettes and we're all better safe than sorry (thankyouverymuch lobbyists!).

So that's reason number x million to stop buying food in those pretty little plastic packages (or at least, be warier). Which is kind of a bummer because there's nothing I love more than a can of Campbell's Chicken N Stars and a bottle of Ginger Ale when I'm infiltrated with the flu.

I highly recommend reading about BPa HERE, HERE and HERE and then watching this video here in addition to passing on the information to everyone you know.



Then go eat your greens.

Food Revolution.

I am not much of a supporter of reality TV, but there's a show out there you need to be watching. In case you are unawares, it's called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, and it is on ABC Friday nights at 9, which is rather unfortunate for those of you who like to venture out on weekends. However, it can also be viewed on Hulu whenever is otherwise convenient. For those of you who don't know (and I was one of them, sadly) Jamie Oliver is a British chef who challenged England's public school lunch system, and ended up getting the government to donate LOTS of money toward the healthy-food cause. Now he's in America trying to do the same thing, and meeting a lot of hotheaded resistance (to say the least). Here's a clip if you are still unconvinced it is worth your time:

And if you've already watched some of the show, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Also, here is an Easter recipe from Jamie Oliver you can cook for next week! It looks absolutely mouthwatering, is easy and cost effective. The only thing is you might have to do a bit of recipe conversion, but no worries, mate! You can do it.

Happy Monday Lovies!

The Simple Declaration.

When I sat down to write this post, my heart started racing and I couldn't form a sentence. I think that's what you might call a mild anxiety attack, but it was nothing too serious. Then after deleting at least fifteen sentences I felt like crying. I felt really guilty about leaving, and especially for not saying goodbye... or telling you how school is going, or giving you a recipe during what was a seemingly neverending winter. And then I started to feel overwhelmed by the blogging and the emotion and the guilt and I almost deleted this paragraph! But I'm not going to delete this paragraph, even though it is very poorly written and I probably should. I won't because it is the simple declaration that I'm returning to you with virtual flowers and virtual chocolates and (soon) virtual recipes and a very non virtual, sincere, "I'M SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME." And I think, for now, it's best to keep it at that.

See you soon.