A wonderful article. You made so many interesting points, I may have to read it again to savor the content.
You mentioned the alternative meat trend in the US such as the products made by Beyond. They don’t taste bad, but are highly processed & full of sodium. I prefer other types of protein such as beans, nuts, eggs & cheese. Keeping it simple seems the best way to go.
Your recipe for endives sounds delicious & is now on my list. The 1st time my 🇫🇷 MIL sautéed endives in butter, I fell in love with the vegetable.
Thanks for penning such a thoughtful article. I will listen to the Diane Rehms podcast. (Love her!)
...(sorry - finger blunder. ) When people object to process food, they never include in their discussion vegan and plant-based meat replacement foods which are highly processed. The simplest, healthiest food guideline, I think, is to weigh up whether whatever is on that supermarket shelf would have been in your grandmother's larder. If it wasn't, probably don't buy it. I lived awhile in Greece where beans and pulses and foraged greens formed a highly nutritious and cheap and delicious diet.
I agree. My grandmother grew up on a dairy farm where, of course, her father grew their own vegetables & berries & had apple trees. We ate lots of vegetables in our multi-generational household. It never occurred to me to dislike them. Happily, I married a French guy. He is always content with a salad, homemade soup & simple food. I couldn’t have married an American steak & potatoes guy.
This looks delicious - I can't wait to try it! I also agree with the main thrust of your argument, though I'm curious about who you're counting in your I'm A Celebrity argument? As I said, I agree with you and I left working there because of the people, but I can only think of two politicians who have been to the jungle whilst they were supposed to be representing their constituents in the House of Commons?
I wrote "directly or indirectly associated" deliberately as some weren't representing the House. But these are those felt it appropriate to mix entertainment TV with their roles, even sideway ones, with politics: Nigel Farage, Matt Hancock, Edwina Currie, Stanley Johnson, Kesia Dugdale, Nadine Dorries, Lembit Opik, Robert Kilroy Silk.
I got that, I was just curious about the list. Because as much as I don't like the man Nigel Farage is no longer a leader of a political party, and cannot reprise his role in the European Parliament for obvious reasons. Whilst I'd not go as far as saying he's effectively retired, Stanley Johnson is retired from a Parliament he can never sit in again. And Edwina Currie? Very much into retirement and opinions on her aside, I don't think it is fair to say she mixed entertainment with politics say the way Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock did, sitting MP's who abandoned their constituents (with the added caveat what MP's do for their constituents is vote: their staff does the actual day to day work). Kesia Dugdale is a former member of the Scottish parliament, nothing to do with Westminster.
They're all good points. I threw them in the piece as I'm curious as to what makes any of them believe that even if their links to government are in the past or tenuous that participating in tv entertainment shows of this nature shines a positive light upon them.
Though it genuinely pains me to promote one of the excuses (and I say excuses as they're both despicable self promoters) Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock gave for going into the jungle was that it was to reach the public in their own language; a demographic who usually would not pay attention to politics and how it shapes their lives. So is the question if they should participate in 'entertainment shows' or simply such of the genre that tend to make hay in humiliating the participants such as I'm A Celebrity and (eww) George Galloway on Celebrity Big Brother. Now, I think anyone who knows how reality TV is edited can see through this as an argument in favour of going into the jungle, but media commentary (which is as much as the public gets to see of public opinion) did not have the same issues when Ann Widdecombe and Ed Balls - when retired - went on Strictly Come Dancing. Both were billed as doing something brave in a step towards reclaiming their identity in their lives after politics. Because what lots of people forget is our politicians are people too, and there is an argument that why should they restrict what they do in later life because they were once in politics? But circling back to the difference between the two types of show: until Matt Hancock arrived in the jungle and two former Westminster staffers fancied a laugh before bed one night I'd never watched I'm A Celebrity. It would never even occur to me to do so, and whilst I've never watched Strictly either, we used to watch Dancing On Ice which is essentially the same thing every weekend in our boarding house when I was at school; I think that statement alone shows the very different demographics that each reach. So is the problem entertainment, or the type of entertainment, and is there a question of class and what different demographics think is 'proper'? The list of people who have been in the jungle of this ilk you shared is hardly filled with people who know what the right thing is, but I think there is an argument to be made for allowing a message, even the message being 'your politicians are people too' if done by the right sort of former politician is valid. Because I was still there the day Jo Cox was murdered, and I've seen the inside of multiple MP's inboxes and sadly there is a very large section of the public who still don't grasp this.
A wonderful article. You made so many interesting points, I may have to read it again to savor the content.
You mentioned the alternative meat trend in the US such as the products made by Beyond. They don’t taste bad, but are highly processed & full of sodium. I prefer other types of protein such as beans, nuts, eggs & cheese. Keeping it simple seems the best way to go.
Your recipe for endives sounds delicious & is now on my list. The 1st time my 🇫🇷 MIL sautéed endives in butter, I fell in love with the vegetable.
Thanks for penning such a thoughtful article. I will listen to the Diane Rehms podcast. (Love her!)
I'm so pleased! Curiously, when
...(sorry - finger blunder. ) When people object to process food, they never include in their discussion vegan and plant-based meat replacement foods which are highly processed. The simplest, healthiest food guideline, I think, is to weigh up whether whatever is on that supermarket shelf would have been in your grandmother's larder. If it wasn't, probably don't buy it. I lived awhile in Greece where beans and pulses and foraged greens formed a highly nutritious and cheap and delicious diet.
I agree. My grandmother grew up on a dairy farm where, of course, her father grew their own vegetables & berries & had apple trees. We ate lots of vegetables in our multi-generational household. It never occurred to me to dislike them. Happily, I married a French guy. He is always content with a salad, homemade soup & simple food. I couldn’t have married an American steak & potatoes guy.
This looks delicious - I can't wait to try it! I also agree with the main thrust of your argument, though I'm curious about who you're counting in your I'm A Celebrity argument? As I said, I agree with you and I left working there because of the people, but I can only think of two politicians who have been to the jungle whilst they were supposed to be representing their constituents in the House of Commons?
I wrote "directly or indirectly associated" deliberately as some weren't representing the House. But these are those felt it appropriate to mix entertainment TV with their roles, even sideway ones, with politics: Nigel Farage, Matt Hancock, Edwina Currie, Stanley Johnson, Kesia Dugdale, Nadine Dorries, Lembit Opik, Robert Kilroy Silk.
I got that, I was just curious about the list. Because as much as I don't like the man Nigel Farage is no longer a leader of a political party, and cannot reprise his role in the European Parliament for obvious reasons. Whilst I'd not go as far as saying he's effectively retired, Stanley Johnson is retired from a Parliament he can never sit in again. And Edwina Currie? Very much into retirement and opinions on her aside, I don't think it is fair to say she mixed entertainment with politics say the way Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock did, sitting MP's who abandoned their constituents (with the added caveat what MP's do for their constituents is vote: their staff does the actual day to day work). Kesia Dugdale is a former member of the Scottish parliament, nothing to do with Westminster.
They're all good points. I threw them in the piece as I'm curious as to what makes any of them believe that even if their links to government are in the past or tenuous that participating in tv entertainment shows of this nature shines a positive light upon them.
Though it genuinely pains me to promote one of the excuses (and I say excuses as they're both despicable self promoters) Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock gave for going into the jungle was that it was to reach the public in their own language; a demographic who usually would not pay attention to politics and how it shapes their lives. So is the question if they should participate in 'entertainment shows' or simply such of the genre that tend to make hay in humiliating the participants such as I'm A Celebrity and (eww) George Galloway on Celebrity Big Brother. Now, I think anyone who knows how reality TV is edited can see through this as an argument in favour of going into the jungle, but media commentary (which is as much as the public gets to see of public opinion) did not have the same issues when Ann Widdecombe and Ed Balls - when retired - went on Strictly Come Dancing. Both were billed as doing something brave in a step towards reclaiming their identity in their lives after politics. Because what lots of people forget is our politicians are people too, and there is an argument that why should they restrict what they do in later life because they were once in politics? But circling back to the difference between the two types of show: until Matt Hancock arrived in the jungle and two former Westminster staffers fancied a laugh before bed one night I'd never watched I'm A Celebrity. It would never even occur to me to do so, and whilst I've never watched Strictly either, we used to watch Dancing On Ice which is essentially the same thing every weekend in our boarding house when I was at school; I think that statement alone shows the very different demographics that each reach. So is the problem entertainment, or the type of entertainment, and is there a question of class and what different demographics think is 'proper'? The list of people who have been in the jungle of this ilk you shared is hardly filled with people who know what the right thing is, but I think there is an argument to be made for allowing a message, even the message being 'your politicians are people too' if done by the right sort of former politician is valid. Because I was still there the day Jo Cox was murdered, and I've seen the inside of multiple MP's inboxes and sadly there is a very large section of the public who still don't grasp this.
Hola , Sí Quieres Vivir Muchos Años , La Mejor Manera De Hacerlo Es Hacerte Vegano , Bueno Para Tú Salud , Mejor Todavía Para El Planeta. Un Saludo.