About this Blog

Welcome! Thanks for checking out On Food Stamps.

I created this blog in 2009 when I began working at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. My work at this organization opened my eyes to food justice issues in America, and I had a strong desire to better understand the difficulties many people face when trying to access healthy food on a limited budget. So, I embarked on my own Food Stamp Challenge, living on $31/week as a vegan. I used this blog to chronicle my experience.

While my Food Stamp Challenge project has come to an end, you can see what I learned from it by reading the Greatest Hits posts linked to the right side of the page. Please excuse any out-of-date links, as I am no longer updating this blog on a regular basis.

Stay Hungry,

Julie

Monday, February 15, 2010

Soda = The New Tobacco

Thank you New York Times, for this great Valentines Day article.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/weekinreview/14bittman.html

9 comments:

  1. 10 years ago I had to quit drinking soda pop due to an ulcer. I can say that next to quitting coffee for that year was the hardest thing I have done. This includes my half pack a day habit.

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  2. So, do you think you ever could have quit if it wasn't medically necessary to do so?

    What other things besides an ulcer might have gotten you to kick the soda habit?

    I know how tough it is switching habits. Man. Kudos to you for changing it around!

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  3. I doubt that I would have given up soda had it not been medically necessary despite knowing (I'm a nurse) just how bad it is for you. I wasn't a hardcore drinker mind you just 1-2 cans per day when I pulled a shift.
    Now I partake only on pizza night which is about 3 times a month.
    Coffee on the other hand is a 4-6 cup a day monkey on my back. Really just gave the addiction a new face.

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  4. Coffee is SUCH a hard habit to kick.

    I have to say though, if you can do it little by little, tea in the morning is a little less tough on the body and it certainly does the trick for me.

    The strange part with all of these things - cigarettes, soda, coffee, etc. - is that quitting is not just about the thing you are trying to quit. It is also about the ritual. I just want a warm COFFEE in the morning sometimes - for the flavor, the smell, the quiet moment. The caffeine is a side note in a way. Or, one might want a cigarette sometimes, just for the excuse to take a moment to stand outside and think and take a break from work or other obligations. The nicotine can also be a side note. It seems to me the only way to kick any habit is to substitute the substance you want to stop consuming with something similar, and find a way to keep the ritual in tact. (For example, green tea or herbal tea a few mornings a week instead of coffee.)

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  5. there's actually some evidence that coffee correlates with lower C-Reactive Protein (which is a sign of systemic inflammation and has been correlated with heart disease), lower incidence of certain cancers, and now, perhaps, reduced incidence of Alzheimer's (at least in a mouse model). Maybe the coffee habit isn't so bad after all, except for those with acid reflux or sensitivity to stimulants. Of course, everything in moderation...

    Soda on the other hand = pretty much all bad

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  6. Jake, you said it right: Of course, everything in moderation...

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