All my life I have been interested in food. Mostly in the eating of it, but I also enjoy preparing it, and have become more interested in its production as the local food movement gathers momentum.  I was raised to believe that the growing, preparing, and eating of food was a hobby, to be done when your “real” work is done: when my mother was not busy researching Ancient Roman sculptures or teaching art history students about them, she was in her garden, planting and weeding and picking from early spring until the first frost. Due to her efforts, we enjoyed tender lettuces and fresh herbs to adorn them, cucumbers that eventually made their way into jars as pickles, zucchini and more zucchini, and juicy tomatoes.

After a few twists and turns, I returned to my love of food, and am a happy, but renegade, registered dietitian. I love to eat, and it seems to me that many of us have become afraid of food – afraid that the tasty morsel we’re about to eat is not good for the environment, the local economy, or our bodies. The act of eating has become imbued with not only guilt about our health and well-being, but also with the politics of who grew and distributed the food and how. We ask ourselves whether our food is local, organic, or sustainable. We need to know its carbon footprint. We wonder what these terms even mean, when a national potato chip brand calls their chips local.

I want to explore all of these ideas, and dispense some nutrition advice along the way. I’m located in the vibrant community of Ithaca, New York, nestled in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. I’ll be discussing my favorite topics: people, places, and experiences that inspire me, and other things I am passionate about.