Mailing List
Sign up for updates in your city.
|
|
Click here for other Liberally programs Inaugural PlansSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Fri, 11/21/2008 - 2:30pm.Four years ago, Drinking Liberally threw an "Unaugural Ball" -- this year, we have happier plans. In New York City, we're hosting the Living Liberally Inaugural Ball on Sunday, Jan 18th...and check back to learn about other schemes developing around the country (or toss your own ideas in the comments thread). Senate Rules & Senate FoolsSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 01/08/2009 - 9:43am.Democrats are busy changing their minds Republicans are digging in to oppose seating And the media's focused on Caroline Kennedy In times of crisis, transition & opportunity, And we're just reminded once more that Try to laugh off their foolishness DRINKING LIBERALLY Let's Ask Marion: Is Our Diet Dickensian?Submitted by KAT on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 1:21pm.
(With a click of her mouse, EatingLiberally’s kat corners Dr. Marion Nestle, NYU professor of nutrition and author of Pet Food Politics, What to Eat and Food Politics:) Kat: The New York Times published a story the other day about a study that claims Charles Dickens exaggerated the extent of hunger in Victorian workhouses in Oliver Twist. The study, conducted by a group of British researchers including two dietitians, a pediatrician and a historian, concluded that a real-life Oliver Twist would not have been forced to subsist on meager rations of watery gruel, as depicted by Dickens, but was more likely to receive "modest servings of bread, potatoes, meat and cheese...with a balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates that at least approximates today’s recommended intake." You wrote a letter to the editor saying, in part: Workhouse diets of bread, potatoes, meat and cheese were hardly optimal. Without fruit and vegetables other than potatoes, the diets lacked vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber, if not calories. That is why they caused poor children in Dickens’s time, as well as now, to display overt signs of nutrient deficiencies along with stunting, wasting and greater susceptibility to infectious diseases.
What struck me about this story--aside from the question of why anyone would want to downplay the misery inflicted by these institutions--was that it also describes the mainstays of the average American diet, regardless of class: pizza, cheeseburgers, french fries, potato chips, sandwiches filled with cold cuts, and so on. The difference, of course, is that we eat these foods in much greater quantities, and wash them down with soda--an indulgence that Victorian workhouses presumably did not grant their down-and-out denizens. If it was bad for the Oliver Twists of the world, how can a steady diet of bread, potatoes, meat and cheese be any better for the rest of us? Should we be saying "Please, sir, I want less?" Dr. Nestle: The mere thought of a Twist-like diet is enough to induce a catatonic depression. For one thing, the colors! White or brown. The only thing missing is sugar, which was too expensive for the likes of Olvier Twist and his unhappy companions. Given enough of such foods, calories should be no problem. On the other hand, we might get so bored that we wouldn’t eat much—“The Boredom Diet.” As we nutritionists are always saying, healthful diets are about variety, balance, and moderation. Poorhouses did moderation really, really well, which is why those kids were so hungry all the time. But balance and variety? Not a chance. Those are nutrition-speak for eating more—much more—fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The healthiest diets are based on food plants, with everything else as extras. The Oliver Twists were vitamin deficient, caught every illness in sight, and didn’t survive for long. I’m greatly in favor of eating less, but not in that situation. But you are really asking about us now, not them then. You want to know how fast foods became the icons of American foodways instead of something healthier. Well, some fast foods do depend on New World staples: potatoes (chips, fries), tomatoes (pizza sauce), and corn (soda sweeteners). Food Studies scholars would tell you that American meals based on meat and potatoes at the center of the plate derive from the original Northern European settlers. Eventually, regional differences developed but there still isn’t anything that you might describe as a typically American cuisine—other than fast food. Meat has always been the food that poor people flock to the minute they get some money, as shown so compellingly in Peter Menzel and Faith d’Aluisio’s book Hungry Planet. For immigrants to the U.S., vegetables were lower class. Meat is what counts. So your question has class implications. And we Americans never like dealing with those kinds of issues. The Nation Guide to the NationSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 5:33pm.
Do you know the Democracy Burlesque in Chicago? Or the best food co-op in Nebraska? What about the lefty cafe of Salt Lake City...or that same town's unique vegan S&M gear? Chances are that unless you live in one of those town's, you don't (and even if you live there, you may not); fortunately, The Nation Magazine has found them for you. In The Nation Guide to the Nation, you can find the cafes, film festivals, historical hotspots, a bleeding-heart romantic hide-aways that dot the "purple" landscape of America. It's not a book you sit down and read straight through. But it's a thick volume that welcomes you to thumb to almost any page and smile with surprise. It's the kind of guide that may help settle a bet after a night of too much liberal drinking ("I told you that there were liberal oases in Idaho!"). And it's especially the book you'll turn to as you plan your travel around the country -- because you'll find new destinations in any state you plan to visit, sites that will amuse, educate, and generally make you feel like Liberal America is everywhere...and that you are part of it. The book isn't complete -- it can't be. It doesn't list my favorite liberal dive...but that's part of the fun. If the book can start an conflict among friends as to which historical homes should really be included on a drive along Route 66, or which films should never have been left off a top-ten progressive movie buff's list, then the book will prove itself a true lefty institution: one that gets liberals arguing with each other. As for my favorite listing: well, it has to be the New Belgian Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado. The maker of Fat Tire runs its brewery on wind-generated energy. That's Drinking Liberally... For more from the Nation Guides themselves, check out the video below. New Year's Resolutions for Progressives, 2009Submitted by Justin Krebs on Mon, 01/05/2009 - 5:17pm.Last year, Rachel Maddow, Lee Camp and others offered their resolutions for 2008. Below are a round-up of this year's progressive goals from friends in progressive media, progressive organizing, and...well...just friends. Fred Gooltz, Advomatic: John Javna, 50 Ways To Fight The Right: Negin Farsad, Laughing Liberally/Nerdcore Rising: Sam Seder, Air America Radio: Seth D. Michaels, Coordinator, Working Families Vote 2008: Buy from locally-owned stores. Not only does this shift income (slightly) lower on the income distribution, it also has the potential to be a huge stimulus, given that the owners of these stores are more likely to patronize other stores in your area--and if you go to a store like Fleet Feet, where Phil Fenty is going to spend his profits at other locally-owned stores, the multiplier is just huge. Also, get off Verizon. AT&T, or even better, CREDO, does not spend its energy attempting to destroy the American workforce. Verizon does. Amanda Mittlestadt, The Liberal Card: Matt Browner-Hamlin, SEIU: Matt Filiopwicz, HeadzUp: Mike Connery, Future Majority: Jamie Kilstein, Laughing Liberally: Erin Hofteig, Media Matters For America: Josh Bolotsky: Our Friends in PasadenaSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Mon, 01/05/2009 - 3:48pm.Drinking Liberally has good friends in Pasadena, California. It's a chapter that was started by Asa Hopkins several years ago. Asa was a Convention delegate in '04, he was active in YDA, and I met him first at the 2020 Democrats launch conference in late '03. But what makes the Pasadena strong is not that it was started by a good leader; it's that it has remained vibrant even after Asa moved on. You see, chapter leaders come and go. Sometimes, a chapter doesn't fare so well when a host has to move. But Pasadena regular has attendance in the teens, on Election Night had over 50, and was featured (with photographs) in a great article. Patrick Burns, Lauri Fiedler and Mike Anderson -- the current hosts -- deserve a great amount of credit. They also deserve our thanks -- for gathering tips from chapter members and Tipping Liberally, sending funds to support the national network. So next time you're out in southern California, stop by and toast them in person, every Tuesday night at Madeleine's Wine Bistro. A New Year's Resolution for a Year of New RevolutionsSubmitted by Justin Krebs on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 9:00am.Violence explodes between Israel & Hamas, Slow Christmas buying echoed the weak economy, Bush pardons cronies, then revokes one, From Wall St to Detroit to Senate obstruction, May Obama make a New Year's Resolution That's a New Year wish we can toast to. Sing out the old & ring in the new DRINKING LIBERALLY Time To Wise Up?Submitted by KAT on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 7:06pm.
Here's hoping that 2009 will be the year that we finally wise up to all our follies, and, in the words of NY Times columnist Bob Herbert, Stop Being Stupid. |
Chapter leaders...
Please login here.
The Liberal Card
Living Liberally Blog Navigation |