The world is a mess -- war, strife, threat of war and nuclear destruction. We struggle with global warming, pollution, species becoming extinct. We live under the threat of our food supply being compromised by the biotech industry. The economy struggles.

It's daunting and unrealistic to think we can change...

The headlines scream from every magazine cover: "Number One Superfood Everyone Should Eat." Superfoods have taken over our collective consciousness as the second coming of food, the saving grace of our health.

Seriously?

We are told by various experts that certain foods are powerful enough to have dramatic effects on...

As the holiday season approaches, it seems we all want to channel our inner "Martha" and cook up a storm... which I love, since cooking is my life. So I offer some food for thought on being healthy through the season of partying.

Change begins with our choices: how we...

With the vote on Prop 37 looming next week, it was no surprise to see a new ad campaign by Kellogg's telling us that their Corn Flakes are made from four simple ingredients and come to you "from seed to spoon."

Maybe, but there's more to the story... and to...

Veganism will never, in my view, be a widely-accepted lifestyle choice. Not because it isn't a gorgeous way to live (because it is...), not because it is a deprived and grim way to eat (because it isn't...), and not because it's too weird or left of center (okay, I'll give...

The day I met Julia Child was amazing and I was just a little star-struck. Here she stood, the icon of all that is cooking, shaking my hand, smiling and asking about my specialty.

"So all you eat are vegetables?" she asked, genuinely interested and perplexed. At first, all I...

We all know that saturated fat, the kind we find in most meats, is linked to many of the "lifestyle diseases" that plague us in our modern world, resulting in illness that is crushing our health care system and breaking the back of our society.

And now with "pink slime,"...

One of the things I hear most often about vegan cooking is that this "new food" is unfamiliar and family members are reluctant to try it because they worry that the food just won't taste good. After all, the reputation of healthy food is that, while good for you, you...

Watching television this past Sunday felt like being a bit schizophrenic.

Early in the evening, we watched nutrition genius and pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig talk about the devastating effects of sugar on our health, including the newest information that links sugar consumption with increased risk of cancer.

With...

In the movie, To Sir with Love, Sidney Poitier comes to the conclusion that education, as it was being applied in his situation... just wasn't working.

He took matters into his own hands and decided to teach his students the basic facts of life, with lessons they would need...

The news that Paula Deen, the queen of the Southern-fried kitchen announcing that she has Type 2 diabetes got me to thinking.

She has built her empire on deep-fried, buttery, sugar-laden foods that look like fun, but rob us of health. But who is really to blame for her penchant...

I grew up in a wild and crazy Italian and Irish family who seemed to compete for who could yell the loudest or be the most dramatic. We were all about family, food and celebrating. Never was this more evident than during the Christmas season. My mother began baking dozens...

At the time of year seemingly dedicated to stuffing something... ourselves, a turkey, a pie crust, we will all be gathering around tables laden with foods of the season... and agonizing over what to feed the vegetarian coming to dinner.

This feast could easily help to create new holiday traditions...

Mark Bittman is quoted as saying, "Eating less meat and dairy doesn't require any additional time of effort. Calling your Congressman does. I'd say start with the first: with the energy you gain from eating a plant-based diet, you might be ready to lobby til the cows come home."

Vegans...

Unless you live under a rock, you have heard all the scary statistics that Americans face when it comes to their health. Stroke, heart disease, diabetes and obesity are considered epidemics, with cancer right on their heels. We have all heard that we must eat more whole, unprocessed foods, whole...

A night of television viewing is enough to make a person schizophrenic. We bounce like tennis balls among reality shows that are laughable in their banality and how out of touch they are with most people's reality; cooking shows that rival the coliseum events of ancient Rome; news programs with...

Progress is progress, and while I will congratulate any company on its efforts to make healthier food options available to mainstream consumers, I think we need to hold onto our party hats before celebrating the Happy Meal makeover.

As reported on CNN.com the Happy Meal will now include...

A daily read of any website, including this one, reveals an ugly side of America. No matter what the topic, be it politics, celebrity gossip, healthy living or food, a quick review of the comments posted by readers is a sad commentary on who some of us have become, and...

As a vegan, I am frequently asked what I eat since I have made the choice not to eat any animal foods. With a small frown, and great concern, the question comes: "So ... all you eat are vegetables?"

All?

The tender joy that comes with eating vegetables goes well...

Look, I don't want to go off on a rant or anything, but when I read certain things, I feel like I am losing my mind ... or the world has. A recent blog by Sarah Gilbert talked about fast food chains lobbying for food stamps to be...