Category Archives: Vegetarian in an omnivore world

November 8, 2011 · 11:34 PM

Can you really get sexy with a hotdog? Really? You tell me.

Last Sunday, on the rare occasion that I get to watch TV, I caught this gem of a commercial. It’s probably been around for quite awhile but either being vegan gives me instant blinders from such material or I’ve been living under a rock.

Oh, where do I even begin? This commercial made me laugh and cry at the same time. Let me sum up my feelings in 280 characters or less.

I think it’s pretty laughable that this hotdog is being marketed as HEALTHY. Hey Century Tuna, do you think we’re idiots?

What this company is doing is called HEALTHWASHING. Shame on you, Century :(

Healthwashing – what is it? This is when a product, typically food, is marketed as healthier than it actually is, with references in advertisements and on packaging to health-boosting ingredients such as vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics. Companies and groups position themselves as leaders in the crusade forward to good health while engaging in practices that may be contributing to our poor health. (source)

Premise:

tuna = healthy

ergo,

Century Tuna hotdog = healthy

Thank God it’s made with real tuna, right? That really makes the hotdog healthy, right? Right??

Continue reading →

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Filed under Critical consumer, The inner workings of Marie's mind, Vegetarian in an omnivore world

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June 2, 2011 · 6:15 PM

Vegetarian in social situations: being a guest

This Saturday, we’re cooking up an Italian feast of vegan Caesar salad, potato gnocchi, ragout of white beans, dressy string beans, and baked stuffed pears. A Taste of Italy, indeed. Sign up!

Next Saturday is full of pure fruit and vegetable goodness. In “Get the glow: Juice up, smoothie down”, discover how juices and smoothies can help you feel and look amazing. Learn the different superpower abilities of fruits and vegetables and how they can help boost the immune system, fight diseases like cancer, and alkalize the body. Create smoothies with veggies that will tickle your taste buds. No juicer? No sweat! We’ve got a few tricks to share. It’s going to be a creative, colorful class that will make you look at fruits and vegetables differently. Join! (instead of the usual 4 hours, this will be a 2-hour class)

I’m not going to lie. Adopting a plant-based diet is a snap, especially if your diet is based on whole food that already exists and is familiar – beans and legumes, fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices. Eating more healthfully or being vegetarian becomes a tad inconvenient when it comes to social situations. Pinoys love to get together and celebrate, and they love food too. Too much, I think, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Quintessential Filipino celebratory food is lechon; when having a beer with your friends, it’s chicharon. We just have to have pork on the table, right? Oh and if it ain’t fried, it ain’t food!

Family's still family, even with salad, a tofu dish, and a vegetable side dish on the buffet table.

We think that food makes or breaks the party but if we think really hard about it, it’s not about the food. It’s about the people, and family, and celebrating friendships and relationships. The food is purely secondary. You can host your Lolo’s 91st birthday without that lechon. You can have a drink with your buddies without that chicharon. Oh and, you know what else? Serving healthy dishes doesn’t make you a party pooper. And hosting a vegetarian party doesn’t mean you’re hateful either. Continue reading →

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