Video Update

Good morning! This week, I'm featuring a new dessert recipe, but first, a word from our founder. Sid Lerner of Grace Communications, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, originated the idea for Meatless Monday, the day "all health breaks loose." Here he is, speaking at the James Beard Foundation Food Conference, where he had this to say: "We've gotta use the available marketing techniques. I think public health organizations ought to have a Marketing Department. Who ever makes something or... tries to sell something that doesn't have a sales force that gets it the hell out of the warehouse?" One of the reasons for the success of MM is the effectiveness of its message, and the video linked above gives you a sense of how MM came together.

In another video making the rounds this week, James Cameron joined the list of celebrities changing the way they eat due to the film "Forks over Knives." He was recently speaking before an audience at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival and Conference and had this to say about his reaction to the film: "I watched that film 'Forks Over Knives' and I went out into the kitchen and I took out everything that was not a plant and for five and a half months I've eaten only plants." He says he feels healthier and has more endurance, but goes on to challenge his audience in a different way: "You can't be an environmentalist in the world of the future, the world ahead, the world of our children... not eating a plant-based diet." I think this idea is taking root in the Green movement as well, that a large part of being a conservationist includes what we eat. 

And isn't it amazing how that lines up with the message and the success of the MM movement? That the healthy choices are also the environmentally-sustainable ones? My message is that meatless is also delicious. And for those loyal readers who have occasionally asked me to provide more dessert recipes, this week and next week are for you. The key ingredient, inspired by Fall and Hallowe'en, I guess, is pumpkin. Pumpkin is not only delicious and full of mixed carotenoids, potassium, vitamin C, dietary fiber and anti-oxidants, it also has the power to scare away evil spirits from the front door of your house. What other foodstuff can lay claim to that? Hope you enjoy these.