Now, I’ve worked for years in New York City and as such it’s nearly impossible to walk down any street at any time of the day without a cabbie or driver laying on the horn at another driver.

However, New York City residents move out of the city for the promise of a better environment to raise children: a yard with grass and trees, good schools, Costco – you know, the essentials.

It’s with that where I struggle to understand the mindset of people that come out to the ‘burbs for peace and quiet and instead can’t help themselves but to beep at everything. Didn’t make a turn fast enough? Honk. Didn’t accelerate fast enough when the light turned green? Honk. Didn’t let someone complete a “Jersey left”, whereby as soon as the light turns green the person across from you in the left turn lane guns it to cut off traffic? Honk. Honk. And honk.

Seriously, help me readers – is this just Jersey people being assholes or does this happen by you? And when it is acceptable to use the horn?

Once my son was diagnosed 18 months ago, we immediately had to learn the world of gluten free food. Shortly thereafter, I founded the Gluten Free Father blog where I started sharing our thoughts about gluten free products and how they tasted.

Just a short time ago, I decided to move away from a separate gluten free review blog as the readership here at EOT is large enough and diverse enough I now feel this is the right spot to share those reviews. Many of our readers have children with food allergies, Autism or other health issues that require a special diet. I hope they will find these reviews helpful and accretive to the great content here on the blog.

Although our family hasn’t gone completely gluten free along with my son, most of our family meals are GF and as such we really began to search for the best products available. Reviewing these products for manufacturers has been a great joy to my family and I. So this 4th of July we decided to wrap several products into a family barbecue and share with our readers here our reviews of those products.

For our barbecue, we settled on good, old fashioned American hamburgers and grilled chicken. We did so primarily because the folks at both Canyon Bakehouse and Five Star Meat Marinade sent us products to try and then share our thoughts with my readers.

First, Canyon Bakehouse is a artisan bakery in Loveland, Colorado, and has quickly garnered a strong following in the gluten free and Celiac community. In fact, Christi Skow, one of the owners of Canyon Bakehouse was herself diagnosed with Celiac Disease back in 2007 so the business is personal. And her story is a great example of how entrepreneurs are remaking the gluten free food industry for the better.

Canyon sent us some very tasty hamburger buns. Since my son is young, he sometimes will eat the hamburger without the bun. Especially since many gluten free hamburger bun options just don’t taste that great – even for a toddler with simple palate. Despite this, my son at the entire bun and really liked it. The rest of us also had our burgers on this delightful bun and were amazed at how much like “real” bread it tasted. There was no after taste and the light and air texture had the entire family ready to buy our next batch.

The buns were simply great and we highly recommend them to anyone looking for a gluten free hamburger bun that won’t have them missing regular bread.

Family Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.

In addition to our hamburgers, we also grilled some fresh organic chicken breasts. Thanks to the folks at Five Star Meat Marinade, we were able to marinate the chicken in this flavorful marinade overnight and tossed it on the grill right next to the burgers.

The marinade is full of great flavors from what appears to be paprika to even citrus overtones. It’s also not only gluten free, but also low in sodium and sugar free. That means its great for just about everyone on a restricted diet of some sort.

We found it to be amazingly flavorful with just a hint of spice. The tastes were a bit strong for our young ones but my older kids and my wife both loved the flavor it brought to the chicken. You can also use the marinade on seafood, pork and beef, which is something we plan to do when we buy our next bottle. We’re grilling fanatics during the summer and the tasty flavor of this all-purpose marinade has earned its way into our permanent collection.

One note: despite Five Star Marinade being gluten free, you have to look hard to find that fact on their website and its nowhere on the bottle. Our friendly advice to the nice folks at Five Star is to add it to the label so folks know for sure. Other than that, this is a product we too can recommend to our readers and friends.

Family Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Lastly, although I was the only one who could enjoy our final gluten free barbecue review item, I did so with great pleasure. New Planet Gluten Free Beer is a fast rising star in the gluten free world with their tasty craft beers made with sorghum. The family owned business is producing what I believe to be the best gluten free beer in America. Dubbed “Old Style Beer for New Style Beer Drinkers,” New Planet not only produces great beer, but also is a good environmental citizen supporting renewable causes as well as running what would be considered a very green business.

New Planet sent a bottle of all three of their brews – Tread Lightly Ale, 3R Raspbery Ale, and Off Grid Pale Ale – for your brave correspondent to try. Not only could my kids not drink, by my wife, who is 7 months pregnant, could not enjoy these tasty beers. But I could and it was a great joy.

Starting first with the Tread Lightly Ale, I found its citrus tones highly enjoyable and even tastier than a Blue Moon standard Belgian White beer. In fact, I preferred the taste of the Tread Lightly Ale over most beers I drink on a regular basis. The taste was full and the boquet quite aromatic. If you like those beers and now find yourself on a gluten free diet, you’ll be amazed by its taste. Even if you aren’t gluten free and are a beer coniseur, I highly recommend that you try it.

Next I tried the 3R Raspberry Ale. Although I love citrus undertones in a beer, I am not a fan of stronger fruit tastes like raspberry or even apple. Yet despite that fact, the 3R Raspberry surprised me in a good way. Instead of strong fruity flavors, the special puree used by New Planet creates a beautiful body color with a natural raspberry flavor that isn’t too strong nor too sweet. They won be over and I’d definately try it again.

Last, I sampled New Planet’s full-bodied ale, Off Grid Ale. This is the closest beer I have ever tasted to a traditional craft pale ale. I happen to be a big pale ale drinker so I was especially patient and focused on drinking this one. It did not disappoint. It was hard to tell the difference between it and other craft pale ales (like Boulevard) I usually drink. The brown rice extract, molasses, tapioca, and spiciness are mixed to perfection. New Planet should be extremely proud of all their beers yet to me this takes the crown as their best.

Again, New Planet is hands down the best gluten free beer available today. It puts others like Redbridge, Bards Tale, New Grist, and Green’s to shame. If you’re GF and you’re looking for the best beer available in America, look no further than New Planet Beer.

Family Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.

So that’s it. A great gluten free holidays spent with my family and some great gluten free food products. Just because you have to be gluten free doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy great times, great food, and great beer.

Next time I’ll review some tasty gluten free desserts from Ethel’s Edibles. Be sure to read if it will satisfy your gluten free sweet tooth.

Until next time remember: gluten free doesn’t mean taste free.

Before accepting the new position, I debated staying at my old job. I weighed the pros and cons of both and discussed it all with my wife. Despite it being something I’ll have to live with, the decision affects the family just as much as it does me.

My wife trusts me to make the right decision, but it was good to use her as a sounding board and reassure myself that the decision to make the move, was the right one. Only time will tell, but I’m already feeling that the decision was the right one.

As the bread winner (only bread) in the house, this was a big decision. Everything is riding on this decision — home finances, career, etc. It’s a scary thing, but at the same time, very exciting.

After thinking about it more and more, I came to the conclusion that this decision was the right one because the family is worth it. Everything I do is for them. Having flexibility to work from home; earning more money; and, being with a company that is young, vibrant and eager to grab the brass ring is a great feeling. And, at the end of the day, all these things will help in progressing the family towards our goals — more vacations (out of New England); having spending flexibility; and, of course, having the ability to really dive deep into home improvements.

I start the next chapter of my career on Wednesday and despite being the one heading into the new office by myself, the family will be right there with me.

Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as an agency exec, photographer and civilian journalist. He’s the executive editor for Technorati and a co-founder of Every Other Thursday. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com or @BigGuyD via Twitter.

Gift #1: Anything featured on a jewelry store TV ad

Unless your wife likes corny, cheap crap don’t waste your time here. Between the cheesy Open Heart collection (which, btw, looks like two butts more than it does two hearts), diamond pendants and other cupid-inspired junk you’re be at the  mall returning it faster than she can finish telling you to “Take it back to Jared”.

Gift #2: A baby

It sound soooo romantic and sweet. “Honey, let’s try for another”. Don’t think with the wrong head this V-Day, man. Think about it: More sleepless nights, more thrilling 2-1, three-hour OT, final score pee wee basketball games, less sex because she’s tired and another college tuition payment hanging over your head. We’re all for having sex, but just remember Rodney Dangerfield’s classic line from “Back to School“: “The best thing about kids – is making ‘em.”

Gift #3: Handmade Card

While it might seem sentimental to make a card for your wife, it’s a bad idea all around. You probably don’t have a great printer at home so it’ll look like something out of Print Shop. And definitely don’t try and hand-write it — years of typing have reduced your penmanship to that of a 2nd grader. Save the amateur crap for your kids. Remember, it’s cute when they do it — and sad when it’s an adult.

Gift #4: No Card

Dude, I totally agree: It’s a made up holiday, so why should I have to drop $6 on a corny piece of badly written tripe? Here’s why: Every other Dad in the neighborhood, at work, at the gym and everywhere else is doing it. Yes, I’m telling you to cave to peer pressure because no one’s wife wants to be That Woman who has to lie to her friends and co-workers because you were too cheap to drop a few dollars. Here’s a tip: Buy a card that has a tasteful image on the outside, black and white pictures are preferred, and is blank on the inside. That way you’re not bound to delivering her a rhyming soliloquy of goofiness that won’t get you laid.

Gift #5: Nude photo

Let’s face it, Dad: You’re not in the same shape you were when you got married. Beer gut, back hair, man boobs – the list goes on and on. There’s a reason they only promote holiday cards with family pictures on them : you’re dressed in a shirt, sweater, possibly a ski mask and maybe even a snowmobile suit to hide your hideous appearance. Stick with what works: take her to dinner, get her drunk, reciprocate in bed and she won’t care that you’re wearing yesterday’s mustard-stained briefs.

Bonus: Exercise equipment

Not sure this one needs a lot of explanation but needless to say that if you’re implying she’s fat and needs to lose weight then you’ll probably be spending next Valentine’s Day paying alimony, sleeping at a Super 8.

There you have it: 5 tips for staying out of the dog house this year. Anything else I missed?

I’m the new guy in town and I wanted to take a quick second to say hello and let you in on a little special news–I’m a daddy. That’s right, just over five weeks ago my beautiful superhero of a wife and I had our first kid, a girl, and started this unbelievable adventure we call parenthood. Amelia Amber is our little new human’s name. She’s adorable. But seriously, even if she wasn’t adorable, I still would have said she was. That’s just how parents are, as I have I’ve come to learn.

Rocketing into parenthood has been awesome. I can’t’ say enough about it. Sure there have been struggles and a few frustrating nights trying to get Amelia to go to sleep whilst experiencing the most sleep-deprived, over worked, over thinking, under nourished, under sexed state of being I’ve ever encountered. But hey, it’s all good

If I were to write myself a eulogy today, it would say something about me being a mod dude who loved to travel and entertain friends, was into fashion, design, music, and had an extreme, often relentless passion for marketing. It would also say I loved my wife and new little Amelia to death and would do everything in my power to stop a freight train to save them. It would end with the fact that living in Calgary definitely had it’s advantages (universal health care, four identifiable seasons, immense opportunity, a great hockey team), but for most of his live he wanted to live elsewhere, like Vancouver or London. There’d probably be something in there about having the memory of a goldfish and, most importantly, nearly always striving for the best in life.

Anyway, enough about me. I look forward to sharing my ridiculously awesome fatherhood experiences with you all while at the same time continue to learn from the pros out there–the contributors of Every Other Thursday, along with every other experienced dad out there–and love my family the best I can.

Oh, this is gonna be fun.

dw

–

David is a marketing and social media sage by day, father, gin drinker and blogger by night. Check out his daddy adventures here at EOT, or at his other blog, Get Daddy Some Gin or on a minute by minute basis on Twitter @getdaddysomegin.

Being a man, and for the above reasons I often comment on a hot woman’s appearance to whatever guys I happen to be around. If I’m not around any, then I make the comment in my head. But there are rules to such behavior, rules that many men don’t observe.

First, you never comment on another man’s girl, provided you know the other man and he happens to be around you. Once one of your boys is in a relationship, his woman is no longer a sex object. The best way to avoid picturing your friends wife or girlfriend naked is to pretend she’s a fat chick, or at least has the personality of one. I’m talking about the mean fat chicks, not the cute pudgy chicks. The exception to this rule is that you can comment on the woman when her significant other is not around, then it’s okay.

Second, never admire another woman verbally while with your significant other. That’s just stupid. Not even the hand of Zeus can keep you from looking, but be discreet. My own personal method is looking at everyone, regardless of hotness. That way, I’m just looking at everyone and if one of them happens to be a hot chick, then that’s a bonus. It’s worth it for all the scraggly old people and fatties.

Third, never check out women at the gym. It’s creepy. Stop it. The only time I blatantly do it is when I’m in the service box on the Racquetball court. The back of the court is Plexiglas, and it looks like I’m just looking at my opponent. The guys who stand around oogling chicks are probably the same ones who will try to date rape them later.

Fourth, and this is the most important one – never objectify women around children. Never. Unless those children are deaf and can’t read lips, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Oh, and it’s still okay to make fun of fat people as a whole, just don’t single out fat chicks.

To expand on this, One has to be careful when making sexist comments around the children, especially if those children are boys. You have to think, do I want my kids growing up as sexist and biased as I am? Sadly, there are many fathers that don’t think like this and their kids turn out just like them. Ass slapping disrespectful clods that still manage to bag all the broken and downtrodden women.

Because it works both ways, the daughters who see their fathers treat their mothers with disrespect grow up thinking that’s how women are supposed to be treated, like objects to be groped and gawked at. Again, this kind of behavior starts and stops with the parents, and is more prevalent in poorer communities. Either with blacks or with whites, the more 40oz of Natural Light consumed in a household, the worse off they probably are when it comes to the treatment of women.

So you are sitting there in your chair, porn open in one window, your wife in the kitchen cooking dinner and the kids in bed, wondering, “how can we change this objectification of women?” We can’t. Titties rule. Just don’t objectify them around the kids and respect them when they are in front of you. When you are alone or with your homies, objectify away. Be sexist, tell them what you’d “do to her” and so on. That’s what guys do. So women, if you happen to walk in on that kind of behavior, just know that we respect and cherish you, we just like titties.

Plus, it’s not like you women aren’t gathering around in your little tea circles talking about cock.

Yes, the water park is something of a misnomer: there is a lot of water but there’s not much of any sort of park nearby. It’s a place where billions of gallons of water, suntan oil, urine and other bodily fluids get pumped through a large filter (God I hope) and recycled for the enjoyment of thousands of people per day. As a Dad it’s theoretically a paradise: the wife in a bathing suit, the kids play until they’re exhausted and a wristband that lets you pay for booze. Let’s talk about some of the realities:

Bathing Suits

Yes, in theory it should be awesome: Scads of women wearing bathing suits 24/7. The reality? It’s basically a bunch of moms, most of whom outweigh you or are at least 15 years your senior, in bathing suits. Not as pretty as it sounds. Did I mention you have wear a bathing suit too? Well, there’s that. And it’s ok if you forget to shave your back or whatever routine you use to get prettied up for the park – there’ll always be another guy there hairier than you.

Tattoos

If you ever want to see a living, breathing example of why 24 hour tattoo parlors are a bad idea just head to the water park. From men with tramp stamps to women with roses up their crotch, it’s a veritable cavalcade of bad decisions. My personal favorites from this past weekend are the man that paid tribute to his deceased son by having “In loving memory of”, a pair of praying hands and his son’s name tattooed around his obese stomach – with his son’s name just above his crotch pubic hair – and a man with what had to be prison tattoos, not given by his choice, of a traced hand (think kids at school making Thanksgiving turkey cut-outs) and another with two diagonally intersecting arrows, Powerpoint style.

Urine

It’s pretty much everywhere there’s water. If it’s wet, it’s probably been peed in. As a Dad you can’t tell your kids enough times to keep their mouths shut, but there’s only so much you can do. And expect the kiddie pools to be about 5-10 degrees warmer than the other areas of the park. By day two of your trip you’ll have had more urine on you than Main Street America did after the bank bail outs. The chemistry of the pool water is so potent that MLB players might want to start bottling the water as samples and using it for their random tests. As if it’s not disgusting enough, and I shit you not, at one point I actually saw a pre-teen girl dunk a clear plastic cup into the water TO DRINK IT. Ignorant, thirsty or “watersports” porn star in the making – you be the judge.

Playing

There’s a ton to do at the water park for kids and adults of all ages, however I’d recommend leaving any kids under 2 at home. Not alone, of course, but with a sitter or family. Quite frankly it’s just not enjoyable to have to worry about a baby in any depth of water let alone at a play where hundreds of other older kids are running around splashing. The mega parks have toddler-friendly zones and pools and even have slides for the little ones. Kids over the age of 2 will have a great time and if your older ones are 42″ or taller they’ll meet the minimum height requirement to go on the larger slides/tubes. Older kids will enjoy the slides, wave pools and, if your park is attached to a hotel, arcade.

Meat Heads

Yes, it doesn’t only happen on the Jersey Shore: meat heads are attracted to water parks because of their uncanny ability to sniff out places where it’s legal to take off their shirt and show the labors of their HGH regimen. Most of them stay out of the way because there are kids around, but in case you run into one going through ‘roid rage take solace in the fact that most of these losers, who are all-upper body and have toothpick legs, will probably die of a heart attack at a young age. Plus they have tiny balls. Heh.

Food

Organic. No high fructose corn syrup. South Beach diet. Atkins. Whatever diet you’re on that does involve not being a glutton should be thrown out the window. From the powdered eggs and a “topping station” with whipped cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles and “red cherry juice” for breakfast to the fried everything for lunch and dinner, you’re in for a high caloric  intake weekend. Fortunately most of these places have gyms so you can at least work off some of the garbage you’ve packed in on the side; this of course is in addition to walking up and down flights of stairs at the hotel and in the water park itself.

Cost

I’ll get to the point: Water parks aren’t cheap.  When I say “they’re not cheap”, I’m saying a recent weekend with two nights at the hotel, some MagicQuest and a few meals will set you back close to four figures. Clearly it’s not cheap but I’d recommend either doing it during the week and saving a few bucks or just leaving early on a Saturday and getting one night at the hotel. This will get you all of the water park goodness you can handle for about 36 hours and hopefully you won’t walk out with a rash and hopefully with about half the cost of what we spent. Most of the mega parks also offer wrist bands that allow wearers to charge amenities back to the room, which can be great for Mom and Dad but something you’ll want to avoid for the kids.

If it wasn’t true, it would be a skit on a comedy show.

The Helena school trustees were shouted down this week when they held a hearing to get input from parents about the proposed health and nutrition education program. The proposed 62-page document includes other more traditional and benign health education proposals, but the absurd suggestion that these young kids learn sex education has rightfully drawn the ire of parents.

Parents are most up in arms over the parts of the plan that propose teaching first-graders about same-sex relationships, fifth-graders that sexual intercourse can include “vaginal, oral or anal penetration,” and high school kids about erotic art forms. The much-maligned curriculum also proposes teaching kindergartners – most of whom are five or six years old – anatomical terms such as penis, vagina, breast, nipples, testicles, scrotum and uterus. You know, things that every five or six year old needs to talk about.

We truly live in a time when schools – ie the government institutions in our society – believe they can do a better job of raising our kids. Forget that the material is not appropriate for the younger children for a minute. The fight over who is the best judge of what kids should learn is waging and finally parents are waking up.

The fact that any educator, or school board official, could look a parent in the eye and say a six or seven year old should learn about same-sex – heck even heterosexual – relationships should scare every parent.

Those in favor of the curriculum used the argument we have to do this because some parents refuse to teach their kids about sex in the home. One woman even linked some parents’ lack of involvement in volunteering at the school as a reason why they must forge ahead. Her logic, if you want to call it that, is like comparing a penis to a tomato. It’s useless.

Perhaps she could consider many homes have two work parents. Perhaps she could consider we’re in an economic downturn of near-depression-like proportions. But, these people don’t deal in facts or reality. They’re all as nuts as Baby Ruth bar.

Don’t let ignoramuses like that Mom take your eyes of the real issue here. Parents have the responsibility to teach younger kids age-appropriate information about the birds and the bees. When Johnny can’t ready why does he need to learn about anal sex?

Public education in the United States needs to focus its attention on teaching the kids the fundamentals they need to succeed in a changing world. They need to learn computer science, physics, biology, English and geography.

Leave parenting to the parents.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at sgulbransen@gmail.com. His personal blog, where he writes about leadership and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also a contributor on Technorati,  to the Shamable Blog, The Friarhood, and is the Sr. Director of Global Public Relations for Sony Online Entertainment.

Article first published as Forget Sex Ed, Teach Math and Science to Kids in Montana on Technorati.

I can haz your catz fur in mah fud? (Alternate title: Not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to eat pussy.)

As a card carrying member of the Man Club, there are very few foods I wouldn’t stuff my face with – especially after having a few drinks. Day old burritos? No problem. Week-old General Tsao’s chicken? Just pick off the hardened rice and we’re good to go. Half-brown pears? Why not, they’re just as juicy and I don’t have to work as hard to eat ‘em.

At one point I noticed something, though. A co-worker and avid cat lover admitted that she let her cat sleep in her sink, on the counters and occasionally in a bowl. Yes, her cat’s filthy paws, that had just been in a litter box, were now in the place where the cookies for the company outing were prepared. A charming woman, I made a point to ask which dish she brought to pot lucks and never touch it.

I used to think this was odd behavior. I mean, she loves her cat so much and seems like a generally clean person (sans the cat hairs on the back of her favorite black sweater) and I’m such a snob that I won’t even give something she made a chance?

Flash forward several years and as the Dad of the house I’m essentially the garbage disposal, who’s responsible for every leftover, “there’s only one left – anyone want it?” and essentially crumbs of anything sweet that may be purchased and sit at the house while I’m gone at work. As a scavenger you learn to improvise and make due; Hot dogs on a piece of wheat bread? Why not. Mac and cheese, baked beans and broccoli in one bowl? Eat up. Half a burger? Gone. I used to plow through this stuff like I was prepping for one of many of Joey Chestnut’s titles.

That was my life until recently. I noticed the belt needed an extra notch, those “slim fit” pants were revealing male camel toe and my side profile looked like my father. I started watching what I ate and trying to get in some exercise and alas, my clothes started to fit again. I still felt sluggish, so I started re-examining what I ate.

Now, because of my job over the years I’ve been exposed to a lot of truths that get spun into “new” truths. Such as: Ethanol is a good thing. We need this bill to pass to “save jobs”. And High Fructose Corn Syrup is OK for you. Using my best judgement, I’ve usually been on the right side of these issues. When I would volunteer to hit the grocery store, I would always avoid products with high fructose corn syrup because I knew it wasn’t natural, your body can’t process it properly and there’s no way in hell I’m going to have my boys grow up with boobs.

My wife and I recently rented “King Corn” and, while it took us several months to finally watch it, showed us the exact reason why my instincts were right – high fructose corn syrup, while a cheap sugar substitute, is basically poison. I had no idea the depth to which corn was produced to support live stock and numerous industries, so that part was quite shocking to me.

A few days later I cued up “Food, Inc.” on Netflix. As some material was redundant with “King Corn”, this documentary went through the systematic dismantling of the family farm and how the government ordered the production and subsidation of the corn industry. Family farmer are either forced to sell to multinational chemical, err, biotech, err, “food”, companies, and those that stay in business are aligned with one of four major food producers, buried in debt to meet their standards, and are producing “food” that is poisoning our bodies daily.

Step right up and reach into a cow's stomach and pull out your own corn bi-product! Yee-haw!

Both documentaries go through the basic, simple notion that cows used to be grass fed and graze but are now confined to lightless, fecal-filled sardine cans and kept alive through the use of hormones and antibiotics. Their bodies, like every other animal (including humans), can’t take living on corn full-time.

It goes a long way to explain why so many Americans are, much like the cows, chickens and pigs in both movies, suffering from heart burn, acid reflux and ulcers. Your body, and in particular your stomach, is fundamentally breaking down and can’t handle that much corn. It also explains the obesity epidemic in this country and how, like most problems, when the government and business get into bed together it’s never the “consumer” that wins.

Times, They Are A Changin’

We used to shop at the local farmer’s market, grow a small garden and pick up organic food when possible. You better believe that we’ve made the switch full time. We’re even looking into buying in on a farm as a co-op in order to guarantee fresh, sustainable vegetables, fruits and meat.  One of the big arguments people have is cost. The prices actually aren’t much different from what you’d pay elsewhere and as “Food, Inc” points out, organic brands that support sustainable farming like Stoneyfield Farms are even being carried in Wal-Mart. Consumer demand is what drives this, folks, and the only way to break the cycle is to send a message with your wallet.

What’s crazy is that while we spend more on food and bring home slightly less, we’re finding that we’re not hungry all the time like we were before. I’ve lost weight and so has my wife, and it’s not because we’re wasting away due to starvation. It’s because unlike high fructose corn syrup’s empty calories our bodies are able to register when we’re full. The other piece that is huge is that I know my kids aren’t eating Frankenfood and I’m hoping my middle son will have a chance at outgrowing the numerous food allergies he’s had. You can help break the cycle for your kids at school as well by signing a petition for schools to provide healthy lunches here.

To top things off, I can’t walk down the streets of New York without thinking about how many restaurants and delis I pass that are charging an arm and a leg for serving processed foods and non-organic crap. Yes, I used to sneer at food made by cat people — but now I feel like unless I know the source I have to do it to everyone.