Following up on Gobbler’s popular post, Skinny Bitch and the Organic Shopping List, I thought now would be a good time to revisit the topic amidst changes in our habits and disposable income.  Last we checked, Gobbler was livid that his wife’s fav new book, Skinny Bitch, made their grocery costs shoot through the roof.  While this isn’t news, the fact remains food is more expensive now, and we have to second guess that trip to Whole Foods or Foods of All Nations.  Or do we?

The NY Times wrote an interesting piece on Monday on the rising cost of food and our return the dark side…junk food.

“You have to know how to cook beans and rice, how to make tortillas, how to soak lentils,” said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. “Many people don’t have the knowledge or the time if they’re working two jobs.”

Last year, Dr. Drewnowski led a study, published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, comparing the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. The study showed that “energy dense” junk foods, which pack the most calories and fewest nutrients per gram, were far less expensive than nutrient-rich, lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. The prices of the most healthful foods surged 19.5 percent over the two-year study period, while the junk food prices dropped 1.8 percent.

Obesity researchers worry that these trends will push consumers toward less healthful foods. “The message for this year and next year is going to be affordable nutrition,” Dr. Drewnowski said. “It’s not the food pyramid, it’s the budget pyramid.”

The City/Farmer’s Market is closed for the season, and we are left with few easy options at the moment (we do have plenty of farms locally, but its not as convenient as hopping over to South St on a Saturday).

What have you done differently since our last chat and where can we procure inexpensive healthiness?  Are you cooking more?  Are you sick and tired of rice and beans, or do you have a ridiculous recipe?  Or are we going completely seasonal where October consisted of pumpkin granola, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, roast pumpkin, pumpkin soup, etc…

[pic from Andrew* on flickr]

Uncus posted an article yesterday about the things cville is doing to be and not be green.  I was surprised to find out they placed the “localvore” trend in the anti-green habits of the city (the cite UVa research…didn’t see that one coming), and that they missed out on the Eco Dry Cleaners habit of distributing glossy stock spam across town.  Asides from their bullet points, what else are we and are we not doing green in town?

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So, I returned from a long weekend away from my wife to find out that she’s been reading Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman and has decided that she would like to start living the organic lifestyle. She will only eat organic food, cutting out dairy all-together, and is considering becoming a vegetarian.

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I had an amazing morning this past Saturday at the Charlottesville City Market. There was something for everyone:

• Vegetarians: from fresh young bamboo shoots to local strawberries and purple spring onions, the potential for a ridiculous vegetarian meal was easily within one’s reach
• Jewelry: from conservative to on-the-edge, designed young and old were out strutting their stuff
• Meats: there was some serious sausage grilling giving the market a nice smoky aroma
• Politics: Obama 08′, Amnesty International, and a group petitioning against the proposed dam made sure you knew what their deal was
• Eggs: probably every farm except Polyface (why?) sold farm fresh eggs

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Out and about at the downtown market yesterday, the little free-loader in me awoke and asked me if I thought I could sample enough food in cville for free without paying for it. I have a couple pieces to the puzzle but am definitely missing some. Here is what I have so far:

Breakfast

• Albemarle Baking Company: they have samples of 3-4 baked goods at the counter…just play nice and see they don’t notice you taking more than one!

Appetizers

• Feast!: As you enter head towards the meat/cheese counter. There is a table setup in front of the display case with various delicious offerings such as pickled okra, sweet german pickles, and usually at least one kind of cheese (sometimes 2-3) with ABC bread

Lunch

• Whole Foods Market: This is actually a one-stop shop for the freeloader in all of us. Go around lunch time to sample just about everything.

Desserts

• Splendora’s: so many flavors, so little time…there has to be a limit here!
• Milano: so few flavors makes picking a gelato sample very easy
• Gearhart’s Chocolates: a small table on the wall to the left of the main display case usually has pieces of their solid chocolate bars for sample. By pieces I mean chocolate chip size samples. But if any of you have had Gearhart’s, one little morsel is usually enough to satisfy a craving. This week they have their “Maya” bar for sampling

As you can see I am short of enough places on this list to give you all choices…so, what did I miss?
Flickr Photo

Inspired by reading Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” as well as previous posts about the lack of vegetarian offerings in cville, I wanted to look deeper into Charlottesville’s vegetarian friendly scene. I know, Pollan’s book focuses more on “local” and “slow” food, but I have to start somewhere. This post is thus part of a multi-series journey into all things vegetarian in Charlottesville. The next couple of days will be spent only eating veggie fare in Charlottesville. Meat haters rejoice.

Despite the dreary weather, we can always rely on comfort food. And what better way to remind yourself of your American upbringing than a dinner in the city’s only Tibetan Slash Nepalese Slash Indian restaurant? I know, the logic is shocking. But the weather does inspire you to try something new, and I am very glad we did.

The downtown mall was totally dead last night…and then we came across Himalayan Fusion and the place is packed (as much as it can be on a Monday night in cville).

And as you walk in…

• Décor (check)
• Ambient lighting (check)
• Full bar (check)
• Open check (double check)
• Theme music (check)

It seemed to have all the puzzle pieces a solid restaurant has to offer, but what of the food? We decided to start with an appetizer, or how about three?

Chat Papry: Chickpeas, potatoes, and crispy wafers tossed in a tamarind dressing and finished off with a a wonderfully plated yogurt sauce. This dish is served cold and could be compared to an Indian salsa. It was dam good. The menu says crispy wafers, but they really looked like fried wonton wrappers…still good though! This dish is definitely worth a try to the shy diners…it shouldn’t dissapoint.

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