Ezra Klein and Mark Bittman, chattin' away

Wow, since that post a few weeks ago in which I expressed concern that my blog was getting a bit too self-absorbed (due to laziness), I now realize it's getting a bit NYTimes-absorbed (due to laziness.) This is because I subscribed to Bitten and Well (both NYTimes blogs) and they show up on my Blogger dashboard every day. So now it's way easier to go, "Ooo that looks interesting, let me read it and post a short synopsis/opinion on it. Done and done."

Whatever, maybe I'll expand my blog horizon beyond the New York Times (even though they are probably the most fantastic, expertise- and quality-wise) but right now, I'm going to talk about them. Again. Because today Mark Bittman posted a couple of awesome video clips of him and Ezra Klein (economic columnist for the Washington Post... if you're a classmate and the name rings a bell, it's because Joel assigned something by him, though I can't remember what--but I bet it was something about the financial conundrum of mainstream media! Yeah, I know: get outta here!)



If you're not enticed already by the fact that it's just them, talking to each other via headsets and webcams, well then you apparently are not as easily amused as I am. I encourage you to watch it if you have the time. (It's delightfully casual and entertaining--especially when Mark's phone rings and he moves out of the shot for a moment to see who it is, leaving poor Ezra to look around and say something awkward.) But just in case, I will highlight what I think were the most interesting parts.

This first clip--which, slightly annoyingly, is not labeled or identified in any manner in the blog post--is mainly about Mark's beef (pun, yes) with vegetarianism. He says that if a vegetarian is so because he thinks meat is murder, but still eats eggs and dairy, then he is slightly "hypocritical" (I rather think of it as ill-informed) because male chicks and calves born on dairy farms are killed. Which I totally did not know.

Ezra then recounts a visit to a goat cheese farm, where they treated their animals very humanely, and how, when asked what happens to the male goats, the woman who ran the farm replied, 'Well, they go into the meat industry.' He laughs and says, "I love the way she put that ... as if they turn 18 and they get a suit and a tie and a briefcase.. they get sent to learn the meat business."

Although I of course chuckled along with them, there is a sinister truth behind this. And their criticism of vegetarianism is precisely what I meant the other day when I referred to the trendiness and almost elitism behind it, that is often lacking substantial reasoning. As Mark says, if your problem is really moral, go vegan.



This one is a debate on the plausibility of launching an assault reminiscent of the tobacco industry on the processed food industry, whereby junk food would be taxed, and those tax dollars would be used for education about healthy eating. Mark wants this, but Ezra argues that more efficient results might be wrought from simply removing the convenience of junk food. Once again, he gives a brilliant example: a vending machine that used to be down the hall from his office was moved, and now he no longer gets Diet Cokes everyday because he's not willing to go down the street to get one. So it wasn't a dying urge for soda that caused him to grab them before, it was "because it was easy."

I think this is so, so true, and I can give one glaring example in the college world (that may make a few of my friends squirm in their seats): meal plans. Having seemingly free money on your school ID, for the sake of convenience, can be an open invitation to indulge in Chik-Fil-A in the Cathedral Cafe everyday (although I am by no means saying you guys do this, so please don't shun me.) Now that I live off-campus and don't have a meal plan, I usually pack, or wait until I get home to eat, or go somewhere healthier, because no longer do I have the excuse of "Well, I have so many Dining Dollars left that I need to get rid of, so it's okay if I get it." It may take me a few extra minutes in the morning (literally, like only five) to pack, but I save both money and my waistline by doing it. A sacrifice I'm more than willing to make.