This is a new addition to my blog – food I like. From time to time I’ll flag a new food/food discovery that does good things – ethically, environmentally and nutritionally, or just in a makes-me-happy-when-it-sets-off-a-salivary-explosion-in-my-very-being kinda way.

First up, is Loving Earth’s organic, raw chocolate (slogan: healthy, sustainable, fair). I eat it as a twice-a-week treat after lunch. It melts in your mouth and feels like a food stuff, not a guilty indulgence.

Do you do this? Fret about finding the perfect holiday WITH A PURPOSE? Recently, I went around in 238974897 circles trying to find the best place to do a traditional Indian treatment. That’s what I do. I Over-research. Eventually the right answer pops up in front of me. So obvious. I didn’t want to travel to India. India ain’t good for us vatta types. But, it turns out, the first ever ( officially recognised ayurvedic wellness retreat outside of India is in Ubud, Bali at Como Shambhala.

I’ve always found it easier to do something when boundaries are relaxed. Even if you don’t always take up the hall pass, it’s good to know I have the choice. 

In the last little bit I’ve been steering my eating toward organic options as much as possible. It’s not easy. And it’s blooody expensive. At times I’ve thought, is this worth it? I mean, I live in a big, polluted city, my mobile is pressed to my ear much of the day and I eat my bacon carcinogenic-crisp (yeah, yeah, I know). Do the chemical savings earnt from a $7 cabbage negate this toxic baseline?

So I liked this list posted by integrative medicine font Dr Andrew Weil: 12 foods You Don’t Have To Buy Organic. It gives me room to move.

• Broccoli
• Eggplant
• Cabbage
• Banana

This much we kinda know by now:

* How we eat is being controlled by big fat corporations

* We’re getting big and fat – and sick – from the way we eat.

But, here, the rest of the story.

I got goosepimply where the farmer says, “People have to start demanding good wholesome food from us and I promise you, we’ll deliver”. This is the point, isn’t it. We can shop differently and change demand and supply chains. This is the only way change will happen. It’s madness to expect it to start from the farmer. They don’t have the power. We do, or at least those of us in a financial position to buy organic. And those of us who know better than to buy crap-tastic food full of enhancers and modifiers.

It’s a moral responsibility.

I’ve confessed to this before (on twitter, in Cosmo): I have this thing where I have to eat before I go to bed. Doesn’t matter how sustaining dinner was. I have to snack. Honey on rice toast. Toasted nuts with cinnamon. It ticks many wrong boxes and doesn’t do great things for my self-esteem. Or weight at times. I’ve managed to steer the habit around with sheer tenacity. But for anyone still struggling, these tips made sense to me. I stumbled upon them on a post on Huffington Post by Janice Taylor, who refers to herself as, intriguingly, “Our Lady of Weight Loss, Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal .

Ten Ways to Curb, Conquer and Control Nighttime Eating

don't go here

I love a tidy DYK (did you know) list. Especially if it’s an odd number of items (everyone compiles lists of 7 or 11 things, have you noticed?). I’ve been talking about this list with people all weekend – what NOT to eat. If you want to live to see another day.

1. Canned Tomatoes

2. Corn-Fed Beef

3. Microwave Popcorn

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

5. Farmed Salmon

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

7. Conventional Apples

It seems like innocuous stuff. But it’s very innocuousness can leave you thinking, well, what the bloody hell am I meant to eat now if tinned tomatoes can kill me? The answer, as I’ve banged on about before, is to eat as close to the source as possible. Neat. Simple.