Aroon and I have been big fans of the TED Talks - an enlightened conference for the world's most powerful, innovative, and soulful people - ever since he introduced them to me a bit over a year ago. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Al Gore (including the premiere of his second global warming slideshow), music industry pioneers, famous architects, Larry and Sergey (the Google founders), Johnny Lee (the CMU researcher made famous by his construction of a multitouch whiteboard using a Wiimote and an LED), Bono, BMW designer Chris Bangle... really, the list goes on, and on, and on. Honestly, it's the most purely high-brow and interesting thing on the Internet today. So when Aroon linked one related to the problems with the world's food supply, I obligingly watched, already made aware of the details of the problem by the current issue of Wired magazine. But this guy's approach is totally different. This guy is a food critic for the New York Times. His advice, in one very strongly put word, is "Eat." There are one or two strings attached, but I've never heard the advice put so simply:After just 20 minutes of this very convincing case, I've decided to be a little better to myself. I had already cut back on red meat and started eating more sushi as a result of living in Japan, but I was convinced to take another step forward. Indeed, still less red meat. Indeed, still more plants. And absolutely no more ordering comforting American junk food from Costco Japan. Aroon had forgotten to tell me that he had gone vegetarian 6 months ago. And my mom told me over drinks on her first night in Tokyo that she was contemplating making the switch as well (she already doesn't do beef or pork, and she's tired of chicken).So join us! Be like me and take baby steps - drop your junk food purchases little by little, learn recipes one by one. I'm not giving up red meat anytime soon, but I am happy to report that my intake of it is down by maybe 40 to 50% since I got here 10 months ago. Truth be told, it's not even really a sacrifice. Just eat.
