Media and Eating Disorders

“Today’s children and adolescents grow up in a world flooded with the mass media…Over the past 20 years, several articles have proposed a link between the thin female beauty ideal and the muscular male body ideal portrayed in the media with a range of psychological symptomatology including body dissatisfaction and eating disorders.”

Media’s Impact on Eating Disorders in Kids & Teens

“Today, more than ever, adolescents are prone to concerns about their weight, shape, size and body image, and as a result, diet to lose weight…

Many researchers have hypothesized that the media may play a central role in creating and intensifying the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction and consequently, may be partly responsible for the increase in the prevalence of eating disorders.”

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Foodie’s Corner

It’s nearly impossible to eat all the seasonal produce you encounter, so have a strategy and pick out the things that really count. Here are some foods you absolutely should buy at the market when you see them.

1. Rhubarb
It’s in season right now and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

2. Nettles
Soak them and cook them (or dry them), you remove the stinging-like chemicals and reveal a green leafy veg that tastes like spinach and contains Vitamins A and C, plus iron and potassium, and is thought to contain anti-inflammatory properties.

3. Local honey
Local honey can be completely unique — each batch a slightly different taste of your surrounding fields, flowers, and trees. If your local apiary at your farmers market sells bee pollen, consider yourself lucky; that’s also a delicious delicacy.

4. Scapes
With long necks and curly ends, scapes are the “flower stalks” of hardneck garlic plants, although they don’t flower, per se. Swap them for scallions or for garlic; they have a milder taste. Scapes make an assertive pesto, too.

5. Mushrooms
How many supermarkets sell oyster mushrooms, lion’s manes, morels, or shiitakes in gorgeous, showy clusters, bunched together like bouquets begging to be picked?

Seasonal Recipe: Chilled Avocado & Corn Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large sweet ears of corn, shucked and with kernels cut off
• 2 large avocados, pitted and diced
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, ribbed, and finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup cherry or regular tomatoes, chopped
• 4 ounces lump crab meat, optional
• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, combine 1/2 cup of corn juice, garlic clove, half of diced jalapeño, and half of lime juice. Blend until smooth. Add 2 avocados with remaining corn juice and blend until smooth. If too thin, add more avocado. If too thick, add water. Salt to taste, and refrigerate until serving.

Make salsa: Combine reserved corn kernels, remaining jalapeño pepper, and tomatoes. Season with remaining lime juice and salt to taste.