Some stuff you post just 'cause it's good, just 'cause it'll bring a smile. But also, I've been a Natalie MacMaster fan for a decade at least.

I don’t have to come to every discussion I’m invited to, but sometimes, the invitation is just too juicy.

The case in point this morning is the Corn Refiners Association recent newsletter lead story, “Natural Options for Sweeteners.”

Yes, the refiners boasted that high fructose corn syrup “meets the Food and Drug Administration policy for use of the term ‘natural.’" ‘Course, that sham is on the FDA, and if I were the corn refiners, I’d use it too. But still, it is a sham:

I written before about Plough and Stars, Erik Jacobs's blog about a year as a farming student. Jacobs and I don't know each other, but we worked concurrently at the Boston Globe.

What I expressed previously was my adoration for Jocobs's overwhelming combination of stunning, affecting photography with good writing and reporting about his experience. And, completely, I still have it, but it's hardly worth repeating oneself.

Production deficiencies abound in this video installment of "10 Words or Less," but the content is great if you're willing to put up with my cut-off head and my amateurish lighting that fades with the rotation of the earth — how could I have seen that coming? The participant is a well-framed, well-lighted Deb Burgard, a psychotherapist in northern California who is a leader in the Health at any Size movement. She completely failed on the 10-words-or-less thing, but she's captivating, informed, and provocative.

Two years ago, Kareem Bouhafs, 23, of Arlington would have been wary of someone who wanted to warn him about genetically modified organisms, the use of pesticides on foods, or the many additives present in today’s food.

I was fascinated by the simple question put out recently by foodnavigator-usa.com — “Who is best qualified to provide nutrition counseling? RDs? MDs? a CNS? You or me?” — because I’d have to say: As a class, at least, none of the above.

What a shocking realization: We got nuthin'!

Let’s talk about deprivation. As in “deprivation diets don’t work,” which is a mantra of most of the registered dietitians I’ve encountered. Everything in moderation, because people won’t stick to a food plan on which they feel deprived.

I don’t disagree with that last part, “feeling” deprived, and I understand the necessity of meeting one’s patient where they are.

Welcome to another installment of "10 Words or Less," in which I ask brief questions and request brief answers of interesting people. Today’s participant is the clinical director of The Source Health and Wellness Treatment Center, which will treat food and tobacco addiction when it opens in Los Angeles next month. Remember, “10 words” is a goal, not a limit, so please, no counting. It’s not so easy; let’s see you do it.
Name Adam Silberstein

My alert and studious friend Steve passed me this story from the Atlantic that springs from a familiar mold, taking the contrarian viewpoint on a reaction to orthodoxy. In this instance, the orthodoxy is our broken food system, the reaction is Pollanism, and David H. Freedman’s contrarian viewpoint is embodied by its headline, “How Junk Food Can End Obesity.”

“Grant me serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”