Some of my friends will tell you I'm insufferable in my certainties (hi, Ron; hi, honey), and they are certainly not reacting to nothing. That's only worth mentioning because I'm not sure if Food Tank, a food policy think tank on the verge of launch, is going to make any difference in the world. So far, there's a website and the following video, which strikes the right notes, if little more. I can't say I even know what "more" there should be, only that that was my reaction.

I've written several times that marketing to children is a particularly low form of commercial behavior, made worse than it intrinsically is because it is so completely, so blithely accepted — to the point that such marketing is tax deductible.

The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project has devised a fresh way to expand arable land in Massachusetts — by seeking to put former farmland that was subverted by subdividing back into production.

Yes, of course, they put houses onto those farm plots, but in cases of low-density lots, small-scale farming — enough to make a profit — is still possible.

A couple of decades in recovery from food addiction has taught me that it's an illness best self-diagnosed, because — well, to speak for my own experience, until I conceded that I had it, I sure wasn't going to do anything about it.

Having said that, I think that Clifford the Big Red Dog may have issues.

I've mentioned before that I'm a subscriber to the COMFOOD e-mail loop, and though it's lots of mail, I keep receiving enough that's worth it.

The latest tidbit is a database of books and films on issues of interest to sustaina-foodies such as myself (and possibly you?) It is maintained by Philip H. Howard, an associate professor at Michigan State.

It's voluminous, and everything I looked for in a spot check was in there, so I'm guessing that everything else is, too. Worth checking out.

In Washington Monthly, reporter Lina Khan lays bare the scandalous treatment of the nation's farmers at the hands of Big Ag. The story shows that we've been here before, with a handful of meat companies controlling their suppliers' markets, which gives hope that we can escape this stranglehold again, as we did in the '20a.

Here, I pick up where I left off yesterday. I split one piece into two because 800-words-plus is more than too many readers will put up with in one post.

4) Flavorings: As many choices as you have in vegetables, you have even more here. The obvious ones, not only useful but practically required, are chopped onion and garlic. The food maven Mollie Katzen used to say that every recipe of her grandmother’s started with, “chop and saute an onion,” because even if it wasn’t needed in the recipe, it just made the kitchen smell so nicely.

The UK's British Heart Forum makes a reasoned, nuanced case for imposing taxes on unhealthy foods, but I'm not sure it moves the needle.

A bromide of dieting is that you should eat your vegetables first, presumably so that if anything happens — becoming full or nuclear war, whichever comes first — you will have eaten the most healthful portion of the meal.

I don’t follow that bromide, but I do eat my vegetables first. I find that without thinking, I gravitate to them because they are the best tasting things on my menu. Colors, textures, natural sweetness, and more.

Attraction, not promotion.

Final notes from the inaugural “Your Weight Matters”ment that seeks to address issues around obesity is that our issue is not about — and shouldn’t be regarded as — fashion, but about health. Some obese people escape the many adverse health effects related to the condition, and people who are not obese do experience those conditions.