I have to agree about the lard. My paternal grandmother lived to be 95. My
maternal grandmother is 88 and her parents (died in the 1990s) lived to be
95 (her) and 102 (him). My parents are in their 70s and going strong.
Interestingly, as my paternal grandmother spent her last few years - in
good health, getting around under her own power, and sharp as a tack - in
an assisted living facilty, the place was full of elders just like her.
I think the "trick" for all of them was a lifetime of fresh, home-grown
foods and physical labor. It didn't much matter what they ate because the
constant physical activity kept the body functioning the way it is
supposed to. Today, it isn't so much the food as it is the growing and
processing chemicals and the polution in the air and water and the
decrease in physical activity.
Elaine, too
On Wed, 18 May 2005, Faux_Pseudo wrote:
> _.-In rec.food.cooking, Bob (this one) wrote the following -._
> > This year we did a version of Navajo Fry Bread and piadine, an Italian
> > flat bread. Both call for lard. Most of the kids had never had any.
> > Several parents wanted to "discuss" it with me. I said, "The recipe
> > calls for lard. We'll use lard." The discussions died.
>
> I cook with lard fairly frequently.
> Nothing says good morning like potatoes fried in lard/bacon grease
> with a dash or two of seasoning.
>
> People freak when they hear this though. "You shouldn't do that, it
> will make you fat", "Lard is bad for you", "how can you eat that
> stuff?", "don't you worry about your health" and more comicly "I
> thought your hair looked a little kinky"[0].
>
> To any of them who make an issue of the health problems I point out
> that I can't maintain my figure without it. Which coming from a 6+
> foot person who is only 14.5 stone. Which promptly shuts them up.
>
> I have found this to be more effective then explaining to them that
> a) McDonald's fries aren't as tastier as they used to be (beef lard)
> b) If they moved more and ate less they too could enjoy a touch of
> lard
> c) people who weigh twice as much as I do don't get the right to tell
> me what I should or should not eat.
> d) moderation is the key. Less hamburgers and more home made cooking
> can do wonders for you.
> e) if they ate less diet food and more real food they might find life
> is fairly tastier. lard and all.
>
> In short people (mostly the white ones) have developed this phobia
> (unreasonable. illogical fear) of lard and it ****es me off.
>
> Semi-On-Topic ASCII-Art: http://fauxascii.com/ascii/comic/mot_0042.html
>
> [0] The person who said that one was black so it was "OK".
>
> --
> .-')) fauxascii.com ('-. | It's a damn poor mind that
> ' ..- .:" ) ( ":. -.. ' | can only think of one way to
> ((,,_;'.;' UIN=66618055 ';. ';_,,)) | spell a word.
> ((_.YIM=Faux_Pseudo :._)) | - Andrew Jackson
>