Winter Storage

I've noticed, during my short stay up north, that the diets of my northern friends pale in comparison to my own diet. Literally.

Up here, beige carbohydrates, beige fried chicken cutlets, and other beige delicacies constitute a solid New England diet. Italian restaurants, sub shops, and pizza joints run rampant. Back in New York, we're overrun with protein and vegetables. Aside from my insidious pizza adventures in the City, I couldn't tell you the last time I sat down to a carb-based meal.

People up here walk less; they just don't have to spend as much time on the pavement as New Yorkers do. The weather is colder and they turn to satisfying, high-fat, low-protein meals. The population at large is heavier and less fit. Could New Yorkers, with their home-cooking anemia, be the model for a healthier America?

Possibly. These days, New York is the hotbed of the local food movement, which is ironic given how many small town dwellers coexist with farmers and still buy their food from large chains that source produce from California and Mexico. Nutritionists say that a healthy plate is a colorful plate, but most New Englanders, despite their access to all kinds of colorful foods, fall back on the beiges of fried fish and potatoes and pasta and the other devils of the food pyramid.

So New Englanders, take note: throw out the fryer and the ecru dining palette. Your body and farmers will thank you.