Food, Freedom, and Why I Stopped Using the Phrase, “Clean Eating”, Jennifer McGrail, The Path Less Taken, February 2, 2015

This is the food philosophy that I want to pass on to my kids:

I want them to see me eat food that nourishes me… in body, mind, and spirit. I want them to see me eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full. I want them to recognize that food is a fuel, yes, but that it’s also fun and interesting and to be enjoyed. I want them to understand that the way an individual eats should be a fluid, changing thing, and that sometimes needs are best met with a yummy salad, and sometimes with a warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie.

I want them to know that the act and art of eating is also highly personal, and not something that should be controlled or micromanaged by another person, even if that person is a well-meaning parent. I watch again and again as parents create food struggles, force their kids to clean their plate, make rules like “no dessert unless they eat x number of bites of broccoli first”, or refuse to buy certain foods because they’re not “healthy” enough. I can’t imagine it’s a super good thing for your relationship with your child, but it’s also a pretty surefire way to guarantee they’ll have an unhealthy relationship with food in the future.

Food isn’t supposed to be a battle! It’s not supposed to be about control, or stress, or pressure, or categorizing things into “good foods” and “bad foods.”

Orthorexia: When healthy eating becomes an obsession, Sarah Elizabeth Richards, CNN, October 12, 2014

If you follow a certain style of eating, like vegan, raw or organic, it takes vigilance and dedication to stick to it.

Yet mental health experts are increasingly worried about people who take healthy eating to an extreme, developing such a restrictive diet it threatens their health and even relationships.

There’s now a name for people dangerously addicted to all things healthy — a sufferer of orthorexia nervosa. Characterized by disordered eating fueled by a desire for “clean” or “healthy” foods, those diagnosed with the condition are overly pre-occupied with the nutritional makeup of what they eat. They rigidly avoid any food they deem to be “unhealthy,” or spend excessive amounts of time and money in search of the “most pure” foods.

Jupiter Ascending’ Is Like ‘Battlefield Earth’ Without The Excuse Of Scientology, Vince Mancini, Uproxx, February 5, 2015

Let’s not call Jupiter Ascending “so bad it’s good,” because that’s a reductive cliché. But have you ever seen a movie so consistently, compellingly ill-conceived that it made you feel better about some of the poor decisions you’ve made in your own life? That’s what Jupiter Ascending is. Going to law school is going to seem like it was a great plan compared to someone making Jupiter Ascending.

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Look, if you go see Jupiter Ascending, it’s probably because you want to see a batshit ridiculous movie, and Jupiter Ascending is nothing if not batshit ridiculous. That being said, ridiculous movies are usually still about something. There are central characters with central desires forming the cake upon which all sorts of frosting flourishes and flowers and decorative marzipan figurines can be layered. Korben Dallas had to get Leelu Multipass to the temple because she (and love) was the fifth element and you need all five elements to stop the giant ball of space evil that’s about to consume Earth, as the prophecy foretold. Simple, right? Once that’s in place, you can add all kinds of evil industrialists, effeminate hypersexual radio hosts, gun-toting dog manatees, squid-headed opera singers, and everything else.

With Jupiter Ascending, THERE IS NO CAKE. It’s just handful after handful of bizarre-tasting frosting, and occasionally you bite down on a Skittle or a chicken bone. It’s like someone combined an airport sci-fi novel with an airport romance novel and put a firecracker in it. All the kooky flourishes – like C-Tates’ buddy who has the head of an elephant, say – would add a lot more value if the film wasn’t constantly failing the “where are they and what are they doing?” test. You can ask it all you want, but the only answer is ever “pew pew!”