back from the real world

We had been in Mexico and we had been buying and eating fresh foods.

while avoiding some other Mexican specialities!

and then on the United Airlines flight out of Mexico, U.S. snacks were available... but this recipe was not enticing, no more enticing than the fatty blobs which hold thrall for some Mexicans...

It seems possible they made an error.
I hope they made an error but I fear for consequences of an error if someone goes anaphylactic on shellfish.
It says chicken. I can't find the chicken. I can find a tiny bit of asparagus near the end.
A lot fishy things, some sand (aka silicon dioxide) but hey, "Where's the chicken, Sir?"

and then in the street in Berkeley, views of major commodities in major vehicles

but also some wonderfoods in the lovely Guerilla Cafe in Berkeley, with all the support in the world for diet issues.

Smoked salmon, poached eggs, green salad (no long chain fatty acids);
polenta with a mushroomy tomato herb sauce (no gluten),
caffe latte at correct temperature.
Thank you.

It was evident as we travelled around that food quality, fresh food rather than fast food consumption, was related to geography and affluence. As is body definition and obesity.

Somehow we did not photograph the huge pillar signs for fast food by highways but Ms Google's camera truck offers this example, one of many, on Highway 80 from San Francisco to Sacramento. There is of course a similar diet-health divide in Australia, but it is posted so much more clearly, the issues of overall body size and obesity are so much more evident in the USA. The USA is further down a shared track...

I am embedding here a relevant video lecture from UC San Francisco's Rhonda Patrick on diet and lifestyle and their impact on ageing and the brain. Again one must note that this comes from San Francisco, so geographically close to the sign above, but socioeconomically so far away... There is also mystique built around fast foods as surely habituating, or infatuating, chemical mixes in them that cause resistance to diet shift to the fresh.

We are not perfect in our approach to diet at home, but we do seek to grow some of our own food and in doing so maintain mental focus on healthy food and exercise.

and just in case we thought we were already

home, there is a painted sign on the road below...

etc

in Old Sacramento