Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I was sadly forced to drop my diet coke habit because fake sweeteners started to give me migraines (It can change your brain chemistry! Is that enough to help you quit? *shudders*)

Anyway, I stopped cold turkey for two days, and when I craved one I really tried to focus on what I was actually craving. Was it a walk away from where I was? If so, find another distraction. Was it sweetness? If so, a fruit juice or sweetened tea, while obviously debatable in health as illustrated by this ridiculous thread, would certainly do the trick. Was it caffeine? Coffee or tea. For me, I found that what I missed was the bubbly sensation on my tongue, so I went the seltzer route, and found myself sated. Now when I crave bubbles and can find no seltzer, I've noticed that even soda isn't quite bubbly enough. Now again, the healthiness of seltzer to your bones is debated. My doctor seems to think a liter of seltzer a day is fine or me so far, as that liter could be a liter of something much worse. It's all relative.

@BobbieAnne - Driving a few minutes isn't really a good substitute for truly destitute urban livers, many of whom use public transit and have children they need someone to watch. Once you solve that problem, there aren't many farms within a few minutes of the city. It's not much more expensive for me to walk down the block to my yuppy farmer's market, or spend a Sunday in the country at an orchard, but for the urban poor it's just not a luxury.

Ed, I agree with you. Most impoverished neighborhoods are fighting for a full service grocery store and paying through the nose at a local bodega for the reasons I just mentioned. I think Philadelphia is a good example of how to start tackling the problem using local food. The Farm to City program is doing an excellent job of spreading farmers markets around the city, and bringing in a multitude conventional and organic farmers to keep the prices competitive with inexpensive options. They also have a program with the farmers to accept food stamps which certainly is another barrier to local produce for the poor. And, Farm to City facilitates local produce for shelters, share food programs, and soup kitchens. Also, we have a few urban farms with farm stands in Philly, and all are in poorer areas where vacant lots were significantly cheaper, and all take food stamps as well.

I agree with the author's frustration. I've seen rich people sigh and roll their eyes when discussing populations that don't eat local food, mostly for lack of their own understanding. I'm pretty sick of Alice Waters selling zebra tomatoes for a song at Chez Panisse and telling people they need to buck up and find a farmer, without little consideration for how it's done, especially considering the number of school children whose parents can't afford to give them breakfast, let alone local breakfast. But at this point, we need to discuss solutions and not annoyances.

I've snuck in sandwiches, candy, hummus and mini pitas, all sorts of things. My teenage years consisted of stuffing the front pocket of my over-sized hoodie with Taco Bell. It must have been detectable. I think the employees who have to do the grunt work of kicking you out don't really care, since it's not a possible legal issue like an underage movie goer, and no one wants to hassle anyone else.

I hate the no same order's rule. In polite society I feel like ordering different things is something you're supposed to do, but I don't want a bite of your steak, I want my own damn steak. If you also want steak, you best beg for a bite of mine or be alright with the double order. I have no problem with someone bringing up the topic of sharing two different meals, and often I'll happily oblige, but I have no intention of sacrificing a craving for the sake of being polite.

We Philadelphians live for our hot peppers on sandwiches. LIVE FOR THEM! Also next time you come, please go to Tony Luke's for a Roast Prok Italian with Brocalli Raab. Much more representative of our actual local cuisine than some shaved steak and cheez wiz.

I don't drink soda everyday, but I love it dearly. When you are eating greasy food like a neighborhood slice or some fries, you need something bubbly to cut through the grease to refresh. I'm a pretty regular seltzer and club soda drinker day to day as well.

It's actually pretty offensive to assume that a: since Michelle is First Lady as opposed to President or anything, she has nothing better to do than represent our idea of families, b: that the family is now using a chef not because Barack was the cook and maybe he's busy, but because Michelle is lay or unwilling to learn, and c: that a Black woman is wrong for not being in the Kitchen. I thought Hesser wrote an extremely one sided piece without any thought, and I'm sad to see you covering it.

Not to seem rude, but there is a way you can go out to a nice restaurant....it's called a babysitter. Believe me, your waitress will like you a lot more if you go this route.

@Lorenzo

I don't think the author was intending to say that grits aren't a southern dish. That is precisely what the term "roots in" means; something is from somewhere. I don't think he meant that we Chicago has taken grits from the South. It is impossible to take a recipe from a part of the world and not also leave it there, so I have no fear that I will head across the Mason-Dixon line and nary a grit will be left thanks to us northerners and our stealin' recipes off the internet.

Furthermore, as a Philadelphian, we eat grits all the time, as do many Amish folk in the area who don't spend much time in the South, so I'm not entirely sure giving the South full credit is due. But if you really feel jipped, we have no problem sharing scrapple :)