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• Becoming a Food Hipster 101 and other shenanigans

Becoming a Food Hipster 101 and other shenanigans

Greetings and Salutaions! What is this? I'm posting within eight days of my last post? surely you jest! What's the world coming to? It's coming to a theatre near you. No, but seriously, what's going on? Well, a lot of things, actually, none of which I even so much as alluded to in my previous post. This week features an event that rarely occurs in my life: a lull.  But not in a bad way!  Quite the contrary: I'm grateful for the slight repose because it means that I get to fill my time with other activities I don't often get to do.  What kinds of activities, you ask? A fine question.  Let me explain (see below!).

Let's work backwards in time, à la Benjamin Button. Today I went to The Getty Center with my sorority (Theta) and our co-ed fraternity Zeta.  It was really the perfect day to go; warm, not to crowded, an ideal sunday afternoon.

Actually, it's a bit surprising I was able to walk around today.  Why, you ask? Am I not a youngin' bursting with vitality and energy?!  Of course I am, but yesterday, it just so happens that I walked all the way to Pasadena and back again.  This is what happens when you have a lull, kids. You do crazy things like walk 10 miles. It was really exciting, though! I want to do it again, hopefully in the near future.  You see things when you walk that you don't see when you drive, or even bike.  Sometimes it's nice to just stop and smell the roses.

In other news, I had two omlettes in less than 8 hours of each other at two separate diners.  Why? Because I could. And because I'm running out of meal plan money (it all goes to feed my caffeine addiction at the Green Bean). It's hard to believe it, but the year is winding down. There only four weeks until reading days, and then it's finals, and then we all leave for four months, otherwise known as summer break. But, speaking of meal plan money, I'm sure you're all wondering what on earth a food hipster is and how do you become one before it's passé!?  Well, food hipster is a phrase I coined just now in reference to the fact that I am now gluten free, as well as avoiding sugar, and starch.

In fact, I've been gluten free since spring break, so it's not really that new anymore, but it's new enough.  I thought that it would be more difficult to maintain than it has been; Oxy does a really great job of accommodating food restrictions.  But why have I forsaken gluten/sugar/starch!?  Have I really joined the ranks of Irony in a popular sub-culture movement? No, actually, despite appearance,  I gave up gluten because I'm {probably} intolerant.  As for the others, I don't think I ever mentioned this, but I'm diabetic, so I probably should have been avoiding sugar and starch all along.  So it's not really a choice, per se, but so far, it's been a really good thing in my life.  I feel a lot better than I used to (I didn't even realize how icky I felt until I didn't feel that way anymore). But this isn't a D&M (deep and meaningful), I won't give you a play-by-play of my life eating patterns. Rather, I want to highlight the many food options one has at Oxy, because a) It's an under-appreciated aspect of college life and b) I'm 92% sure I've mentioned food in all of my posts, so why stop now? I've actually learned a lot about food at oxy in the process of giving up gluten.  For one, you can basically order anything at the Cooler gluten free.  My new obsession is gluten-free grilled cheese with swiss.  Who knew you could pick the cheese and the

bread?!  I was most sad about having to give up pasta for forever, but then I learned that one can request gluten free pasta as well.  The customization doesn't end there, but I think you get the picture. There are also a lot of pre-made gluten free options, such as rice cakes and gluten free  cookies.  The green bean has two excellent options currently: florentines and the ABC gluten-free cookies. Of course, gluten free isn't the only dietary restriction out there; those of the vegetarian and vegan persuasion have plenty of options here.  In fact, this past week was go-veg week as well as Passover (shoutout to oxy hillel!), so there were plenty of alternative options.  The Marketplace also accepts any suggestions you make, so long as it's feasible. Anywho, I don't want to inundate you with too much info on food, but to make a long story short, if you have an alternative, even a "hipster" diet, there are plenty of options  here. Also, if you can't find anything you want to eat here or just can't handle such "mainstream" food, there are plenty of restaurants within walking and ordering-in distance. Now that we've covered all the nom-nom options, please enjoy this Bronies video. Until next time--ciao!