Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
All you need is a rutabaga and a dream
I’m just back from attending the 15th annual International Rutabaga Curling Championship at the Farmers’ Market in upstate Ithaca, New York.
This year’s championship event took place, as always, on the last day of the farmers’ market season.
Rutabagas, for the unitiated, are root vegetables of the Brassica family, most likely originating as a cross between a turnip and a cabbage.
Unlovely as they may be, rutabagas are just right for rolling down an icy lane (you can cook and eat them afterwards).
Before the festivities begin, the chorus does a quick rehearsal, this one filmed by a Japanese photographer for a reality show of unusual sporting events. The program sent a crew to participate, making this a truly international event.
The event has its own original song, Joe Crookston’s The Rutabaga Curl.
But beyond the sport, the high point is always the sing-along rendition of the Rutabaga Chorus. Its words are explained as the original lyrics for a tune later repurposed for Handel’s Messiah.
My favorite line: “Re-peat re-frain forever and eeeeever….”
Happy holidays!
