Michael Pollan mentioned today that culture is a huge determining factor in deciding what we should and should not eat. I firmly believe this is true because ever since I was little I was raised to eat healthy. My mother is a vegetarian who rarely visits the grocery store. From the time that I was five years old we have had a vegetable garden that I was forced to participate in, even when I was 12 and believed that I was "too cool." I was never allowed to drink soda, eat sugary cereals, or buy candy bars. I remember being so angry that my parents would never pack me Gushers gummy candy in my lunch like all of my friends and I was never allowed the opportunity to slurp down a Strawberry-Kiwi Capri Sun.

For the most part I have stuck to the healthy eating that my parents instilled in me. Except for today when I ate an entire giant Tootsie Roll that totaled 400 calories. Maybe my parents should have allowed me to eat candy every once in a while......