Opinion/Letters: Cape restaurants need to increase plant-based meal options
The paradigm shift toward plant-based nutrition is surging. The science is solid. Plant-based nutrition has been proven to boost immunity, prevent disease, and enhance survival from chronic illness. The public is asking for such foods.
However, Cape Cod restaurant offerings are, sorely, lagging behind other areas in the country. A scant couple of restaurants offer healthy, creative plant-based options, and only about three have totally plant-based menus. Where do we go?
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In 2015 my Green Nosh Group of Cape Cod organized a first-ever plant-based Chef Challenge for Cape Cod. Thirteen restaurants were included, and the goal was for each to offer a healthy plant-based option on their menu during October of that year. The choices then were wonderful and varied. Sadly, hardly any maintained those options, save for token veggie wraps and processed veggie burgers.
With diabetes and obesity rates soaring, we are requesting that restaurants throughout the Cape read the research, get savvy as so many other chefs have done throughout the country, and include healthy, delicious and creative plant-based options on their menus.
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Together, we can foster health and wellness throughout our beloved Cape Cod. Food Pharmacy is the way to go.
Joanne Irwin, M.Ed., Dennis
Here's how to bring back lightning bugs
Everyone my age remembers warm summer nights when the starry skies were matched by the blinking of thousands of lightning bugs. I did not know all those blinks were the males seeking a mate. But I do know that such sights do not occur now. Where have they gone?
Lightning bugs are bioluminescent beetles that live most of their lives close to the ground. They lay eggs in the grass and leaves in mid-summer and the hardy larvae hibernate through the winter in their leafy blanket. When they emerge from their long sleep, they have a brief period to mate, so the males have evolved the world’s most efficient light. They fly and blink a species-specific pattern, one that the females recognize. Then the cycle can continue.
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This is all contingent on having a habitat that permits the cycle to finish. When we poison them, mow their grass or blow their leaves and cart them away, or flood their flight area with outdoor light, we break their life cycle. Thus, the dark summer nights we now witness, without the thousands of glorious blinking lights.
Lawns are the culprit, with their associated mowers, leafblowers, and pesticides. Keep your property as natural as possible. Avoid lawn. If you must have it, stop mowing and leaf-blowing. Turn off the porch light and plant a tall tree near the streetlight. We can bring those millions of blinkers back, so our descendants can experience the awe and joy of a summer night with them just like we did.
Steve Waller, Centerville
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod eateries lag behind other regions in plant-based menu options
