Though I’ve felt really lucky for many years now, this year truly has been off the charts! It’s demonstrated to me that dreams really can become reality and has set the stage for the healthy (hopefully, decadent!) change our country is seemingly (finally!) ready to make.
From getting to be the face of the (first ever!) healthy chapter of the Costco Cookbook to appearing at the Taste of Chicago (the very first time all vendors were required to provide at least one healthy offering), to cooking in front of 1,800 people for the first time at a health fair, to speaking to Culinary Educators, Restauranteurs and Chefs (who really cared about healthy offerings for the first time) at the American Culinary Federation to actually having my very own dishes on a chain restaurant’s menu for the first time, to seeing my first cookbook become a textbook at more than one high school, to getting a call from Office of the (now former) Surgeon General of the United States for the first time (and actually sitting down with him), to speaking on a panel of all M.D.’s and even being flown to a panel discussion via private plane for the first time, to watching numerous healthy shows get picked up for the first time, etc., it certainly was the biggest year of firsts for me in memory, but also in the promise of reversing the obesity epidemic.
Without a doubt, this was an unforgettable year in the battle against obesity. Though it may not feel that way to everyone, I promise, as someone who has a longterm commitment on the front lines, that more strides were made this year alone than I’ve seen in the previous 10 or more! So if you’re still struggling or want to help someone you know is struggling, know that there WILL be more resources in years to come!
YAY 2009!!!!
