Which Reusable Diapers are the Best for Me?

I’d like to make the transition from disposable, stay-in-landfills-for-500-years diapers to cloth diapers, but I don’t know which ones to buy. Here’s my reasoning for making the switch:

1. I’m (finally) feeling guilty about how many plastic/paper products I use and how many nasty “disposable” diapers I’ve added to the landfills.
2. I’d really like to save money in the long term.
3. I feel like if I start now, now that I’m very used to diaper changing and will soon have my boy potty training (he’s 16 months), I’ll be used to it by the time I have another one.

So I’ve been browsing online and reading up on reviews and I’m still as confused as ever. If I’m not mistaken, there are a few leading types of reusable diapers. You’ve got the g diapers that are biodigradeable and flushable. You can seriously flush the inserts in the toilet.

As you can see, they are super cute. You simply add the inserts and then flush them each time you need to. The starter kit comes with a swishie thing to help you swish the inserts around the toilet so it dissolves.

Here are my concerns about the g Diaper:

1. Will my toilet in my old house be able to handle flushing all those inserts?
2. Is it really going to save me any money. If I go through 5 diaper inserts a day, I’ll be spending the same amount of money I am now . . . not including those $18 diaper covers

Then there’s the All-In-One diaper.

This one is the BumGenius and sounds great, but I’m confused about the insert. Is it removable? When they have a mess do you just take the insert and launder it? Or do you have to wash the entire diaper every time (since it’s all in one?)

And then there’s the Pocket Diaper. It seems like for sure, this one you have to wash every single time your kid soils it.

I want a diaper that you don’t have to wash the “outside” everytime. I want one that has some sort of removable insert that you wash everytime but the outside you can use for a couple days. Is that even possible?

It looks you can use pre-folds to line any of these diapers, but you can just buy diaper covers and use the pre-folds with them. Is that right?

It sounds like this may be what I want. You can launder the pre-folds easily, and they’re cheap. And then use the diaper covers until they are soiled and then wash them. Is this what I want?

Importance of Advertising in a Recession

I went to a seminar last week put on by DJ Sprague at KJZZ at the Jazz practice facility called “How to Expand in a Contracting Market.” I thought I already knew about this, because I’m very familiar with the McGraw-Hill study that follows 600 companies in the 1980’s recession. But what I was surprised to learn is that there have been 22 recessions since 1921. This seminar tracked every recession and gave statistics (from reliable research companies like Bain, Harvard Business Review, etc) on what companies increased and decreased ad spend and what it did to them. It was fascinating.

Here are some of my notes from it.

Why advertise in a recession: Dureing a recession there is less competitive clutter. And you can usually buy traditional media for less.

The Recession Cycle: This is the recession cycle. Recession happen every 5-6 years. And the prosperity following a trough has always been higher than the previous peak. Why? Because people have been hoarding their money. They now have more money to spend.

Most companies decide to “ride the wave” throughout a recession, but companies who pull back lose market share and top-of-mind awareness.

1921 Recession: The companies who advertised throughout this recession had the greatest amounts of prosperity when it ended.

Great Depression: In 1920 Ford was outselling Chevrolet 10 to 1. During the great depression, Ford didn’t advertise (their money was tied up in manufacturing). Chevrolet increased their advertising. By 1935, Chevrolet became #1.

1953 Recession: Harvard Business Review followed companies (I didn’t write down who they were) and said that companies who maintained their ad budgets saw no slowdown. But their increase was that of 150%.

1970, 1973-75 and 1981-82 Recessions: In 1970 Budweiser was #1, Schlitz was #2 and Miller was #7. Has anyone ever heard of Schlitz? Well back then they were the number 2 brand of beer in the US. During each of these recessions, the Joseph Schlitz brewing co, a major advertiser, cut its advertising budget in response. And during each, Miller Brewing Co bumped its advertising budget up.  Miller began the 19702 in 7th place. In the first recession, their sales grew by 31%. When we came out of the 1982 recession, Miller was 2nd place in the market – where it is today. Schlitz was financially in ruins and sold to Strohs. Now they’re a tiny microbrewing company.

1981-82 Recession: For the companies that advertised, they saw a 16% increase during this recession. By 1985, those companies who had advertised during this recession saw a 250% increase. This study was done by McGraw-Hill and included 600 companies covering nearly all industries. All companies who advertised in a recession increased over the next several years.

Bain & Associates did a study and said that “The keys to gaining market share in a recession seemto be spending money and taking on new people. Those companyes who did that were twice as likely to pick up market share.

Here’s the clincher: Those who increased budgets were able to keep 70% share in the NEXT recession. Less than 30% of those who lost ground were able to rebound in the next recession.

They found that if you cut too deeply in the ad budget during a recession, the cost of regaining market share once the economy turns around may cost 4-5 times as much as the costs saved.

1990 Recession: During the 1990-1992 recession, Nike tripled its ad spending, while Reebok cut back. When the recession ended Nike’s profits were 9x’s higher than Reebok and they have stayed that way.

The things I appreciated most about this seminar were:

1) The reassurance that this is not the only recession we’ve ever had. We’ll get out of it. And we’ll have more in the future. It’s all be done before. Stop panicking.

2) The reminder that advertising is freaking powerful. And I’m glad I’m in this industry.

How to Avoid Almost All Hardships and Trials

Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people, too. So how do you know whether bad things are happening to you because of something you did or just because it’s an act of God?

I think people bring on a lot of their own issues. We trip ourselves up all the time. Today at church the speakers (who were fabulous) said we have trials for three reasons: 1) mistakes me make 2) mistakes other people made that affect us, and 3) because it’s God’s will (to mold our characters, help us change our lives, help us grow, etc.)

I’d really like to avoid tribulation. I think I’m like Job in that way – I’m looking for every possible escape route to avoid them. Especially #1 and #2. It doesn’t seem like anything can be done about #3, unfortunately. So how can we avoid most tribulations?

• Don’t make any mistakes. This one is pretty straightforward and should be very hard. Just don’t screw up! Ever!

• Don’t get married. If you get married, your husband might disappoint you. He might not have the perfect job which lets you stay home. He might get laid off and you’ll be broke and annoyed. He might cheat on you and you’ll be left with his shame and your kids. He might mess up and go to jail (Wes and I both have family members in jail and their wives are trying to raise 3 kids alone). He might not treat you very well. In short, there are a lot of variables when you decide to merge your life with someone else’s. In order to avoid all tribulation caused by the other sex, just avoid them altogether.

• Don’t have children. Having no partner, husband, boyfriend, etc. will hopefully prevent you from having any children. And if you do, then you missed the point of  my first point. Not having children is a good thing to do if you’re trying to avoid hardships. Kids are full of them. Kids might hate you. Kids might disobey you to the point where it brings shame, drama, heartache and frustration (ie tribulation). Kids might make mistakes you can’t control and bring misfortune to their own lives and their own families. Kids might get hurt by other people and that will also bring heartache and sorrow to your life. To avoid all of this, you should avoid having children. They just makes life messy.

• Get a job that’s 100% rock-solid job. You really need to get a career with absolutely no potential fall-out. I recommend this because if you lose your job you will probably have financial troubles and these can lead to trials and hardships. Financial issues ruin a lot of marriages (which you don’t need to worry about, of course) but they will still cause drama in your life. What are some examples of some rock solid jobs? Hmmm, they aren’t in the auto industry. Or in finance. Or in construction. Or in the medical field. Or in any field that I can think of, but I’m sure they’re out there and you need to find one to avoid trials.

• Run Away from the Government. Avoid living in any country that makes rules that might make your life harder. These parts of the world might increase your taxes and take away your hard-earned money. They might make decisions for you and prohibit your kids (which you won’t have) from going to the school of their choice. They might turn corrupted and make bad decisions that put you out of a job (which won’t happen if you follow my fourth point) or put you out of your home. They might take your money and give it to other people. They might fund failing companies and put the country in a deep recession.  They might choose to go to war when it seems futile to you and you might have to go to war. Trust me, you do not want this to happen to you. Avoid living in countries like these. Consider running to Antarctica. I hear it’s nice there this time of year.

Hopefully you’ve caught the satire here. Life is messy. Sometimes it will totally suck. And sometimes (albeit these times are more fleeting) it will rock. But no man is an island. We’re in it together and the mistakes of our family, our neighbors, and most evidently, our government affect us.  We can sit and cry all day long but it won’t make anything better, because that’s not what we’re here to do. This is our only shot at living life. We need to find a way to enjoy it.

Everything I Need to Know About Working I’ve Learned from the Biggest Loser

I think the Biggest Loser is the best reality show of all time. Not only is it inspiring and motivational, but it has all the drama and surprises that we’ve come to crave from reality TV. Plus it’s lessons are far-reaching and can parallel just about anything. Here’s why the Biggest Loser is a perfect analogy to the career world.

• You Need a Mentor – Bob and Jillian are the world’s best trainers. Despite Jillian’s hard edge and harsh lash of her tongue, she and Bob know so much about nutrition, losing weight and getting fit. I’m always so impressed how hard the Biggest Loser contestants work! It makes me feel inordinately lazy. But the reality is that you HAVE to have someone pushing you, motivating you, teaching you, reassuring you and encouraging you in order to reach your goals.  I’ve found this to be true in my career.  A mentor is vital to growth and success. I have one of these. His name is Bill Matthews and he’s the best darn mentor I’ve ever had. When I was learning media buying he taught me more in a month than anyone had taught me in 2 years. He’s patient, methodical, logical, analytical and super funny. Trainers/mentors are paramount to you reaching your goals.

• Successful Partnerships are Based on Trust and Mutual Respect. One of the things Jillian has failed out this season is getting two of her team members to trust and respect her. Filipe and Sione were with Bob in the beginning but then got switched to Jillian’s team. She hasn’t had time (or taken the time) to build a relationship with them, so they don’t know that she cares about them or their weight loss goals. When they get on her team, they’re already skeptical of her and instead of earning their respect, she pops off and pisses them both off. I think they are being babies about it, but whatever. The fact remains the same. To have a successful working environment, you have to believe your manager/boss cares about what’s best for you. If you don’t trust them, you won’t succeed. You’ll be waiting for the bottom to drop out – for him/her to disappoint you or fulfill your low expectations. If you’re a boss, you will lose your people if you don’t build relationships with them and show them you care about what’s important to them.

• Focus on the Strong, the Weak will Follow. On the Biggest Loser, when you have a weigh-in and one team has a lower % of weight loss and falls below the yellow line, that team has to send somebody home. The Blue team lately keeps falling below the yellow line. Why? They keep sending their strongest and best people home! It’s ridiculous. They are keeping the people who “really need to be here” there and sending home the “people who can do it at home.” That might be a noble way to look at it, but every decision you make has it’s consequences. By sending their strongest players home, and focusing only on their less successful players, they are building a weaker and weaker team that can’t stand up to the Black team, thus they’re going to fall below every single week and will eventually eliminate themselves. In working, I’ve found that most managers, co-workers and bosses spend the MOST time with the weakest teammembers. I think if you’re trying to build a strong team, this is a terrible mistake. Sometimes it’s better to sacrifice a weak member who isn’t cutting it, so you can spend time and reinforce those who are working hard, are pulling their weight and are going to help you all become successful. It’s like at the daycare at the gym, my son gets neglected because he’s the “good” one and the baddies get all the focus and attention on their negative behavior. That’s only going to encourage the cycle of failure.

• Little Slips Cause Big Penalties. Two weeks ago the big, bad, Black team won 24 hours of luxury. They spend it by drinking and eating like 20,000 calories in one night. When they showed up for the gym, they were tired and exhausted. The weigh in was brutal – nobody lost very much weight and the Blue team nearly took them. When you’re working little slips like this can cost you big. You may think because you’ve worked overtime lately that you can slack off a bit, at least for a day. But this kind of egotism will bite you hard. A lot of successes in the past don’t always carry you through when you mess up. People think they “deserve” to slack off a little because they’ve been working so hard, but in the rat race, you aren’t allowed this luxury. You have to show your A-game every day, every single time to move ahead and get in and stay in your boss’s favor.

Anybody else love BL? What have you learned?

Scrapbooking Books for the Non-Scrapper

I’ve been writing some copy for a Scrapbooking company called Scrapbooks, Etc. and have been falling in love with their products. I’m meant to talk other people into buying their personalized announcements, books, etc. but I’ve been talking myself into it in the process.

Scrapbooks, Etc is owned by Meredith Corp, which owns like every parenting, motherhood and women’s magazine and cookbook you’ve ever heard of. They work with a local SLC database marketing company called Rastar for their books and that’s how I got involved. I’ve written the product descriptions on their personalized wedding guestbooks and a couple missing descriptions for their wedding stationary.

But the coolest thing for moms are their customized photo books.

@ Photo Book

I’m WAY not a scrapbooker but I love photo books because you can capture the pictures you love, without spending all the time, money and effort in gluing and stamping and all those things that I’m way too impatient for. Plus you end up with a professional book that will last forever. Unless you let your toddler play with it.

I Wish Photo Book

I made a photo book for Holden last year. It was so much fun. But the hard part about making a photo book for your kid is knowing how to make it look artistic and beautiful. Parents end up dumping like 20 pictures on each page so you get distracted and confused when looking at it. And words make books meaningful, but sometimes you don’t know what to say without being cheesy or verbose. I love my book for Holds but after studying these books I can see my mistakes and can’t wait until he’s 2 so I can do his next one.

They have a book specifically for new babies that prompt you with what text and type of pictures to inclue. They have ones for the whole family – which I’m really digging. And a really beautiful one for a wedding book. I never did a wedding book. I think that might have to be my un-birthday treat to myself.

Friends Who are Not Friends on Facebook

Do you think it’s weird that on Facebook you have so many “friends” who you actually wouldn’t call friends? I mean people who were barely acquaintances back in College or High School, or even Junior High are requesting you to be their Facebook friends. People you barely spoke to once want to add you to their list. Why? Do they want to stalk you? Do they feel better when they have more “friends” than their friends?

This unsettles me. But what really confuses me when people who actually didn’t like me want to add me to their friends list. Like this girl, who I have never spoken to since High School, has requested me twice and I’ve ignored her. It sounds rude, but here’s the backstory:

In High School I was dating her older brother (who will remain nameless) and she did everything she could to tarnish my reputation. I didn’t even have a reputation in high school. I was pretty ignominious. But she spread rumors, talked trash, made her mother (and thus the guy’s mother) hate me. . . . it was so retarded. She was a mean girl. So now she wants to be my Facebook friend. Why? Did she forget that she hated me?

I didn’t forget. And I don’t hate her – but because I haven’t spoke to her since High School, she really hasn’t progressed in my mind. I still see her as the insecure, little sister who wanted me to suffer. Am I unforgiving?

Next there is a girl who requested to be my friend and was actually my bully in 9th and 10th grade. Can you believe it? Yes, I had a bully. And I was really scared of her. She was more popular than I was, a little squat, but I’d heard she packed a powerful punch. I was a skinny nobody but for some reason she picked me out of the crowd to be the lucky recipient of her wrath. She would hiss at me, glare at me, threaten me, laugh at me, talk about me, yell insults at me, bump into me rudely. And this lasted my entire 9th grade year.

I prayed and prayed that she would stop. I never told my family and I tried to keep it from my friends. It didn’t stop in High School. She actually pushed me in the halls. I don’t know why I was afraid of her. It’s weird thinking about it now. Now I would have just punched her. Or told the principal. Or something. But then, it scared the $#@% out of me. She made me weak, nervous and frightened everytime I passed her in the halls. And she tried to diss me to a guy that was taking me out.

The whole thing finally ended when a really popular girl told her that she liked me. She stopped bullying me. But unfortunately she moved onto someone else.

Fast-forward 8 years. I see my bully in church. Just sitting there, with curly hair and a pretty skirt on. She looks sweet. Something I’d never expect. She’s actually really nice and wants friends. So I smile at her, to tell her I’ve forgiven her. And now she’s my friend on Facebook.

But I’ll never really trust her. Should I?

A Dealership That’s Actually Doing Well

It’s a shame that when Legacy Auto (my previous employer) when under, news cameras and reporters were dying to the get the story. But when a dealership is actually doing well in this market, no one is interested in covering it. Well, if you’re someone who loves watching the news for all the negative, depressing stories, this press release is not for you:

South Jordan Dealership Boasts 200% Increase Over Last Year

In Midst of Receding Economy, Sales at Volkswagen SouthTowne are at an All-Time High due to New Management and Advertising

Salt Lake City, UT – March 3^rd 2009 – The US car market is at its lowest point in 25 years. Specialists say 2009 will be among the toughest years ever faced by the 20,000 new car dealerships in the U.S., with sales of cars and lightweight trucks projected to shrink by as much as 37%.[1]

Yet despite receding economy, sales and profits at Volkswagen SouthTowne have never been higher. The South Jordan dealership reports sales are up 200% from last year.

“Since December, Volkswagen SouthTowne has been experiencing an increase in traffic and sales,” said new General Manager Jeff Davis. In an industry when most dealerships are down, many are closing its doors, we’ve been really fortunate to have the kinds of vehicles that people want to buy at prices they know are fair.”

December 2008 marked the date when Volkswagen SouthTowne hired General Manager, Jeff Davis. Davis immediately went to work changing the culture and mindset at the store.

“Outside, there can be economic crisis, lay-offs, depressing news, bad weather and people with negative attitudes; but inside Volkswagen SouthTowne, only good things are happening. We are educating our employees on the best ways to do business. We’re focusing on building long-term relationships with our customers, maintaining the highest levels of integrity with everything we say and do, and making sure we don’t let negative influences get us down.”

Davis also ramped up advertising efforts in December 2008 when many dealerships trimmed up their marketing budgets. “I’m a big believer in advertising, especially in this economy,” said Davis. “Advertising throughout a recession has a bigger impact than at any other time.”

With the help of White Rabbit Advertising, Volkswagen SouthTowne launched its new ad campaign using German mascots “Hans and Franz” in its print, radio and online advertising, a comedic duo who just “love German engineering” and “want to pump you up” about Volkswagen SouthTowne.

“Hans and Franz’s positive, friendly and happy attitude really embodies the core of what we’re all about at Volkswagen SouthTowne,” says Cliff Willits, General Sales Manager. “They love our cars, they are happy, they are sincere, and they care about the things that matter to our customers. Plus they’re funny. They are one of the many ‘good things’ about Volkswagen SouthTowne reflected in our slogan: Where Good Things Happen.”

The dealership is also benefiting from a strong manufacture. Volkswagen is one of few manufactures that is projected to be profitable in 2009 despite a severe crisis in the global auto industry.[2]

# # #

Volkswagen SouthTowne is a new and used car dealer specializing in providing cars for all people, including those with credit challenges. The dealership is located just off the 106^th exit on I-15 at 11000 S Frontage Road in South Jordan, Utah 84095.

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[1] Bivol, Alex (November 28 2008) “Talking Business: Car industry skids. Three is company: can Detroit keep all of its carmakers alive through the current crisis?”

[2] Times Free Press (February 14^th 2009) “VW Predicts year will be profitable”

Recession Trends Apparent in Advertising

Has anyone else noticed a shift in marketing during these Tough Economic Times (TET)? Everybody’s jumping on key terms in their advertising like “stimulus money, bail-out, conserving, recession.

We went to Winger’s for dinner tonight and I saw a Citibank commercial that made me laugh. It shows different people giving advice on how to save money and spend money smarter. Somehow Citibank, which of course is a credit monger who wants nothing more than for all of us to spend stupidly, tags themselves on the end of this. Like they are on the forefront of supporting this decrease in spending.

And then I thought about the Mastercard commercials. The “for everything else there’s Mastercard” ads that made you feel stingy for not buying your spouse a Porsche, your daughter a pony and your family a dream vacation. These ads epitomized the oppulence we’ve felt entitled to as a nation. The message was clear: “don’t be silly, of course you can afford it. That’s what your credit card is for.” I love marketing. It’s so absurd.

Advertising always follows cultural trends. Some say they start them. I’m in marketing and I know they just jump on things as early as possible to make it seem like they start them. Pay attention to ads and tell me what you see happening. I hope you find signs that we are all becoming more realistic. More careful. More grateful.

Why 4 (Kids) is the New 6 and 5 is the New 11

I’m listening to the delicate and lulling sound of my teething son screaming himself to sleep, wondering how it is that people are still having multiple children. In fact, in Utah (where I live) it’s quite common. So common than my mother-in-law is disappointed that we only want 2. Maybe 3. But maybe just 2. Notwithstanding freaky Octomom, there are a lot of normal parents having a big family. My parents had 6. I think they’re normal.

But there are a lot of differences in the world in which my parents raised a family and the world in which I am now raising a family. So this blogpost, while not condoning or condemning anyone for their chosen family size, is an attempt to justify why I think it’s a lot harder to have a big family these days.

1. Social Pressure. My parents started a family back in 1959 when having a big family was more common. The US family size was 3.35, whereas now it’s somewhere around 2.5. You could go to a public place (restaurant, business) with 6 kids in tow and not get impudently stared at. Now, I’m one of those gawkers. I see more than three children and I lose focus on whatever I’m doing. Thoughts like “how do their parents keep their names straight” and “how do they fit them all in one car” race through my mind. Now it’s just not the norm to have more than 2 children. Social pressure says any more than two is just plain extravagant.
2. Fitting all those Kids in Car Seats. My parents fit 6 kids in a station wagon that now would fit barely 3 kids with car seats now. Back then, we fit in there just fine. Four in the back and two in the seat-less cargo area. Now that you need kids in car seats until they’re 20 (ok it’s eight) how are parents supposed to fit all their kids in the car at the same time? Seriously, you can forget about a fuel-efficient vehicle.  We rarely wore seat belts when we were kids. Taking corners, we’d jam our shoulders into our brother or sister, smashing them into the car door. We climbed over the seats and fought. It was great fun. Soccer moms get blamed for their huge, glitzy SUVs with DVD players, but what else are the kids going to do while they’re in seat prison?
3. Challenge of Keeping Kids Safe. When I was growing up, my mom NEVER hovered over me when I was playing. She never played with me. She was in the kitchen making dinner, taking a rest, sewing, etc. I had plenty of freedom and plenty of ground to cover. I played in the backyard with my best friend Alicia, in her backyard, in the field across the street. We rode bikes around the neighborhood, we walked to Top Stop 3 miles away. The world was just different when I was growing up. My mom didn’t have to worry about whether or not someone was going to steal me away or kidnap me while I’m playing in the backyard. Not to sound too doom and gloom about “our world today” but here’s the material point: my mother got her “me” time. She wasn’t constantly with me. Mothers these days can’t just go send their kids off to the park. They have to go with them. This cuts in considerably on mommy’s “get anything done” time. Consequently, they turn to TV and video games to entertain their young kids since they can’t send them off to play by themselves very easily anymore. So moms get stuff done and kids get fat.
4. Financial Pressure. Somewhere along the lines, we got to thinking that kids should have their own bedrooms. Kids should have their own computers. Kids need their own cell phones. Kids need designer clothes. Notwithstanding all this nonsense, which is also very real right now, my parents bought their 5 bedroom Bountiful home for $20,000. That’s right, it’s not missing a zero. Now homes are 20 times that amount for a 5 bedroom. Homes now are bigger, but they don’t offer more bedrooms, just more vaulted ceilings. The ratio to the cost of a home and our salaries nowhere compares to how it was when my parents bought their home. Houses cost more and incomes are not rising to the occasion. I think we could do more and live on less than we do, but the cost of raising a family is higher than it used to be when bigger families were more prominent.

When is Fat OK?

My favorite TV shows are all on the Food Network channel. I haven’t found a show that I don’t like. 30 Minute Meals, Everyday Italian, Food Finds, Ultimate Recipe Showdown, Chopped, Home Cookin’ with Paula Dean, Good Eats . . . I’ll stop for brevity’s sake.

I don’t know what it is about food, but I love eating it, watching it, making it and looking at other people do all the above. I love how matter of fact many chefs are about fats. When making a dish, they say that they need to add some fat to round out the flavors, etc.

We Generation Xers were raised with the low-fat mentality. It’s hard to break out of that for me. My eyes immediately go for the fat content on packages, rather than calories, fiber, sugars, proteins, etc. I’m totally leery of fat in products. And yet in the things I make from scratch, I understand that it takes all different kinds of ingredients – including fats – to make a good dish. I think that’s another reason for my obsession with home-made.

But here’s some cool information about fats. My husband posted an article on his company’s website about getting fat to get fit. The original article touts the benefits of animal fats (pork lard, lamb fat, etc.) vs vegetable fats. She postulates that we’ve been brainwashed in thinking veggie fats are better for us than animal fats. Check this out:

So how exactly is cooking with animal fat better for us?

Unlike vegetable oils, animal fats are very stable and don’t turn rancid easily. This makes them ideal for cooking, which involves heating the fat. And they have no trans fats.

It is much easier to roast a bird or a joint of meat if it has a good quantity of fat. The fat guarantees taste and succulence. Without it, the meat will be dry and tasteless.

Animal fats have lots of good fatty acids that fight disease, help absorb vitamins and lower cholesterol. Your body burns the short-chained fatty acids found in animal fats and stores the long-chained ones found in polyunsaturated fat. It is a myth that eating animal fat makes you fat.

Animal fat also has a good ratio of essential fatty acids. Many of us have a skewed ratio thanks to too much vegetable oil. When this ratio is out of balance, it results in illness and depression.

I love it! I totally think that if we ate like the Amish or the pioneers we’d all be healthier and thinner. I also liked her push for sitting down for regular meals instead of snacking all day long. We’re so afraid of fat and real foods that we gorge out on other things that are terrible for us.

I just have one question: Where can I buy some lard?