Take a Pea to Lunch

Imagine that your job is trying to get people excited about split peas. Letting them know that honest, dependable old split peas are excitingly high in folic acid, low in fat and loaded with fiber. Brainstorming glamorous new ways of serving them in split pea salad. Coming up with slogans like “Split peas are the ‘sleeper’ food of the ‘90s” and designing split pea cartoon characters.

This the National Dry Pea & Lentil Council’s job, and it sounds a little heartbreaking, though it must be a comfort to know your product is fiber-smart and folic-aware. So come on, folks. Next week is National Split Pea Soup Week. These honorable little legumes are counting on you to remember.

The American Paradox

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has long funded studies on the effects of excessive drinking, but only of excessive drinking. Congress recently agreed with the Wine Institute that this shows a certain lack of balance, so in response to congressional directives, the institute has just awarded the first research grants in its history to study the health effects of moderate consumption of alcohol. The 15 studies will cover such areas as coronary heart disease, breast cancer, bone density and overall mortality.