I just returned from my first conference as both an exhibitor and as an attendee. It was something else. The American Dietetic Association hosted its yearly bash in St. Louis. Sadly, there's nothing to do in St. Louis except for attend a conference. Yes, I went to the arch and yes I went up inside of it. Our ride up in the teeny tiny pod included my co-worker, me and two missionaries on vacation. It gave the pod an even smaller feel. The arch was impressive but lasted 45 minutes from bottom to top to bottom again. What then? The city has some beautiful architecture but no people to fill it. So it came across as sort of a ghost town.
Food was a problem. We were a trio of vegans with no options in reach. We snacked all morning and night on samples at the conference expo. Fortunately, we were in the California produce area of the expo so we feasted on strawberries, figs and olives. Not too far behind us were soymilk stands handing out Silk smoothies among other sugary things. Barbara's was around the corner serving up Puffins cereal and Whole Wheat Fig Bars. So we crammed quarter size free snacks into our mouths trying not to appear too deprived. One night we found veggie burgers free of any animal additives. Sadly, the corn and pea salad side dish was so devoid of color that we could only bring ourselves to push it around on the plate and talk about all the water soluble nutrients that were surely lost (we are all dietitians).
Another night we found Mexican, which usually is a blessing. But alas, this was the whitest Mexican food one could imagine. The sauce atop the burrito could have just as easily been pizza sauce. The spinach inside was clearly from a can and worst of all, our "vegan" burritos had some milky artichoke dip in them. Upon politely asking for a re-do, the elderly man retorted, "But it's not sour cream or cheese like you said." Touché, old man, touché.
Our last night, we signed up to attend a vegetarian dinner with the Vegetarian Resource Group, an extension of the ADA. They are simply folks like myself who are (reluctant?) members of the ADA but steadfast vegetarians. They hosted this gathering in a Thai restaurant where I proceeded to eat two heaping plate fulls from the buffet table. I was starved for real food NOT served in a plastic thimble and didn't care if I made PCRM look "unlady-like." (Insert "W" hand gesture.)
Most people who came to the booth were quite encouraged and encouraging. They thanked us for doing what we do. I only had one lady come by and try to pick a fight about milk. I offered up the best evidence-based reasons for not drinking milk. I did not have to resort to the classic, "Would you suck milk out of a lactating bat? Then why a cow?" It's a zinger but I didn't think my superiors would appreciate the tone.
As an attendee, I was discouraged to see how much the dairy industry has its money-grubbing little fingers in every single aspect of nutrition. I went to one session, and only one, out of 7 that didn't announce, "I'd like to thank the Dairy Council for sponsoring my research and for flying me here today and for my 5-star hotel and that hooker last night (author's ad lib)." These lectures often included some inspiring words such as, "Well, we can't expect people to actually eat vegetables and fruit, so we recommend drink more milk for potassium" or "Eating lots of carbs and low protein may be great for someone who exercises everyday, but for a sedentary 40 plus woman, we recommend eating more protein for achieving a healthy weight, especially protein from milk." This latter announcement received a rip-roaring applause from all the less than ship-shape middle-aged dietitians at the conference. I was beside myself with disgust at what I was witnessing.
Aiming low is obviously not working, people, maybe we should go at this from another angle. Hm?
And of course, the biggest and busiest booths at the expo included McDonald's, Budweiser and Little Debbie. Little Debbie was two booths away from ours. People were clawing for those snack cakes. Never to fear, they had plenty to spare. WE ARE NUTRITIONISTS PEOPLE!!! Listen to the first three syllables of that word!!!!! At times, I wanted to claw my eyes out. At other times, I really wanted to raid the Budweiser.
On Sunday, our convention day ended at the same time as a St. Louis Rams game. There was no shortage of pudgy mid-western drunk football fans walking around offering up such pearls as, "Hey! It's a girl convention!"
So, that was my long weekend. Always good to come home to big salads and whole grain bread. Yum.
