Friday Interview: Mike Wanger

Friday, September 12, 2008

Today's interviewee is Mike Wanger, founder and president of Lakefront Billing Service. A member on the board of Second Harvest (now Feeding America) for 10 years, like many of us, Mike has struggled through several different food cultures over the last few decades. The Reluctant Eater had a chance to talk with him, now that his stomach has settled...

TRE: Mike, with respect to your eating habits, you've been through a variety of different phases throughout your life. Can you walk us through your food history?

MW: Sure. Growing up, Mom was a great cook with an appreciation of the value of nutrition and a balanced diet. We four kids ate the "standard American fare" for the time (50s & 60s), augmented with occasional experimental dishes from her assorted cookbooks. She would always "star-rate" each new dish in the book, along with our comments. She took cooking classes, including cake-decorating -- her cakes were invariably the grand prize at our grammar school cakewalk. Except for home-baked cookies (i.e. snickerdoodles), I don't recall eating much dessert or "junk" food. None of us ever had a weight issue. When we went out, we would always share bites of our meals. Consequently, I learned to enjoy and appreciate new and different foods.

College was mostly cafeteria food. We managed to avoid malnutrition by supplementing it with the four basic food groups: big macs, donuts, chips, and gum.

Early 20s: During early marriage, we both worked, so meals were simple: We would cook almost every night from our wok. Meat, veggies, and rice. Delicious.

One night a vegetarian friend came over. During the course of dinner, we asked how he came to embrace it, expecting some spiritually-transforming story. Not quite: He worked at a rendering plant. One day he slipped on the ice and fell into their swimming pool filled with animal carcasses. We joined the club that night.

At that time I was quite serious about "the Path", of which vegetarianism was an integral part. Looking back on those years, pictures confirm that I was skinny, pale, and I remember not feeling all that well or alert. After a few years, I went back to eating meat, and felt much better. However, an acute desire to maintain a healthy "temple" was ingrained: shopping the perimeter of grocery stores became a habit.

My diet since has remained basically stable: granola, fruit and coffee for breakfast, a big organic salad for lunch, then whatever for dinner. The last 3-4 years, I shop exclusively at our neighborhood organic foods co-op. My life is pretty busy, and cooking for one didn't make sense to me, so I got in the habit of eating cold deli food (from the co-op) for dinner. I eat out maybe two nights a week, and like just about everything. Lately, my new girlfriend cooks for me, so that's been a treat.

Because I still felt funky quite often, I had my blood tested recently and discovered insensitivities to over 25 foods. I quit eating them for 3 to 6 months, then slowly reintroduced them, and don't feel reactionary any more. Additionally, the test showed an allergy to dairy. "Allergy" as in "Your body will never handle this food properly". So giving that up has been interesting.

TRE: Most people aren't aware that humans were never really designed to digest dairy from cows. Yet, somehow it became a staple of our diet, even though a majority of people experience problems with it on some level, be it very minor digestion issues, or a full blown allergy as in your situation. Any advice for people who may not be paying attention to what their bodies are telling them about the foods they eat?

MW: I don't know anyone who would put crappy gas in their car. Yet they pay no attention to how they fuel their bodies. If your car breaks, no biggy -- you can always buy another one. We don't have that luxury with our body -- it's the only one we've got. When we're young, we're bullet-proof. Look at most folks in their 60s, 70s, 80s -- do YOU want to be like that when you finally get your life's dream of getting off the wheel and enjoying retirement?

The body is an incredible machine of mind-blowing complexity and genius. It is generally self-repairing, but wears down over time. Geneticists are maybe 20-30 years away from significant gains in genetic life-extension, but who wants to live longer in a decrepit frame? We each have the choice to significantly influence our future health. At retirement you can be fabulously wealthy, but if you don't have good health, how're you going to enjoy it?

Part of our health issue is our current system of health insurance. Why should I change my lifestyle to eat more healthy and exercise when I can instead get a "free" pill from a doctor? (Even if that pill is nothing but a band-aid. I don't have to "be" better -- I just want to "feel" better.) If we all had no health insurance, I would bet most of us would be much more seriously invested in our personal habits and diet.

TRE: Why doesn't everyone realize right away when their bodies are giving them specific clues to what they should be eating? What were some of your clues?

MW: It's just habit, built up over many years. You're used to feeling lousy or mediocre, and don't know or remember anything else. You might be aware that there is an alternative, but dietary changes take effort, and life might be crammed with other "priorities", or maybe you feel you "can't afford" it. There are plenty of excuses -- We live in a very diverse society with plenty of options, and supermarkets and the advertising media lead you down the path of processed foods.

TRE: Apparently, when I was young I started asking for meat, and that was that - no more vegetarian household. Somehow, your eating habits have never seemed to get in the way. Do you ever preach to people on "the other side" about how to eat? Or is that like religion & politics...no one can talk you into change, it needs to come from within?

MW: I think that most people don't like to be preached to about changing their beliefs. Plus, if a change in diet/exercise is made, the American way is that it wasn't done until it became a crisis (kind of like what we're doing with our national debt). So, a couple of pointers:

1) The closer the relationship, the more likely that person will listen;

2) As with giving any advice, first ascertain where the person you're talking with is at. A "cave man", overweight, single friend of mine has commented a couple of times on my "strange" (read: salad) meal. I know he wants a woman. So, I might simply say "the ladies, they dig the six-pack". Regardless of who it is, I usually give a simple general retort, then see if they pry me for more. Bottom line: Going easy seems to work best. (By the way, I noticed he's now on the "salad train".)

Philosophically, I'm not interested so much in changing the world, just in changing myself. So I'm more often a soft-sell who lets example speak for itself.

TRE: I seem to remember you being interested in hydroponics at some point. How did you become interested in that, and what became of it?

MW: A spiritual community I occasionally visit had an impressive basement hydroponics operation. I did some research and decided to give it a try. The first crop was leggy with minimal "fruit", so I likely needed only to tweak the nutrient balance. Then life got busier and I let it slide. Hopefully to be resuscitated in retirement?

TRE: You were also involved in a group called Second Harvest (note: name it's name has since changed to Feeding America), what was your role there?

MW: I was on their Board for 10 years.

TRE: Okay. For most of us, we are well off enough to treat food as a luxury. We buy brand name items. We buy desserts, General Mills cereals and frozen dinners. Did working with an organization that feeds the hungry give you a different perspective on food?

MW: No, not on food. But it did bring poverty and cultural struggles/disparities more into personal focus. We all read stories about "the poor" and those facing various hardships, but since it's "someone else" and not "me", and since the media is keen on giving us our daily dose of sensationalism, I think we can become indifferent or numb to it all. At Second Harvest, I saw the folks shopping. They were struggling to make ends meet, yet they were upbeat and grateful. At our meetings, we reviewed appeals from churches and pantries that were too impoverished to pay even the 10 cents per pound that we charged to cover our costs. The experience opened my eyes and heart to helping those less fortunate.

TRE: Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences Mike. Do you have any final piece of advice or parting words for our readers?

MW: You're welcome, Ryan. I'm glad to contribute to an effort to raise consciousness about health and diet -- this blog is a great idea! Final thoughts: Even small changes in diet, coupled with regular exercise, can make a difference as we age. And don't forget the mental piece: Think young, act young, BE young!