Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week the food community loses a hero, laziness doesn’t exist, and mussels test positive for opioids.

Sorry this week is a little New York Times heavy. Personally I am happy to purchase subscriptions that support publications doing excellent work, and I encourage everyone who can afford it to do the same. It’s more important now than ever.

Next week’s Mindful Meal Challenge will start again on Monday. Sign up now to join us!

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

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Photo by flik

Excuses are awesome, aren’t they? Letting you get away with doing nothing about a problem and still feel self-righteous about it. What’s not to love?

I’ve heard them all: I don’t like vegetables, I can’t cook, my husband is too picky, my kids won’t eat it, I work too hard, my knees hurt, my friends are jerks, I love McDonalds, it’s too expensive, I’m too busy.

Yes, yes. Of course you are. But aren’t these still just excuses, illusions we create to mask the real reasons we’d rather watch TV than do something to improve our own lives?

STOP (***Record scratch sound effect***)

If you aren’t getting mad yet, you should be. I didn’t say it, but the implied message is clear: You’re really just making excuses to be unhealthy because you’re lazy.

But that isn’t your experience, is it?

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