first tofu, now veggie burgers

Last week I found tofu at Eroski's; this weekend as I browsed the village supermarket, I was stunned to find packages of veggie burgers staring back at me in the refrigerated case. Could it be Spain is finally embracing soy?! Apparently so, although I did find the tofu in the international food aisle. Soy milk has been here for a little while, and even our local Spanish bakery now offers soy bread, which incidentally is amazingly good. I got hooked on soy a few years ago, when all the health magazines and books in the US stressed its consumption as a preventative of breast cancer. Of course, as soon as I became a soy junkie, the reports came out that perhaps its benefits were not quite as great as the original studies had thought. Oh well....but I kept on eating it because by then I had acquired the taste. However, after I moved to the village a few years, I went through serious withdrawal because there was no soy to be found. On one of his visits from Frankfurt, our friend T. surprised me with several packs of tofu; I cried with joy. I also came across a recent article published in the Guardian last week (I may be repeating myself, but for Americans seeking excellent news coverage, including US news, check out the Guardian's web site www.guardian.co.uk). Spanish women are the longest living group of people in Europe, living an average of 83.7 years, a whopping 3 years longer than UK women at 80.7 years. And Spanish men are second in the male category (behind the Swedes) at 77.2 years. The secret to their longevity: the diet, particularly red wine and olive oil, and the excellent Spanish health system. The benefits of the Mediterranean diet have been known worldwide for years, but like most things in the US, its popularity was a passing fad, soon replaced low-carb mania and all kinds of wacky food crazes. Spain has a national health system, although there is also private health insurance. But to give you an idea of difference in costs, my private insurance here costs 35 euros a month and covers me for everything except basic office visits. The one month I had COBRA insurance in the US before I moved to Spain, I paid $330. No doubt, the Spanish NHS is a no-frills operation, and it certainly has its problems. But judging by these numbers, they must be doing something right. And at least when people are feeling unwell, they know they can go to the doctor and not worry about how they are going to pay for it. With our almost fifty million uninsured people and astronomical health care costs in the US, we Americans better keep eating our veggie burgers. As M.A. says, there are two things that make the US unique: its guns and its fear of socialized medicine. Perhaps it is time for Americans to pay less attention to the latest eating plan touted on the Today Show and fashion magazines and revisit the Mediterranean diet....it may be our only hope. hasta luego, mylifeinspain