What's for dinner? For quite some time now, I've been wondering why my choice of food has become so limited to meat or fish. I can see it being partially due to the lack of vegetables in the grocery, which I have used to take in my childhood. But, seeing that I've been in America for more than half of my adult life, I think my diet has been influenced by American food culture. The average American is consuming roughly 250 pound of meat/year - that's about three quarter-pounder burgers a day; the world's highest meat consumption per capita. No wonder. Fast food chains are everywhere for people to take their meat with a reasonable price. Is this not the case for Korean? If you enjoy Kalbi or Bulgoki, you won't be the exception from this index. But why is meat so ingrained in our daily diets?  Beyond its nutritional value, meat holds a significant amount of cultural value - different cuts don't necessarily equate to different nutritional value, but the price variance is great between your half pound of ground beef and Fillet Mignon. According to chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, Bob Young says, "Consumers are feeling better about themselves and their income situation and are willing to pay up for good meat." And this continues to hold true as meat prices are skyrocketing due to drought conditions and an E. Coli recall on beef. Excessive meat consumption is one of the main culprits for American health problems? If that's not enough to change your dietary choices, do a little research on where your delicacy meats such as veal come from... that'll definitely change your minds a bit.  As we head into grilling season, let's try to focus on a healthy balanced diet and get into better shape!