I was disappointed to find a list of banned ingredients in your article (How to eat: green salad, 8 August). As head of salad here at Blinkist, I’ve seen first hand how important salad ingredients are. For example, rotten tomatoes from the market won’t only make you sick, they’ll ruin productivity, effectiveness and weaker toilets for days.
But by summarily categorising as “bad” such important parts of salad as endive and spring onions, this article is partaking in the harmful actions of salad haters everywhere: focusing on means instead of ends.
You see, salad is not just a food, salad is a way of thinking. Salad is about taking what you have and sharing it with other people after rinsing it in a sink. If salad was just a combination of ingredients, it might as well be Ikea furniture. But it’s not, it’s a platform for originality, skill, technique, even mustard.
We all have a responsibility to look after our friends, colleagues, and favourite vegetables. I don’t have to tell the Guardian about the bees or the alarming rates of avocado toast. Salad is how we be the change we want to see. It’s how someone can be the best they can be. Let’s not fight about it.
Ben Schuman-Stoler
Head of salad, Blinkist
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