Super Bowl Sunday: A Kitchen Activist Holiday 

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest food days of the year, second only to Thanksgiving. The average viewer consumes 2,923 calories during the game. And yet, less than a quarter of Americans intentionally purchase organic food. Put those two statistics together, and it’s clear: Super Bowl Sunday is a huge opportunity to think differently about what—and who—we’re supporting with our food dollars.

This is exactly why I think of Super Bowl Sunday as a Kitchen Activist holiday.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Michael and I have hosted friends and family since our first Super Bowl together. That hasn’t changed. What has changed over the years is how we source our food. Our menu is delicious and is steeped in our Mexican cultural lineage: an organic, grass-fed tri-tip, guacamole, fresh beans, Mexican rice, and tortillas. It’s a menu we’ve returned to for years. The only thing that’s evolved is the quality of the ingredients and the intention behind them.

We are not heavy meat eaters. Our meals have become more plant-forward as we’ve learned how much better that is for both planetary health and our own. And really, do we need to eat 270 pounds of meat a year, the current average in the American diet?

That said, Super Bowl Sunday and tri-tip do go hand in hand for Michael.
So this Sunday, the tri-tip he’ll marinate and grill will fall into what I call Better or Best, a framework I first introduced in EAT LESS WATER and continue to use as a practical guide for everyday decisions. In this case, it means sourcing meat with intention. Michael will head to Ventura Meat Company, an organic butcher shop here in Ventura that prioritizes quality, transparency, and responsible sourcing.
This is the heart of kitchen activism: you don’t have to eliminate or reinvent—you raise the bar.

If you’re looking for extra support with meat and poultry choices, I’ve linked to two excellent resources from Kiss the Ground. They break down what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to make more informed choices without feeling overwhelmed.

Super Bowl Sunday is synonymous with pizza deliveries, wings, and barbecue. Millions of pizzas will be ordered this Sunday alone. So the question isn’t “Should we eat pizza?”—it’s “How can we eat pizza differently?”

Here are a few ways to put Kitchen Activism into practice this Super Bowl:
Make your own pizza. Even small swaps—better flour, organic tomato sauce, organic cheese used as a garnish, and seasonal toppings. They may seem like small things, but these changes add up. Plus, making pizza together is so much fun for kids and adults, especially for those at the Super Bowl party who are there for the company, half-time show, and the commercials (my hand is raised).
Support pizza places that go the extra mile. Where I live, that means places like Pinyon in Ventura and Ojai, small establishments that pay their workers a living wage and source their ingredients with care.
Ask questions. This matters more than people realize. Every question you ask signals demand. I recently learned that Settabello (we have one in Oxnard) is using organic flours for their pizza and supporting small-scale farms in Italy. That information isn’t even on their website yet—I found out by asking. (They’ll be adding those details soon.)
The same approach applies to wings, BBQ, dips, and sides. Can you choose better meat? Organic and seasonal produce? A local butcher? A brand that treats workers and land with respect? It doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be intentional.

I know it’s not always easy to identify the “best” option. A Virginia Tech study found that two-thirds of respondents were unaware of the environmental impact of their food choices. That gap isn’t about apathy—it’s about access to information.

That’s exactly why I created the Better & Best List to help you make informed choices without overwhelm. Below, you’ll see an illustrated version of the list from the Kitchen Activist Shopping Guide, which you can download here for free.

I’m excited to share this sneak peek of one of many hand-drawn illustrations by the talented illustrator Heidi Stiles that will appear throughout my upcoming book, The Kitchen Activist. Pre-orders will be available in just a few months, and I can’t wait to share more soon.

As you head into the planning and shopping for Super Bowl Sunday, it doesn’t have to be about restriction or guilt. Instead, it’s about using one of the biggest eating days of the year to quietly, confidently vote for the food system we want.