This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Frozen veggies are way underrated. As best as I can tell, there's nothing at all worse about frozen vegetables compared to fresh ones in terms of nutrition, and they tend to be significantly cheaper and easier to store. Different people have different tastes, of course, but personally, I find that the experience of eating boiled or even microwaved frozen vegetables is exactly equivalent to eating fresh ones that have been steamed or prepared in an equivalent way.
Nothing wrong with frozen, and as you say the nutritional content is pretty close to fresh-picked, but idk why anyone would ever boil them. That's definitely gonna kill both nutrition and flavor. Steaming is preferred in every case I can think of.
Haven't had a microwave in ten years so idk about that part. Maybe fine.
Does boiling actually kill nutrition? Haven't experienced that for flavor. I boil them because I can't be bothered to steam them, and boiling is one of the easiest ways to heat them up so that they're palatable.
Yes, boiling vegetables tend to reduce the nutritive content unless you drink the water with it. But not necessarily by enough to worry about.
More options
Context Copy link
Yes, heating anything up that much is going to destroy all sorts of compounds.
Steaming is just boiling with a basket on top.
I think the main sin of boiling as a way of cooking is that the nutrients leach out into the water, which is then usually dumped out. It'll be fine if you poach veggies in a soup you then eat, though.
Sure, but no need to boil a soup! I'd guess I keep it below 180 (f) at all times and only bring it up that high initially. We eat a lot of stew and I'm fully convinced that it tastes better when it's not boiled.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Any sort of heating is going to nuke the vitamin C at the least. Boiling also leaches stuff into the water.
More options
Context Copy link
Unfortunately, yes. Up to 50% of their water-soluble vitamins are lost during boiling. Especially if peeled. Though, I'd worry more about pesticides in the peels than retaining vitamins. Steaming is better but I share your preferences for making them palatable by boiling.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link