Tofu Glazed Ham

Spotted outside my window recently: Is this not the cutest bird you've ever seen? It's a golden-crowned kinglet, so tiny and fluffed up against winter's cold. 

I'm a fool for cuteness, so I had to make this delightful plant-based alternative to ham, complete with the hammy diamond-shaped pattern across its surface.

"Sweet and Smokey Glazed Tofu Ham" (Post Punk Kitchen) is easy and turned out well for me, although I wish I'd had cloves on hand to give it that final charming touch that the recipe calls for (next time!). My one note is that while the marinade makes the outside of the "ham" very flavorful, the inside just tastes like boring tofu. Next time I make this, I'll slice the block of tofu width-wise into two long, flat pieces, and I'll marinate, score, and bake them both for twice the cute deliciousness.

I started reducing my consumption of animal-based food products six years ago, recognizing the disproportionate contribution to climate change made by animal agriculture, compared to plant agriculture. Most research attributes 11-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions to animal agriculture. 

I've been pleased to learn from a few of you readers over the years that my blog has made you rethink your diet to some degree, and I'm hopeful that maybe your changes have also influenced some of your friends. That's one way that change happens, but it's a slow way. I started to wonder: Could I encourage change on a grander scale? 

I spent many years working on advocacy, policy, and communications for global health organizations. If you want people to behave in a way that supports good health—to sleep with a mosquito net over their bed to prevent malaria, say, or stop smoking cigarettes—you can expose them to catchy, clear, repeated, evidence-driven messaging about that behavior and its consequences. The technique is called social and behavior change communications (SBCC), and I plan to use it to influence people to reduce their meat intake.

Supported by a small team of friends and neighbors, and partnering with the nonprofit organization Climate Diet, I have launched a project called "Meat Me In The Middle" to encourage people to reduce their meat consumption to fight the climate crisis. The ~44,000 residents of my local community will collectively absorb and explore targeted SBCC messages about why and how to support the environment (and their health, and animal welfare) by eating less meat. We will then celebrate together with a festive Vegetarian Restaurant Week in early 2026, which is an opportunity to put knowledge and motivation into action, and demonstrate a shared commitment to minimizing meat.

Want to help with Meat Me In The Middle? Please reach out to me! We're working right now on securing funding, and laying the groundwork for a successful SBCC campaign.

In case you need a final dose of cuteness, here's my backup dancer celebrating her 13th birthday with friends.