Fiber is in!

by Gwyn Whittaker, Owner, GreenFare Organic Cafe

Happy New Year! According to The Washington Post’s “Out and In” list for 2026, the obsession with protein is out—and fiber is in. If you’ve attended any of our classes, you know that while protein is essential, most Americans are deficient in fiber and consume far more protein than they need.

As Yale University’s David Katz recently noted: “As for protein, plant-exclusive diets can, and do, deliver the protein needed even for the outer limits of human performance—not only in stamina, but also strength. That should come as no great surprise; the greatest muscles on land belong to herbivores.”

I recently had the opportunity to talk about this on FOX 5. Although the segment was billed as a cooking class, I took the IBM approach—answering the question I wanted to be asked—and focused on how to maximize plants in your diet. After all, fiber comes only from plants (and mushrooms).

My personal breakfast recipe is shared here:

I cook four grains—oat groats, wheat berries, rye berries, and farro—in a rice cooker on the porridge setting, with goji berries and raisins. I add chia seeds, flaxseed meal, hemp seeds, walnuts, diced fresh ginger, cinnamon, and cocoa nibs. Everything is organic and not frozen, so the protein remains intact. On top, I add a relish made by pulsing cranberries with a cored apple and orange.

That’s 16 plants in one meal.

Add a spring-mix salad (15 greens) with grated carrots, beets, cauliflower, and avocado for lunch, plus a GreenFare meal for dinner, and you can easily reach 40 to 50 plants in a single day—a magnificent boost for your microbiome and immune system.