Our These Days production assistant is a life-long vegetarian. Some people may not think that's very interesting, but having been born and raised in the Midwest, where a meal without meat was not considered a meal, I was fascinated that she has never had meat of any kind. No burger or bacon ever crossed her lips. No seafood or fowl ever entered her digestive tract. For her, this was a normal way of life - a vegetarian way of life.

Today, as part of our These Days series on food and nutrition, we talked about water and the body. I recently came across an article about the myth that we need to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to be healthy. I was surprised because I, like most Americans, assumed this recommendation was based on sound medical science. But no, there was no scientific basis for the recommendation that's been around for more than 50 years.

Meat has always been a primary staple of the human diet. But the American lifestyle of abundance and excess has lately given us a strange, schizophrenic relationship with meat. Either we eat way too much of it or we fall back on our puritanical roots and reject it altogether. No doubt... most Americans eat too much.

Do you like cookies?  What about pizza?  If you are like most Americans, your answer to both of those questions is probably a resounding "yes." Well, me too.  I love cookies and pizza -- they are two of my favorite foods.  Unfortunately, I shouldn't eat cookies or pizza that often, or in large quantities, because that would be unhealthy.

Why are cookies and pizza unhealthy?  Because those foods contain a lot of sugar and fat (duh!).  What I'm going to tell you next may not be a surprise either: the United States has an obesity problem.  According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four Americans is obese and that doesn't include those who are considered overweight.

I like food. I always have and hopefully I always will. But recently, I've become more and more concerned with what's in the food we eat. From preservatives and pesticides to unhealthy fats and modified sugars. And I began to ask: "What's all this stuff doing to our bodies? And does it have to be this way?"

To answer these questions, the These Days team decided to devote a series of shows to the topic of the food we eat. We'll look at how our bodies work and what they need to be healthy, to why we crave certain foods. We'll discuss how to enjoy beef and seafood in an environmentally sustainable way, as well as explore the rising trend of vegetarianism.

We'd like to know what you think about food. What concerns do you have about the food you eat? Are you confused by all the information out there on nutrition and weight loss? Send us your questions or comments and we'll try to incorporate them into our coverage of "The Food We Eat."

- Natalie Walsh is the Senior Producer for These Days.