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After visiting Florida for decades, I’d choose this gorgeous, uncrowded beach town over Miami any day

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In 1974, my grandma bought a home in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she would raise her three kids and live for the rest of her life.

Her house was surrounded by tall palm trees and faced the Indian River, an estuary where inland freshwater met the ocean’s salty waves, welcoming manatees, pelicans, and other wildlife.

Growing up, this house in southwest Florida was a kind of second home for my siblings and me — especially after my parents got divorced and my mom moved back in. It was a sunny, peaceful place where we were always welcome.

When my grandma passed away a few years ago and our family had to sell the house, I was devastated. Still, I typically return to the area a few times a year.

Whenever I do, I’m reminded how special this place is. I know I already have a strong emotional connection to the area, but I still believe that Fort Pierce is a true hidden gem.

With a population of 50,000 — compared to the millions living in the greater Orlando and Miami areas — Fort Pierce offers more solitude and natural beauty than other major Florida destinations I’ve visited.

Being in Fort Pierce feels like stepping back in time


The P.P. Cobb building and a bunch of palm trees in Fort Pierce, Florida.

The city’s downtown area is full of history and charm. 

Michelle Polizzi



My mom always reminisces about growing up in “old Florida,” the time period in her youth when the state felt uncrowded and underdeveloped, and you could have a whole beach to yourself.

There weren’t high-rise condos clustering every inch of the shore, and the only other people on the beach were their neighbors.

These “old Florida” traits are still alive on the beaches in Fort Pierce, where it’s easy to step onto the sand and not see a soul, save for the occasional person walking their dog. Even cooler than the lack of crowds, though, are the signs of living history.

Walking around downtown, you’ll see the P.P. Cobb building, built in the late 1800s, and the House of Seven Gables, which was built in 1905 and is now the town visitor center.

Standing at the waterfront in downtown Fort Pierce, you can look out at the Treasure Coast, named for the fleet of Spanish ships that sank in a hurricane in 1715, dumping their gold along the ocean floor.

I love retracing the steps my family members did when they were younger; it makes me feel connected to both the place and to my ancestors.

The sunrises and beaches are the best around


A sunset over the water in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Walking around Fort Pierce feels like stepping back in time. 

Michelle Polizzi



Fort Pierce’s official nickname is “Sunrise City” because its downtown offers a clear view of the sun every morning, unobstructed by high-rise buildings, with lush palm trees and nature all around.

There are miles of beaches to explore in Fort Pierce, too. Even if I do happen to run into a crowded parking lot, perhaps on a busy holiday weekend, I can simply keep driving to the next beach to find a beautiful, tranquil space to relax.

Some of my favorite places to go are Hutchinson Island South, Blind Creek Beach, and Avalon State Park, though I’m always discovering new corners of the area to love.

Convenient eateries make beach snacks easy

Since the beaches in this area aren’t necessarily tourist hot spots, you won’t find the snack shacks typical of urban boardwalks. Instead, you’ll have to bring your own food if you want to stay awhile.

Before heading to the beach in the morning, we love to grab lattes and pastries at Old Florida Coffee Co. in downtown Fort Pierce, which is just a 10-minute drive from our favorite stretch of remote beaches.

Archie’s Seabreeze is our favorite spot for lunch after a morning at the beach. We always used to eat here with my grandparents, listening to live music, talking about life, and chowing down on blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches and fries.

All in all, it’s one of my favorite spots in Florida


The author standing with her sister on a Fort Pierce beach.

Even if I didn’t have a personal connection to Fort Pierce, I’d still choose it over Miami or Orlando any day. 

Michelle Polizzi



After countless trips to Fort Pierce, I believe that the history and solitude here offer far better opportunities than what you’d find at a crowded beach in Miami.

I also know that someday, this region of Florida could become developed and busy like the rest — for now, though, I plan on soaking up as many sunrises as I can.




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I choose to go to the human cashier at the grocery store. I’m opting for more human interaction.

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I was initially resistant to the self-checkout kiosks at my local grocery store when they were introduced a few years ago.

It didn’t take long, however, for me to start choosing those kiosks when the regular check-out lines were long. By that time, New Jersey had banned plastic bags, so I reverted to the “I can do it faster myself” way of thinking, armed with cute bags made from recycled materials.

The way it had become so easy to breeze past the friendly faces of cashiers standing at the end caps of their respective, often empty, check-out lanes waiting to welcome customers might not seem unusual. For me, though, it’s started to feel like a sign of something bigger.

There’s a loneliness epidemic

Not only did I not have to interact with anyone in the case I’d rolled out to the store looking less than my best, but I was also saving time, I reasoned. A recovering dishwasher loading control freak, I’m also pretty specific about the way I think groceries should be bagged — heaviest to lightest, eggs, bread, and chips on top.


Jennifer Cannon headshot

The author decided to change from self-checkout lines to human cashiers for a more personal connection.

Courtesy of the author



Meanwhile, the US is facing a loneliness epidemic, and our culture, especially post-pandemic, is to blame. I’m guilty of leaning into leaving my house and socializing less over the past several years, despite considering myself a social person.

According to a recent report from the American Psychological Association, many teens are turning to AI chatbots for friendship and emotional support. My college-age daughters confirmed this to be true, which should be concerning to everyone. As someone with a lifelong obsession with human behaviors, I also find it thought-provoking. It raises the question, what can we as a society do about it?

I went back to regular cashiers

I decided that the first step for me personally was to prioritize more human interaction at the grocery store. There was a part of me that missed simply saying “Hello” and asking how the person, who was specifically there to help fellow humans, was doing. If my daughters are with me, they often find something to compliment, “I like your nails,” or “Your tattoo is so cool, what does it mean?”

These days, it seems to catch some by surprise, and then to see smiles or share an unexpected laugh with a stranger — there’s something mutually fulfilling in that. In the smallest moments, we remember how others make us feel. That’s humanity, and community.

When we first moved to our little town in South Jersey, just outside Philadelphia, I knew the produce guy by name. Al had also worked on our house, and his granddaughter and our daughters went to the same elementary school. For many years, I looked forward to exchanging a few pleasantries with him and didn’t care, or correct him, when he called me Stephanie instead of Jennifer.

It’s been so nice to interact with other people

We’re officially at a point where too many people are longing for connection and to be seen, to have someone be interested in even the smallest thing about them. I make at least a couple of trips to the grocery store each week (because I’m too indecisive to plan meals in advance) and have been choosing to go to the human cashier over self-checkout whenever possible.

It’s been a breath of fresh air to overhear the chatter between cashiers and customers. I stopped in for a few things recently in anticipation of some bad weather, which people from the northeast will tell you means “milk, bread, and eggs.” The cashier, an older woman, called me “honey” but not in the passive-aggressive way Taylor Swift sings about on her latest “The Life of a Showgirl” album. She told me to be careful driving home as a coworker walked by and handed her a bag of homemade ginger snap cookies. Her face lit up.

In conversation with another cashier, a young woman, I learned she hates the cold. The high temperature that day was 25 degrees. We chatted about how she could move south, but then she’d fear tornadoes, and Florida was out of the question because of snakes. We laughed.

Walking away, I thought about how I’ve been missing the minutiae that are only present when we choose to see and acknowledge each other in person.




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What ‘healthy fats’ actually are — and how to choose the right ones for your diet

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US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his diet message is clear: “Eat real food.”

That was his main mantra during a White House press briefing on the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released Wednesday.

The new guidelines feature an inverted pyramid, with protein, dairy, and so-called “healthy fats” as the foundational corner of the new American diet.


new pyramid

Protein, dairy, and ‘healthy’ fats are the foundation for RFK Jr.’s new pyramid.

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“Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,” Kennedy said.

If you’re trying to eat healthier, the problem isn’t that you need more fat — it’s that “healthy fat” is a vague term that means very different things depending on the source.

But what is a healthy fat, exactly? Here’s how nutrition experts say to tell the difference, and how to use that information when you shop, cook, and eat.

A ‘healthy fat’ isn’t just about fat — it’s about the whole food


olive tree

Olive oil is a healthy fat that everyone can agree on. Others spark more debate.

Philipp von Ditfurth/picture alliance via Getty Images



The new federal guidelines don’t provide a strict definition of “healthy” fat, only saying that healthy fats come from whole foods.

Business Insider reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services multiple times, asking for a clear definition of “healthy” fat, but didn’t get an answer.

Typically, when nutritionists talk about healthy fat, what they mean is sources that have:

  • More unsaturated fat and less saturated fat
  • Other nutrients traveling with the fat

Take olives. An olive is a fruit that includes a mix of both unsaturated and — to a much lesser extent — saturated fats. It also has other nutrients in it, including fiber, iron, and vitamin E, plus plant chemicals called polyphenols, which are good for your brain. That’s why olive oil is widely regarded as a healthy choice.

The same goes for chia seeds. They’re high in omega-3 fatty acids, an essential fatty acid that we need to consume because we can’t make it on our own. They’re naturally low in saturated fat, and also provide other nutritional benefits, including decent doses of both fiber and protein.

Walnuts provide another great example. Until the 1990s, they were thought to be bad for your heart, due to their high fat content. It turns out the opposite is true: walnuts are packed with polyunsaturated omega-3s, making them actively good for your heart.

Dr. Joan Sabaté, who pioneered that walnut research in the 90s, said the key is to think about your fats in a broader context, not just focusing on one metric.

“It’s not only the type of fat, but the source of the fat, and how the fat is together with [other nutrients],” Sabaté, a Blue Zone epidemiologist who directs the Center for Nutrition, Lifestyle and Disease Prevention at Loma Linda University, told Business Insider.

What’s the deal with saturated fat?


buttered bread

Butter is a classic example of a food that’s high in saturated fat. Fine, in moderation.

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Unveiling the new guidelines, Kennedy said, “We are ending the war on saturated fats.”

The new food pyramid features beef, butter, and whole milk high up.

“Eating a little bit of animal products is good,” Sabaté said. Red meat and full-fat dairy are packed with nutrients like vitamin B12 and iron, for example, which is hard to find in plants. Experts agree that a little saturated fat is not that bad for your body.

Still, it’s controversial that the new guidelines front-load meat and animal products as “healthy” fats, and mention them first.

Meat and dairy contain significantly more saturated fat than plants like olives and avocados. Research has linked diets rich in red meat and dairy to a higher incidence of chronic health issues, including heart disease and cancer. Animal products are also more pro-inflammatory than whole grains and vegetables.

“That is not the way to go,” Sabaté said, echoing concerns that many health experts shared this week.

(Plus, the new guidelines still recommend limiting your saturated fat consumption to 10% of total daily calories, which means you can’t actually live on a diet of butter, red meat, and cream.)

The takeaway: How to apply this to your diet


drizzle olive oil

Fat packs a punch, more than doubling the calories per gram of a protein or carbohydrate.

AzmanL/Getty Images



So, what should you cook with tonight?

Most days, consider swapping butter for olive oil in your frying pan. That will mean more heart-healthy fats get in your system.

The best change you can make, though, is to curb ultra-processed snacks. Packaged cakes and cookies are often loaded with saturated fat from cooking oils. If you had a buttery steak for dinner, and skipped after-dinner snacks, that could be a good thing.

Don’t fear fat — but don’t center your diet on it either.




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