At ThisNext, we think all bloggers are rock stars, but relatively few are rally car drivers. Fewer yet are rally car drivers with a mission to rid the world of crap food. Of course, we also accept only the best, so we sense a kindred spirit in Matt Johnston of The Food Ass. By “ass” we’re sure he means his mule-like stubbornness, so we guess you can call us shopping asses. We sat down with Matt for a little ass-to-ass chat.

When you’re not not eating crap, what do you do?
I drive rally cars. No really. That’s how this started. I was so poor for a couple of years paying to race cars all over the country, that all I could afford to eat was ramen noodles, and those 97-cent frozen pizzas. I gained 50 lbs. I’m thinking to myself, “Man, I gotta change this,” and food is the key to having a good life. Then you start looking and learning, and you see that you can make fresh garlic mashed potatoes for 50 cents, and you can make seared tuna and steamed veggies for a couple of dollars. All this really good food so easy, and cheap, why eat crap? You just have to invest a little time, and have some desire to try new things every once and a while.

Where are you right now?
I’m sitting at a restaurant called the Cottage Bar in Grand Rapids. Typing this on my HTC wizard. They’ve changed their beer battered fries to waffle fries, and I can’t decide if I like them or not. Good chili tho. (Without beans, chili doesn’t have beans!!)

Your mission is so clear: Stop eating crap. What separates crap from non-crap?
It’s kind of a personal thing. I personally think most mustard is junk. Ketchup, ranch dressing, non all-beef hot dogs, frozen bagels. Crap, crap crap. People may disagree with me on some things :)

Thisnext allows me to highlight a selection of products that I have used, or like a lot. My stuff doesn’t get buried in posts that never get seen, it’s right there on the front page. It’s cool. I can tag my favorite goodies just like I can my favorite photos, or anything else.

If you could have anything you see on ThisNext now, what would it be?
A Mac book. I know, how boring is that. But I don’t even have a computer of my own right now. I just use my phone, and my girlfriend’s old notebook… and she gets mad at me.