Friday, January 28, 2011

Getting The Most Out Of Your Food: Part 2 (How Has Industrialization Affected the Way We Eat?)


The first question I asked in my MOPS presentation was "How has industrialization affected the way we eat?"

One of my favorite quotes from the "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook addresses this topic very well.

“Father technology has not brought us freedom from disease. Chronic illness in industrialized nations has reached epic proportions because we have been dazzled by his stepchildren – fast foods, …convenience foods, packaged foods, fake foods, embalmed foods,…-all the bright baubles that fill up the shelves at our grocery stores, convenience markets, vending machines and even health food stores.” “The premise of this book is that modern food choices and preparation techniques constitute a radical change from the way man had nourished himself for thousands of years and, from the perspective of history, represent a fad that not only has severely compromised his health and vitality but may well destroy him; and the culinary traditions of our ancestors, and the food choices and preparation techniques of healthy non-industrialized peoples, should serve as the model from contemporary eating habits, even and especially during this modern technological age."

If you haven't watched the movie "Food, Inc", it is a must-see. There are some disturbing images, but I believe everyone needs to see where their food comes from, whether it is visiting the farm where you get your farm-direct meat or seeing the meat factories where meat in the supermarkets come from. I believe we need to make informed decisions when it comes to our food. Knowledge is important! "Food, Inc" is available via instant streaming through Netflix. Here is the official trailer:



This is also a must see! I call this the "Eternal Happy Meal" clip. If this doesn't concern you, I don't know what to say. 




Again, I don't think we can afford to continue to turn a blind eye in the name of convenience. Can we consider something that simply fills us up and tastes good "food". It concerns me the way "faux health food" is being sold as "health food". We need to be looking at labels. A good rule of thumb is if you can't pronounce something on the back or there is a list of ingredients a mile long, then it probably isn't good for you. Also be aware of tricky marketing labels. A friend of mine pointed out that corn syrup is now being labeled as simply "sugar". It is still corn syrup. You need to know what kind of sugar it is. If it is healthy sugar, believe me, the company will have not problem putting that on a label!

My next post will be discussing the benefits of using whole grains and how I cook with them. So continue to stay tuned!

Blessings,
Jackie

8 comments:

Melanie said...

Thank you so much for doing this series. I've been taking a good long look at what we've been eating lately and wanted to change, just didn't know where to start. I was absolutely shocked at the "eternal happy meal" clip. Wow, that's just shocking. I can't wait for the next post!

His bondservant said...

Food Inc. was an eye opener to our family. We have been eating healthier for years, but it sure did make me stop and think about the times I want to "slip" back to my old ways. Great posts Jackie...so much of our quality of life depends on the foods we place into our bodies.

Blessings,
Jackie

Mindy said...

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving such an encouraging comment. I love meeting new bloggy friends!

Seven years ago we moved from the midwest to the PNW and we have been amazed that when our location changed, so did our food. Thankfully, for the better. We've made a series of slow but sure changes that have benefited the entire family. Thanks for the info.

Unknown said...

Looking forward to more on this series. We are finally able this year to not buy ANY meat from the store. My husband and son got 4 deer, we butchered 6 of our turkeys and had 24 of our meat rabbits butchered. Plus we had the opportunity to buy a farm raised hog. I think we have enough meat to last a LONG time. Which is a good thing since my husband wouldn't let me take away his bacon, coffee OR meat!! :)

LizyBeth said...

Thank you for another great and informative post! I just check it out, Netflix has "Food, Inc." available for instant streaming. I think I'll go watch it now as I fold all our laundry. Looking forward to the next part! :)

Catherine said...

Keep these posts coming, let's see you you've got!

Bernice said...

Ok. Here I am again. LOL. After watching the 4 year old burger clip, I had to post...

My husband reminded me that last summer we got in a hurry for peaches so we bought a few at the store. We later got some off our tree. The ones from the tree started rotting in the fridge in about 3 days. The ones from the store wouldn't rot on the counter. The store bought non-organic fruits and veggies are irradiated. You can read more about it on www.mercola.com.

"Since 1983, the FDA has legalized the irradiation of numerous classes of food, including beef, poultry, pork, lamb, fruit, vegetables, eggs, juice and spices - at the equivalent radiation dose ranging from 33 million to 1 billion chest X-rays."

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Bernice,
You've hit on a whole other topic. Great point and I'm so glad you chimed in :) I hope a lot of people read your comment! I'd love to do a post on that, too someday. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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