Food is always on my mind. The taste of food is on my mind when I am hungry and the health effect of food is on my mind when I'm not. I wrote a couple in the spring that "food is not our primary source of toxins, but it is our only source of nutrients." I felt somewhat convicted by my own statement and thought it would be good to start thinking about what food is.
Americans are increasingly scared of food. We fear pathogenic bacteria. We fear pesticides. We fear antibiotics. It is difficult to enjoy dinner these days and yet dinner is our sole path to nourishing our bodies.
We need to be smart consumers if we are going to learn to enjoy food again and, at the same time, enjoy good health. The problem is that food labeling is not necessarily helpful to this end. Advocacy groups tend to make exaggerated claims as well which make it difficult for us to make informed decisions.
Beef is a good example. If you've read this blog at all, you know I'm a big fan of beef. We filled out freezer in February with half a steer whose demise was documented here.
There is a lot of speculation on the internet and in research about the "bads" of beef. "Beef is pesticide-laden." "Beef is loaded with hormones." In the spring a study was released linking beef consumption in pregnancy to low sperm count in the male offspring. Researchers speculated that it was the hormones and antibiotics. The Onion wrote an article "U.S. Children Getting Majority Of Antibiotics From McDonald's Meat." How much do we know about pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones in beef? I certainly don't know enough, so let's talk about it.
What about milk? Is it filled with "blood and pus" as a PETA video shows? Is pasteurized milk "poison milk"? Many people who prioritize their grocery budget and buy just a few things organic will buy organic milk. And yet critics of the organic milk industry suggest we are wasting our money. Is milk the best place to start among organic labeled foods? Should we pay more for the organic label?
In the marketplace now, organic dollars are being spent on food defined by what food is not:
"No Pesticides"
"No Hormones"
"No Antibiotics"
But our focus needs to be on what food is. If the food is not nutrient-dense, then it almost doesn't matter what other good or bad characteristics it may or may not have. If it is not nutrient-dense, we shouldn't make it a staple in our diet anyway. We should be spending our dollars in ways that will increase the nutrients in our diets, balanced against the potential "bads."
We need to learn to love food again because of what it is - our only source of nutrients.
There is a lot of food out there with great potential to be loved. We just need to decide which foods will work best for our own circumstances.
I've got some blog entries coming down the pike on some of these issues, but send me your comments as well. What drives your buying decision? What myths do we hold to be true that might be costing us money unnecessarily? What food truths do we need to highlight?
