P.S.

To address those questions and comments that were raised in class...


Some of the labeling issues that were brought up:
The FDA has adopted a standard to "reduce consumer confusion."
This is a news site for all of the FDA's new announcements regarding labeling
http://www.fda.gov/food/labelingnutrition/default.htm


Think of things like GMO labeling... these are the future of labeling.
The FDA is on it tho, sending out warning to companies who are advertising false claims.
for example:
Claim: "No added refined sugar," "Plus fiber" or "Plus calcium" on baby food labels
Violation: Nutrient claims are not allowed on products intended for children younger than 2 years of age because dietary levels have not been established for this age group.


Also, looking at the future of food:
where are we going in regards to pollution and balanced diets?
Well, with the introduction of the internet, the amount of information that people can receive or find on the internet is increasing the levels of customer knowledge. 
News regarding corrupt companies and false claims have been disperse through social media sites at the speed of sound. 
Hopefully, people will be able to utilize these resources and apply them to their everyday lives. 


I hope you apply these ideas, too! Because I care about your health. 
Make sure you treat your body appropriately, we have been given the chance to do so in this 1st world...
'MERICA!












   

In conclusion...

What has this blog boiled down too?

Initially, I wanted to make it about how corporate America has taken food away from us, and instead left us with processed food, genetically modified organisms, and Twinkies. But in the reality of it all, it was not about how the corporate giant has demolished the local farm; but, it was about how food has changed in an ever changing world.

New Blog Title: The Progression of Food

    Summarizing briefly, this blog has been created in order to 1) encourage readers to think more thoroughly about what they eat, 2) give the facts about food, 3) provide a sense of direction for future production and consumption. My main topics for the blog ended up being additives in food/ and misinformed consumers.   

     Considering additives in foods, I wanted to give readers a reason to look at the nutrition label before buying or eating.  Food coloring, trans-fat, and sugar are just some of the many ingredients/ occurrences in “bad” food.  These are not necessary ingredients.  They are the byproducts of a nation that is used to getting what they demand.

     Misled or misinformed consumers could be one of the biggest draw backs to having a nation driven by profit oriented corporations. Most people are not aware of what their diets should consist of, making portion control, food selection, and food preparation a bottleneck of a healthy nation.  Milk, corn, and salads can be some of the most deceiving foods that are preached to support a healthy diet.  In reality, these are some of the most harmful ingredients in food for both the waistline and the environment.  

     The most interesting topic that i discovered was “uncertainty.” As a consumer, I believed that there was always an answer to how to stay healthy. Unfortunately, most of the time there is no crystal clear answer to the problems our nation is facing with health.  We are catching up though.  Each decade we find that what we were eating in the previous one was not as beneficial as we thought.  We are finding that fish farms, organic produce, and ready-made meals are not as valuable or destructive as we thought.

    In the future, I can guarantee a push to a new way of thinking.  It has happened continuously since the beginning of industrialization and will carry on.  Locavore, is a brand new term used for a person who eats locally. We will see an increase in words to describe consumers. We will see a new food pyramid with more specific guidelines, because as of today, I could be eating 2.5 cups of potatoes and 2 cups of bananas and be getting my recommended daily value of fruits and vegetables…but definitely more tubby.  Health and food will continue gaining momentum as our population increases,  as heart disease maintains its place at #1 for deaths in America,  and as our standard of living fluctuates.

    There is no clear answer to our nation's diet problems or environmental status, but we do have the ability to make changes to take us away from these issues.  

The Controversy

One final post bringing up one of the most controversial topics regarding the manufacturing and production of food:
the health of our nation and the environment 

Some environmental facts:
After energy production livestock is the second biggest contributor of greenhouse gases
- cows produce methane
- livestock creates land segregation
- 1/2 of antibiotics in America are given to animals
- 10,000,000,000 animals a year a produced in the United States

Now let's define agribusiness:
Agribusiness:a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production


Now wont it be comforting to know that 1/2 people who developed the food pyramid are apart of agribusiness?

We've covered what the production and manufacturing of food can do to our environment
What can it do to the people consuming it at these recommended portions?
-heart disease
-stroke
-some cancers

So what do we do? 

Some specialists have advised we go back to eating locally. 

Local farms with enough production to sustain the surrounding communities.

HOWEVER 

there are many things stopping this from happening:

- demand has changed

- the desire for low cost foods 

- demand for produce year round

- location and environmental barriers   

In reality, when we take away the mass production of food, we endanger those in developing nations of food deprivation and starvation.  These are people who would have to spend their days finding food, instead of working or going to school. 

What is the solution?

I don't know.

But what do you think?

   

Food Coloring

ADD and ADHD.
The driving factors for the creation of adderall, vyvanse, ritalin, etc. for our kids who seems to have a difficult time paying attention. Big drug companies are seeing a profitable outcome from the increasing use and prescription of drugs aimed at keeping our children compliant.

Keeping this in mind, lets look at the big corporations who make the most popular children's brand food.


Some of the many side effects of food coloring in food products are:
1. hyperactivity

2. restlessness 

3. attention problems   

and in some cases

4. cancer 

"

• Blue 2: linked to brain tumors in mice
• Green 3: linked to bladder cancer back in 1981
• Yellow 3: known to cause some mild allergic reactions – especially in people who are sensitive to aspirin
• Yellow 6: associated with cancer of the adrenal glands and kidneys as well as possible allergic reactions
• Red 3: was considered for banning in 1983 because of a possible link to thyroid tumors

Why do these food colorings attack the body?

They are made from coal tar and petrochemicals, and our bodies were not created to process this type of energy, This disrupts the normal flow of the nervous system which is why food coloring is linked  to ADHA and ADD."

So why do these corporations insist on using these types of ingredients in their products?

Visual Appeal. and eventually a profit.

No child wants brown Lucky Charms marshmallows in their cereal. That's no fun.

And needless to say, even to an adult, a colorful looking drink is much more appealing than the alternative.

We all know the color of Coca Cola would be green if the company didn't add food coloring.

Moral of the Story:

Avoid the artificial.

And if you follow looking through one of the links, you will see that fruit is not void of food coloring. They are now dying oranges...to make them look more orange... ironic, i know. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4151130-500803.html
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2010/06/30/artificial-colors-are-they-safe/
http://glassvisage.hubpages.com/hub/The-dangers-of-food-colorings

Salad

There are so many topics to cover in this wonderful blog of mine.
I just got home from yoga, and decided to make myself a salad...it seemed appropriate.

As I was making it, I remembered a time when I was sitting on a couch in my sorority house waiting for a friend when a girl came in with a plate full of salad.
It consisted of:
1. iceberg lettuce
2. cheese
3. croutons
4. ranch dressing

She proceeds to tell me how she is on a diet, and how she is so proud of herself for avoiding the "italian style" dinner we were having that night.

Now, normally I would just smile and nod. But I liked the girl, and the irony was just too much.
So, I broke it down for her. I told her that she would probably be better off eating the lasagna.

Iceberg lettuce: 0 nutritional value
Alternative: go for the really dark green leafy stuff like arugula, spinach, romaine, etc

Cheese: adding to the fat
Alternative: adding about 1/4 cup of cheese to your salad adds about 100 calories depending on the cheese.  Opt for adding more veggies, and if you cant live without cheese try something low in fat like feta.
Fun Fact: all cheese is white, companies add in food coloring to make it orange-yellow. And food coloring is horrible for your body...so pick the white American cheese :)


Croutons: might as well be eating a piece of bread with many additives, preservatives, and trans fat.
Alternative: add nuts

Ranch Dressing: finally, one of the biggest mistakes is using a fatty dressing like ranch or caesar. Even some of those fruity vinaigrettes have tons and tons of sugar.
Alternative: try adding some fresh lime/lemon juice with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and balsamic.

In total, avoid the salads heavy in dressing and yummies like bacon, croutons, etc.

But keep eating the good stuff.

 
 

To shop Organic or not Organic?- that is the question!

Ever since the all organic crazy began, controversy has been king.

I am going to provide you with some ideas and then let YOU decide.

But first, in one of the articles I found it mentions that eating organic is somewhat of a red herring...meaning that if our nation switch 100% to organic...it really wouldn't change our obesity problem.  Eating organic is such a small piece of the pie.

Ideas:
Idea #1: What is organic?
Organic by USDA regulations is: generally free of synthetic substances; contains no antibiotics and hormones; has not been irradiated or fertilized with sewage sludge; was raised without the use of most conventional pesticides; and contains no genetically modified ingredients.

Idea #2: Is it healthier?

Organic tomatoes were found to have nearly twice the level of two compounds, quercetin and kaempferol, as traditionally grown tomatoes. These compounds, part of a group called flavonoids, which are just a subclass of antioxidants, have been linked to a reduction in heart disease risk, so higher levels in food would seem to be a good thing.  

but referring back to the point I first made: Most Americans do NOT get the amount of fruits and veggies needed to sustain a healthy diet in the first place. Organic is just a drop in the ocean.

Traditionally grown fruits and vegetables are quite healthful, and there's plenty of research to prove it.

In a study, it found that for 10 out of the 13 nutrient categories analysed between organic and traditional, there were no significant differences between production methods in nutrient content.

Idea #3: Is it worth it?

  If you want to pay higher prices for organic foods based on their perceived health and nutrition benefits, you're welcome to it.   They certainly know their framing, since the global organic food market was estimated in 2007 to be worth nearly $40 billion...and 25% of organic food comes from big business and not your local farm.

    Also, when you shop for traditional food, it's more likely to last longer in your fridge. 

Idea #4: Is it better for the environment? 

THAT ALL DEPENDS!

Hell ya it's better for the environment considering the amount of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer that go into the production of traditional food. It's extensive and harmful to our environment and bodies if signification amounts are ingested.  

HOWEVER

Is organic really better for the environment when its carbon foot print is big? Lets say you live in Maine...if the food coming from California is organic...is travel pollution more or less harmful than traditional food production?

There is this one wonderful example of how fish "farming" can be revolutionized in Spain.  It is a completely 100% sustainable farm.  It will make you wonder why we don't see more of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EUAMe2ixCI

And finally Idea #5: Is it the future of food?

It might be a piece of it but, no; organic farming is not sustainable for the mass production of food. Our resources are getting smaller each day, and so the more that we can produce per acre of  land the better!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=3353401&page=2#.T5mPWKveCa8

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/weekinreview/22bittman.html

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/organic_food_better_you_conventionally_produced_food-56162

Corn AKA

CORN.

AKA

The commodity we all love...

and probably eat everyday

...whether we like it or not.

The government has subsidized the production of corn, making it cheaper to make, more profitable to grow, and more available for items in your grocery store and for your food's food.  

Lets go back to the MOOs,...cows.  What's the main part of their diet?

You guess it! CORN.

These animals, through evolution, have been eating a diet of mostly grass. So what happens when you introduce corn into the mix? 

Well, for an animal with 3 stomachs...it means a few things. It means that a high corn diet...might develop larger mutant strains of the bugs (e-coli) cow's stomach acids can usually fight off.

And then we get e-coli into the food system.

And people get sick.

And the government attempts to remedy the situation.

And the corporations which survive off of the use of corn fight back.

And the government  loses and becomes powerless. 

And we get e-coli in our mass produced meat and poultry products. 

Yum.