Monday, April 23, 2012

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.  



Sunday, April 22, 2012

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?



   




Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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