Friday, August 30, 2013

Food Rules!

Most approaches to diets begin on the nutrient level. Take the food pyramid (or whatever the updated version is called) for example. Grains, veges, fruits, dairy products, meats, and sugars. Michael Pollan's thought process is quite different. The idea to first be sure you're eating "real" food (as compared to food-like substances) is not something I've ever considered. I try to eat well, or at least the best I can. I go to the grocery store and get items like granola bars, crackers, almonds, and greek yogurt. I like to think I'm being a smart and healthy shopper, but I'm receiving the impression that this may not be as I thought. Rule number 13 "Shop the Peripheries of the Supermarket and Stay Out of the Middle" really stood out to me. I thought about the truthfulness of this rule and realized its validity. At the same time however, I also very quickly came to terms with how it's (almost) impossible to shop healthily even staying around the outer layer of the grocery store. Pollan's suggestion to combat this is to shop at Farmers Markets and Whole Foods places. I can't speak for everyone, maybe I'm just not a trusting person, but I find the thought of purchasing non-fruits and vegetables from local Farmers is a little risky. As I'm writing this, I realize the reason I'm okay with buying fresh fruits and vegetables from local Farmers is because I've grown up eating fruits and veges from my grandfather's garden, as well as deer, bear, and turkey that he's brought home from his yearly hunting adventures.

As I think about it, I can't actually rationalize why I trust prepackaged foods. Yeah we have the FDA and USDA and other organizations, but I know they're not the most strict on their regulations. There's really no guarantee that my processed and packaged foods are going to be as trustworthy or more so than locally grown and sold foods. The more I reflect on this, the more I realize that if anything, excuses are made for not going to Farmers Markets and places of the such. If anything, many of us go to the Grocery Store primarily for its convenience.

5 Fav's:
(57) If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you're probably not hungry
(73) Do all your eating at a table
(40) Make water your beverage of choice
(24) When you eat real food, you don't need rules
(71) Eat with other people whenever you can

5 Disagreements:
(37) Sweeten and Salt your food yourself
(26) Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food
(70) Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper
(61) Serve your vegetables first
(45) Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

My 5 rules:
1. Don't starve yourself, eat when your body tells you to
2. Don't rely solely on food to make you healthy
3. Eat what makes you physically feel well
4. Try new things
5. NEVER skip meals

2 comments:

  1. Local farmers are held to the same, if not higher, governmental regulations when processing meats (I'm assuming that is what you were referring to in your post). Local meats are typically (I stress typically) from animals raised and processed more humanely, cleanly, and nutritiously. Shake the hand that feeds you is another of those great rules we've moved away from. Consider we are not that far removed from the local butcher era.

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    1. I think for the most part, it's the unfamiliarity that makes non-traditional food shopping unappealing. By non-traditional, I'm making the assumption that in today's age, traditional food shopping is defined as a grocery store. I don't know what generation would have known butcher shops and meat markets, but my dad grew up working in grocery stores. He told me that when he was younger, they would bring freshly killed meat in (usually in animal halves) and take it to the grocery's meat department where it would then need to be separated from the bone and cut and packaged for selling. According to him, later down the history of grocery meat departments, they would receive pre-cut slabs of meat that would just have to be cut down smaller and packaged. This shows how much longer it would take for the meat to reach its distributor; the stage of the meat would be more mature (meaning it's been dead and exposed to other elements for a longer time). But the fact that farmer's markets (or meat markets) are no longer what I (the younger generation) would consider traditional emphasizes the impact that our industrialization has had on our food industry.

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