Comments on: The Price We Pay

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:34:45 +0000

Liz, your last line is my favorite “…to change how we eat as a people.”

This is exactly right because nothing gets better for our kids and grandkids until WE, as a people, (not individuals) change together.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:32:00 +0000

Carol has a good point here: it’s not just the monetary costs, its our time costs as well. Many people aren’t willing to sacrifice their time to prepare home cooked meals. Many other people aren’t willing to take the time to better plan out their shopping and meals so that fresh food isn’t wasted and thrown out. There’s many reasons for not eating “whole” foods rather than convenience items, but most of them stem from what you are talking about: their desire for convenience is greater than their desire to eat what is best for their bodies.
Another problem I see is how contradictory and confusing our country’s media and societal views on food can be. We have such a warped idea of what is good for our bodies because the data keeps changing! We are so much more likely to purge all carbs (Atkins craze anyone?) than to take a reasonable and educated look at the nutrients our bodies need. No one wants to do the homework on eating because there are studies and “experts” telling us contradictory and changing things everyday! Not to mention all of the marketing undertaken by food manufacturers and their lobbyists!
I’m not being preachy here, because I struggle just as much as anyone to incorporate more healthy foods into our lives. It’s a complex issue, and we have to wade through those complexities as individuals and families in order to change how we eat as a people.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:24:10 +0000

Interesting comment, Jason, but I’d suggest 2 things:

1. The ‘protein myth’ is an old argument that people use when defending our ‘need’ for meat. But it’s just that, a myth. There are a zillion other ways to get protien other than meat and most societies (outside of western ones) have always done fine getting enough without eating any (or much) meat. **EDIT: Great article on this myth here

2. Focusing on ‘nutrients’ is a sure fire way to get confused. If you’re eating a variety of ‘real’ food you can forget about nutrients….don’t even think about them. God gave us a variety because it provides everything we need. As long as you don’t eat the same thing every day and are eating real food, you can completely ignore how much of what nutrient you ate. Cultures for thousands of years before us did just fine without food labels.

This lack of focus on nutrients is one of the most soul-quenching and freeing parts of eating real food, in my experience. Its so freeing to eat whatever you want (as long as it’s real food)!!

By: Jason Terhorst

Jason Terhorst — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:16:38 +0000

You *do* need a little bit of meat – or at least something with lots of protein. Especially if you’re a programmer/knowledge worker: you need more protein to make your brain work at full power than a body builder does for an hour session. It’s also possible to get the protein from other sources (beans, for example), but I like a little bit of chicken to round out a plate of corn and salad. It’s tasty, efficient protein. I can’t drink protein shakes without gagging.

I like dailyburn.com – they have iPhone apps that allow you to track what you’ve eaten. Then, I log on to the site, and it gives me a breakdown of carbs/protein/sugar/etc. Based on info that I’ve entered, they can tell me where to add more or cut back. When I cut down on sugar and carbs and increase protein, as they recommend, I feel better through the day, especially in afternoons. While dailyburn costs money, this isn’t a complicated concept.

They need to make an augmented reality app for grocery stores that makes it easier to get the nutrition facts of products without having to pick them up and read them. Better yet: the screen would appear green or red: “eat this” or “don’t eat this”. More people will change when this stuff is easier or friction-less. Some will do it simply if the food tastes good enough and the choice is made for them.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:04:52 +0000

Oohh…you don’t mince words, Bob, but I think you’ve hit an important problem straight on! You make it sound kind of simple, which it’s not, but it sure is important for us and our children. That’s why I started organic gardening when my kids were little, and preserving my own food. They didn’t want to eat the food, and lots of times I caved. Then I got busy, and when my kids were gone, basic healthy food somehow seemed less important. It takes time and effort to learn how to eat – and cook – healthy. And to be honest, cooking healthy usually means making our food from scratch. TIME and WORK! But on the flip side, the food tastes SO much better and we feel better too when we do it. Keep up the good work for you and for your family!