Whole versus Processed Food
- http://www.westtown.monthlymeeting.net/friendly-households/food/whole-versus-processed-food-2
- Whole versus Processed Food
- 2013-03-17T20:00:00-04:00
- 2013-03-25T19:59:59-04:00
- Millions of tons of natural resources go into processing, packaging and transporting our food. Processing is the work of cooking and assembling the product; adding coloring, additives, and preservatives.
| When | Mar 17, 2013 to Mar 25, 2013 (EST / UTC-400) |
|---|---|
| Web | Visit external website |
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What to we mean by whole food?
What does it mean to be processed?
Queries:
What are my attitudes toward eating whole foods? Simple meals? Where do those attitudes come from? To what extent do they support or hinder my having a healthy diet?
Can I get along without packages, canned or convenience food? Why do I buy these foods? To what extent are my eating habits influenced by the media?
What role does fast food play in my eating habits? What need does fast food fulfill? Can I imagine other, healthier strategies that could also meet that need?
Take stock
Track your eating for two days. Note which items are whole and which are lightly and which heavily processed.
- Identify at home or at the store 3 to 5 processed food items and make a list of the additives and preservative. Here is a suggested form to identify ingredients and additives.
- Use this list to identify the health concerns that may be related to their ingestion. Make a list of ingredients you will avoid. Use this link to look up the inredients at the Center for Science in the Public Interest Chemical Cuisine Resource Database. http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
Preparation
Take some time this week to learn more about food processing
Online: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
At the bookstore or library: Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
Reviews at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/24/salt-sugar-fat-moss-review and and NY Times Book
Review: http://nytimes.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
Fat, sick and nearly dead at http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
Foster Alternatives: Food Cooperatives
Want to buy bulk food with less packaging and higher quality, but don't want to give up the convenience of a regular grocery store? There's no need to wait for your closest mega-chain supermarket to carry the good stuff. You can join a local food coop or create a neighborhood coop. Food cooperatives are worker or customer owned businesses that provide grocery items of the highest quality and best value to their members. Coops can take the shape of retail stores or buying clubs. All food coops are committed to consumer education, product quality, and member control, and usually support their local communities by selling produce grown locally by family farms.
Resources to explore:
Local Food Coop in West Chester area; Westtown Food Coop contact:
Find other Food Coops: http://www.localharvest.org/food-coops/
How to start a coop: Cooperative Grocer Network http://www.cgin.coop/how_to_start
Wholesaler if you would like to start your own Coop: Neshaminy Valley, http://www.nvorganic.com/
body care products with organic ingredients and more (i.e. vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic, kosher).
Reduce harm
- Packaging: For 5 days, place all the food related packing you use in a plastic bag. At the end of the 5 days, weigh the bag and guessimate its volume.
- Discuss how you might reduce that waste over time.
- Learn more about added salt
- Learn more about sweeteners. Apartame, Nutrasweet and Splenda all have controversies surrounding their potentially damaging health effects. They have been banned in some European countries. Be informed and decide if artificial sweeteners are safe for you to use. One review is found here http://health101.org/art_aspartame.htm
- Learn more about sweet drinks.
- Learn more about sweet snacks.