I would bet one meeeelion dollars there is a correlation between obsession with "real" food and weight problems. Not a 1:1 correlation -- there are people in here whom I know to be naturalist/hippy types in other aspects of life too -- but I think maybe 75% of the time people who criticize processed foods are doing it as a proxy for criticism of what the think made them fat.
You have a split between the Fairfax/Santa Cruz/Bolinas types, the type A helicopter moms, the formerly anorexic and those who aren't at any risk of anorexia.
I would bet one meeeelion dollars there is a correlation between obsession with "real" food and weight problems. Not a 1:1 correlation -- there are people in here whom I know to be naturalist/hippy types in other aspects of life too -- but I think maybe 75% of the time people who criticize processed foods are doing it as a proxy for criticism of what the think made them fat.
Processed foods don't make people fat. Eating too much and not exercising makes people fat. Truth.
Hmm I want to agree with this, but then I think about myself.
I avoid a lot of over-processed foods because my skin freaks out. Plus, there are certain brands, like of ice cream for example, that taste like pure chemicals. But I also don't make my own ice cream so there's that.
Also, like already said, it does have to do more with moderation.
I also guess that if these people are making a loaf of bread and are eating the entire damn loaf, then it doesn't really matter if it had HFCS....
Kinda reminds me of people who eat an entire GF cake.
I would bet one meeeelion dollars there is a correlation between obsession with "real" food and weight problems. Not a 1:1 correlation -- there are people in here whom I know to be naturalist/hippy types in other aspects of life too -- but I think maybe 75% of the time people who criticize processed foods are doing it as a proxy for criticism of what the think made them fat.
Processed foods don't make people fat. Eating too much and not exercising makes people fat. Truth.
Well, yeah, this is stating the obvious. It's only logical that people with extreme weight problems/health issues put their diet under a microscope and say "how did my diet get me here and what can I eliminate/add to make me healthy." This seems the healthiest way to go.
I would bet one meeeelion dollars there is a correlation between obsession with "real" food and weight problems. Not a 1:1 correlation -- there are people in here whom I know to be naturalist/hippy types in other aspects of life too -- but I think maybe 75% of the time people who criticize processed foods are doing it as a proxy for criticism of what the think made them fat.
Processed foods don't make people fat. Eating too much and not exercising makes people fat. Truth.
Well, yeah, this is stating the obvious. It's only logical that people with extreme weight problems/health issues put their diet under a microscope and say "how did my diet get me here and what can I eliminate/add to make me healthy." This seems the healthiest way to go.
Right, but it wasn't processed food that made them fat. It was eating too much food. You can get fat on organic/"real"/whole foods just as easily. Sprinkles makes a delicious gluten free cupcake. For example.
ETA: The "real" food craze just reminds me of the "fat free" phase. Sure, you lose weight doing it. Until capitalism figures out how to game the system and the next thing you know P&G is making the gluten free fresh baked banana bread at your farmer's market and debuts a "Farmer's Market" brand at your local mini-mart and suddenly . . . Snackwells, Take II.
Yeah, true, I see what you're saying. It's still a calories in/calories out thing and processed or not, you're probably not going to lose weight until you get that under control.
Threads like this are the reason I stopped lurking! So much love for everything that's been said in here!! Also some of you are so fucking funny it's intimidating. LHC, your post on what kale chips taste like made me laugh out loud and my Mom asked me what I was laughing at and I had to lie and pretend it was a post a "friend" posted on Facebook. I read it out old to her and she cried she laughed so hard!
I was raised to eat healthy when you can and when you can't or don't make healthy choices it's only okay if you shit talk your decision. Like you have to call someone and be like "omg, I had a HOT DOG for lunch, can you believe it? I should just eat SALAD for the rest of the week because I'm so grossed out by myself, LOL". Double points if you later hypocritically point out someone else eating poorly and criticize them. Like "can you believe that lady is eating a hot dog?? I know I just ate one myself, but at least I had the good sense to act ashamed of myself!!"
This is something I try reallllllly hard not to do, but my H would say I do it all the time. I really don't want to raise my kid like this so really need to watch it.
Well, yeah, this is stating the obvious. It's only logical that people with extreme weight problems/health issues put their diet under a microscope and say "how did my diet get me here and what can I eliminate/add to make me healthy." This seems the healthiest way to go.
Right, but it wasn't processed food that made them fat. It was eating too much food. You can get fat on organic/"real"/whole foods just as easily. Sprinkles makes a delicious gluten free cupcake. For example.
ETA: The "real" food craze just reminds me of the "fat free" phase. Sure, you lose weight doing it. Until capitalism figures out how to game the system and the next thing you know P&G is making the gluten free fresh baked banana bread at your farmer's market and debuts a "Farmer's Market" brand at your local mini-mart and suddenly . . . Snackwells, Take II.
That would be great! If "real food" were that mainstream (and presumably affordable) the typical American diet would be that much healthier.
I can't imagine that happening, however, as the huge food companies profit from processed foods by producing them with cheap chemicals, etc. In order for them to charge mainstream prices, they would have to do this. And the foods would then cease to be "real food."
Anyway, I don't find it difficult to eat "real food" at all. Raw veggies are real food. Cook them with a bit of olive or coconut oil and season with spices and/or fresh herbs and salt. Easy peasy.
Simply-prepared (roasted, steamed, grilled) veggies plus quinoa/beans/cous cous/barley/buckwheat and lean meats and fish make up the core of our diet. That and goat's milk and goat's cheese. And fruit and raw nuts. Slow-cooked oatmeal is another staple in our house. And we eat eggs. We drink water, coffee, hot tea, wine, and beer. Hard liquor maybe once a week. No soft drinks, sugary juices, etc.
Yes, it's more expensive than buying overly-processed foods that come in boxes. But it's not difficult. Nor is it more time-consuming than a "typical" diet.
And no, I don't bake my own bread!
ETA: When we go out, we basically eat what ever we want. It doesn't matter if I have a cheeseburger and fries or a huge pasta dish once or twice a week when I eat really well most of the time. But we just don't do fast food. Unless it's basically the only option and we'll starve otherwise. Honestly, I used to love fast food, but eating like this has changed my tastebuds and that stuff is really disgusting now.
I can't imagine that happening, however, as the huge food companies profit from processed foods by producing them with cheap chemicals, etc. In order for them to charge mainstream prices, they would have to do this. And the foods would then cease to be "real food."
That's definitely a big part of the issue. However, as the OP pointed out, another reason for the processing is that it increases shelf life and may therefore be more convenient. Someone in the other thread lamented that home-baked bread lasts only a day or two, which is significantly less time than store-bought bread, never mind Twinkies. Though I haven't researched this at all and may be talking out of my ass, my guess is that this adds to their profits because the products aren't as time-sensitive and can be sold for longer, and people might buy more of them because they won't "go bad" (I am definitely guilty of this).
I agree with you that cooking fresh/whole food isn't necessarily more time consuming than cooking processed food, but, to play devil's advocate (we also generally eat fresher food), it does require one to shop more frequently, which can be a challenge for people who work long hours or have busy family schedules. The jar of pasta sauce and the box of pasta aren't that much faster, but you can buy months' worth at a time. The same can't be said for fresh vegetables.
I agree with you that cooking fresh/whole food isn't necessarily more time consuming than cooking processed food, but, to play devil's advocate (we also generally eat fresher food), it does require one to shop more frequently, which can be a challenge for people who work long hours or have busy family schedules. The jar of pasta sauce and the box of pasta aren't that much faster, but you can buy months' worth at a time. The same can't be said for fresh vegetables.
Good point. But don't people typically have to go to the grocery store at least once a week anyway to buy perishable staples such as milk?
We live in a big city and have a tiny fridge, so I do go to the grocery store/market 2-3 times a week. But if we had a normal size fridge (and a car!) I'm pretty sure that I could eat this well only going to the grocery store once a week.
Yeah, I did the kale chip thing a couple years ago thinking it would be awesome because it was so talked up, they were so nasty and bitter. I kept reading "and they taste a lot like real chips, nice and crispy." No.
There is too much focus on food, good or bad. If we could just think of food as fuel for our body instead of putting so much pressure on it to either be good for us, or taste good, or fill that hole in our hearts where the love should be, life would be better in a lot of ways.
There is too much focus on food, good or bad. If we could just think of food as fuel for our body instead of putting so much pressure on it to either be good for us, or taste good, or fill that hole in our hearts where the love should be, life would be better in a lot of ways.
Stop with the obsession!
See, I always feel weird about this, even though I agree in some ways. Food can be a really beautiful part of your culture - sitting down to family dinner, having brunch with friends, making recipes that are part of your tradition, even the customary junk food that h and I have for road trip snacks. Like the real vs. fake food thing itself, it's about healthy enjoyment.
I agree with you that cooking fresh/whole food isn't necessarily more time consuming than cooking processed food, but, to play devil's advocate (we also generally eat fresher food), it does require one to shop more frequently, which can be a challenge for people who work long hours or have busy family schedules. The jar of pasta sauce and the box of pasta aren't that much faster, but you can buy months' worth at a time. The same can't be said for fresh vegetables.
Good point. But don't people typically have to go to the grocery store at least once a week anyway to buy perishable staples such as milk?
We live in a big city and have a tiny fridge, so I do go to the grocery store/market 2-3 times a week. But if we had a normal size fridge (and a car!) I'm pretty sure that I could eat this well only going to the grocery store once a week.
I'm probably not typical, but I don't necessarily, or I might run in and just grab a couple of things. I do have a CSA share that I pick up, and my H and I are vegetarian, so I am getting something every week. I live across the street from a convenience store, so I'll generally just go there for milk (not the most frugal place to buy it but it's worth it to me if that's really all I need). And I don't have kids, so that obviously changes things- we can stretch leftovers or eat the same thing 3 days in a row. I probably go to the supermarket 2-3 times a month, and will freeze bread and other perishables so that they last longer.
My mother was definitely a convenience-food cooker, so I guess I'm trying to see it from her perspective. She didn't really meal-plan, so she had a cabinet full of boxes of seasonings and stuffings, and she bought a lot of canned or frozen vegetables. My guess is that it was partly a confidence thing (she knew what these things would taste like and that we would eat them), and also partly a time-management thing (she worked long hours, as did my father, so it was easier to buy meat and perishables every week and know that she could prepare it using things she had in the cabinet). I think she did go to the store once a week, but wouldn't have time to go more than that if she forgot something or if something went bad.
There is too much focus on food, good or bad. If we could just think of food as fuel for our body instead of putting so much pressure on it to either be good for us, or taste good, or fill that hole in our hearts where the love should be, life would be better in a lot of ways.
Stop with the obsession!
See, I always feel weird about this, even though I agree in some ways. Food can be a really beautiful part of your culture - sitting down to family dinner, having brunch with friends, making recipes that are part of your tradition, even the customary junk food that h and I have for road trip snacks. Like the real vs. fake food thing itself, it's about healthy enjoyment.
MODERATION!
I agree- I used to be a big "food is feelings" person, because my family's culture was around food- I love spaghetti to this day because it was Sunday dinner at grandmas, and I would make it all the time when my home shit sucked, because it made me happy.
I made my own whipped cream for the first time ever last month when I ran out of the tub stuff while making a dessert for work... holy hell its easy and tastes sooo good.
But I'll still buy tub crap sometimes cause its easy.
PS: Honeybuns. I will murder a herd of baby lambs for a box of honeybuns any day of the week.
I made my own whipped cream for the first time ever last month when I ran out of the tub stuff while making a dessert for work... holy hell its easy and tastes sooo good.
But I'll still buy tub crap sometimes cause its easy.
PS: Honeybuns. I will murder a herd of baby lambs for a box of honeybuns any day of the week.
What? Tub stuff? Whipped cream comes in a can.
Oil or cream, fuckstick? OIL OR CREAM??
*cries* I DONT KNOW MAN, THE RECIPE CALLED FOR COOL WHIP IN A TUB! I WAS JUST DOING WHAT I WAS TOLD!
What the hell do I care, it was for co workers At home in my unda draws I suckle from the canned cream teat.
i really feel like i should have something to contribute here, as a representative of the big-bad-processed-food-companies at large.
it's all pretty much been said. but really, Food is trendy. sure, people need food to sustain life, but what kind of Food (ie: what's in it, how it's made) is part of what our popular culture makes it.
50 years ago, HFCS was a miraculous invention. it made food taste better, easier, cheaper, etc. and it was initially consumed in moderation. then it found it's way into more, and more. and moderation flew out the window and it bears a lot of the Food-shame burden. now, you're seeing it get removed from more and more products
BUT - it is, was, and always will be a cost measure. cheap ass cereal will be made with HFCS, PHVO, and preservatives out the ying-yang. the big brands (and it's quality competitors *ahem ahem*) have been removing these ingredients from our products for years now.
i agree with a lot of posters in here - habbsies and LHC w/r/t healthy food mommy one-uppers laptop w/r/t learn to read a damn food label, people elle w/r/t make calories in < calories out
and, as if i hadn't typed enough here yet - shout out to the Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes and whipped cream comes in an spray can.
There is too much focus on food, good or bad. If we could just think of food as fuel for our body instead of putting so much pressure on it to either be good for us, or taste good, or fill that hole in our hearts where the love should be, life would be better in a lot of ways.
Stop with the obsession!
I don't agree. Food can be cultural, an expression of love (nurturing children etc...), creative, artistic, scientific, and just flat out fun. To take the care and joy out of food and eat Matrix rebel style would be incredibly depressing. That's like viewing sex only as an opportunity for procreation because of all of its potential negatives.
And to whoever said that the Internet broadcasts everyone's specialty and makes us all feel like everyone does everything the "best" way but us; Amen!
It's not just about food lasting on your shelf though. It's also about food making it from where the hell ever it was baked, in a truck, to the storeroom, to the shelf and then finally to your house.
Actually, I think we are missing the cultural/social component of decent food. Not the micky D's/out for dinner aspect because that's doing just fine. But the nightly dinner, enjoy the process, having people over component.
However, that's been picking up in recent years I think.
It's not just about food lasting on your shelf though. It's also about food making it from where the hell ever it was baked, in a truck, to the storeroom, to the shelf and then finally to your house.
that's true. i can tell you that a product that is produced in the month of august may not arrive on-shelf until sometime in october. you have to factor in the location of the producing facility, transit to a manufacturer's distribution center, transit to a retailer's distribution center, and then transit to the store - AFTER the spot on the shelf has been emptied at whatever rate that product sells in that store.
while i question organic processed foods in general (because really, were you that worried about your cheerios? oats aren't known to be gmo in the first place), know that part of the cost you pay isn't just "different" ingredients, but also the fact that those ingredients don't have as long a shelf life, and half of that is eating up by distribution time.
Well, yeah, this is stating the obvious. It's only logical that people with extreme weight problems/health issues put their diet under a microscope and say "how did my diet get me here and what can I eliminate/add to make me healthy." This seems the healthiest way to go.
Right, but it wasn't processed food that made them fat. It was eating too much food. You can get fat on organic/"real"/whole foods just as easily. Sprinkles makes a delicious gluten free cupcake. For example.
ETA: The "real" food craze just reminds me of the "fat free" phase. Sure, you lose weight doing it. Until capitalism figures out how to game the system and the next thing you know P&G is making the gluten free fresh baked banana bread at your farmer's market and debuts a "Farmer's Market" brand at your local mini-mart and suddenly . . . Snackwells, Take II.
Are you lumping gluten free foods in with whole/organic/unprocessed foods? Not the same.
Right, but it wasn't processed food that made them fat. It was eating too much food. You can get fat on organic/"real"/whole foods just as easily. Sprinkles makes a delicious gluten free cupcake. For example.
ETA: The "real" food craze just reminds me of the "fat free" phase. Sure, you lose weight doing it. Until capitalism figures out how to game the system and the next thing you know P&G is making the gluten free fresh baked banana bread at your farmer's market and debuts a "Farmer's Market" brand at your local mini-mart and suddenly . . . Snackwells, Take II.
That would be great! If "real food" were that mainstream (and presumably affordable) the typical American diet would be that much healthier.
I can't imagine that happening, however, as the huge food companies profit from processed foods by producing them with cheap chemicals, etc. In order for them to charge mainstream prices, they would have to do this. And the foods would then cease to be "real food."
And food companies will profit from "real food" by jacking up the prices and convincing people they are being healthy as they eat a 400 calorie piece of zucchini bread made with agave and oats. And yes, people will fall for it just as they fell for snackwells. It's just another trend. The food industry will exploit it. People will take it as a license to eat whatever. And at the end of the day, HFCS is no worse for you than agave, and bread with preservatives is no more caloric than home baked stuff. The food industry will, and has even begun to, cater to this preference. I don't think people are properly crediting the modeling and scenarios and projections that the big food companies do.
Right, but it wasn't processed food that made them fat. It was eating too much food. You can get fat on organic/"real"/whole foods just as easily. Sprinkles makes a delicious gluten free cupcake. For example.
ETA: The "real" food craze just reminds me of the "fat free" phase. Sure, you lose weight doing it. Until capitalism figures out how to game the system and the next thing you know P&G is making the gluten free fresh baked banana bread at your farmer's market and debuts a "Farmer's Market" brand at your local mini-mart and suddenly . . . Snackwells, Take II.
Are you lumping gluten free foods in with whole/organic/unprocessed foods? Not the same.