After a brief hiatus, letting my brain recover from the first six chapters, I have returned to "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan.
There is a lot in the book, that while, is interesting to know, won't really change the way I eat in any kind of substantive way. However, there are brief excerpts that make me think about what I eat in ways I have never thought before.
This is one:
"Store food is food that is designed to be stored and transported over long distances, and the surest way to make food more stable and less vulnerable to pests is to remove the nutrients from it. In general, calories are much easier to transport - in the form of refined grain or sugar - than nutrients, which are liable to deteriorate or attract the attention of bacteria, insects and rodents, all keenly interested in nutrients (more so, apparently, than we are). Price concluded that modern civilization has sacrificed much of it's quality of food in the interests of quantity and shelf life."
I have never considered myself to be the kind of person who ate a lot of processed foods. I cooked a lot from scratch, though, I did also eat all sorts of other packaged foods. Reading this makes me wonder if I'll want to go back. As much as I enjoy pre-made foods, I really wonder what nutrients I'm getting now that I was formerly missing out on.
Which makes me think about all the people in the grocery store who have carts filled with boxes.
This guy has a it a little bit wrong. There are macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) and there are micronutrients (vitamins, minerals). The nutrients aren't explicitly being removed to ease shipping and stabilize the product. Pathogenic growth is dependent on FATTOM:
ReplyDeleteFood: food for the pathogens to eat; they prefer protein
Acidity: many bacteria can't grow in acidic environments
Time: it takes time for pathogens to grow
Temperature: most pathogens flourish between 4-64°C
Oxygen: some bac require oxygen, some require that it is absent (the bac that causes botulism won't grow in the presence of oxygen)
Moisture: bac NEEDS water. All the time.
So you see, vitamins and minerals aren't purposefully removed in the name of portability or shelf life. They are only removed because people like their white bread smooth. Ew.
I am a horrible person who judges other moms who buy LUNCHABLES.
ReplyDeleteJanice... sorry, I fell asleep there for a minute. :p do you mean to tell me the only part I understood was incorrect? *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Jordan. I can't even justify the COST of Lunchables!