Farm to Fork

Literature

So this past spring I read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and have currently turned to Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  While both of these books are thoroughly researched and definitely biased, I find it fascinating the extent to which the food industry is detached from our lives and impossibly opaque.  

What is Agriculture?  Photo courtesy of www.chefandchauffeur.com

I know we've all heard of the organic movement (buying organic produce/meats/coffee/tea) and the locavore movement (buying products made within x miles of where you live), both of which take on a keen awareness of food production, but I find that as educated as I am on nutrition, I barely know the first thing about farming and agriculture.  

Alright I could probably tell you that a potato grows in the ground and oranges on trees, but that's about the extent of it.  I don't know that understanding farming or agriculture could help to change our nation's food choices in the grocery store but both authors seem to push the idea that increasing the transparency of the process could lead to healthier choices.  

A Little Challenge

Can you name one food item that you've eaten today where you know it's true origin and entire journey to your plate?  Did you grow it in your backyard?  Do you know a local farmer and get it from their stand at a farmer's market?  Can you even name the country your salad vegetables were grown in?  An array of them I'm sure... 

Now I'm not suggesting you overhaul your eating and purchasing habits... just try to break through some of the opacity of our food supply chain.  Maybe, like me, you'll even get to learn a little about gardening and agriculture in the process.

Don't Buy Into the Headlines, Exercise IS Healthy

Insert Racy Title Here

Thank you TIME, for making one of the latest headlines on your site "Exercise Won't Make You Thin".  Traditionally, provocative headlines sell papers (or in this digital age get clicked on, tweeted and dugg), but unfortunately that also means a reduction of thorough research to mere words.  Just Sunday this headline broke, and while the accompanying four page article was a good read, I saw this headline on both TIME and CNN's websites as a main feature.  

Photo courtesy of the Spondylitis Association

More often than not people read just the headlines (or maybe a few paragraphs... congrats on making it this far in the blog) and if that were so in this case you would leave your computer unimpressed with the prospect of exercising.  The article doesn't ignore the health benefits of exercising, but it certainly doesn't get to them until page three.

I encourage you to challenge your sources of information.  Check out the peer-reviewed literature (those super scientific journals that the newspapers get their health information from) from time to time, or reflect on the perspective of the author/journalist.  Becoming hyper-aware of the information you're getting will help you weed out those "Coffee Twice Daily Will Add 15 Years of Life" headlines from the true gems in health information.  

Should Weight Management be on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Now about the article itself.  TIME truly pulled at the heartstrings of Americans - through weight loss.  Notice that the headline uses the word "thin", a reference so often used to indicate total health today.  While maintaining a healthy weight is very important to overall health, it's not the be-all end-all of the nutrition game.  Next time you're thinking about your own health, don't reduce it to the number on the scale, instead think about the big picture and whether that is in balance.  Balancing family, friends, work, sleep, schoolwork, food, creativity, exercise, and your mental alertness are all integral to your health.  Having even one category out of balance can begin to affect other areas of your life.  

As for exercise... The article discussed the "Compensation Effect".  That is, when after exercising the individual working out has a very large meal, or treats themselves to something calorically dense for working out.  Well this phenomena is tied into the sense of accomplishment exercising brings to the table, but unfortunately yields little or no results in the weight loss department.  The article then goes on to discuss self-control, and the fact that regular, smaller bursts of energy can be just as effective as one workout session daily in weight management.  The bottom line is that any form of exercise is extremely important to your overall health and benefits the body in such tremendous ways, ways that go beyond the "thinness" of your body.  

Personal Update

Hey everyone!

My apologies for not posting in so long...  August was quite a busy month.  I am now settling into Boston, here for the MS/DI program at Boston University, and starting up classes.  I am greatly looking forward to this year and may update this site with more personal and academic based tidbits along the way in addition to the typical nutrition writing you see.

Hope that you're enjoying your Labor Day!

Falsified Calorie Information?

The Calorie-Menu Debate

New York City instituted a law that requires restaurants to put the calorie content of their foods on the menu.  Since its inception almost a dozen other cities have done the same, and legislation is being considered in the Senate to create national policies instead of leaving it up to local governments.  NYC decided to place calorie content prominently on their menus in an attempt to inform customers, and hopefully eventually slow down the growing rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.  

Dishonesty.

A recent study by Scripps Research Institute brought many of those NYC menu items to independent labs to determine the calorie content of random items.  Each item was tested twice by different labs.  The study found that the calorie counts being reported on the menus did not reflect the numbers found by the laboratories.  Instead, the menus often showed a number lower than those found.  This has been highlighted by an article in the Wall Street Journal.  How are we supposed to make informed decisions if the restaurants aren't meeting us halfway with honesty?  

According to NPD Group, one in five meals or snacks consumed in the U.S. are produced by restaurants, and 59% of restaurant traffic is at chains.  - WSJ Article

With dining out the norm and not the exception, I think it is very important that people have access to the caloric information.  I don't think that means it needs to be displayed on the menu that is handed to you in the restaurant.  However, having the ability to look that up can help people manage any current diseases or conditions, deal with food allergies and intolerances, and possibly stave off unwanted caloric intake.  

 Photo courtesy of Taylor Umlauf with the Wall Street Journal

What Do You Think?

Setting this law into stone nationally is not the answer to the trend of our growing waistlines in this country, but do you think it is a step in the right direction?  Where would you like to see this information displayed?  And do you think it affects your choices in selecting foods to eat at restaurants?  

The Dirty Dozen

Mmmm... Those Pesticides are Quite Delicious

I think it's pretty common knowledge nowadays that all of our fruits and veggies are grown with pesticides and chemicals so that they are protected as they grow (often yielding more crop for the farmer).  On top of that our fruits and veggies may often be genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or genetically altered to grow to very large proportions.  Ever been amazed by the size of certain fruit and veggies?  It must be something in the water... 

Pesticides have become a very salacious component to the organics debate.  What fruits and veggies are most affected by these chemicals and which are not?  Well next time you're shopping for fruits and veggies bring this list with you and you'll know where to spend your organic dollars and where you can stick to conventionally grown foods.

The Dirty Dozen

These are the foods that have been researched to have the most pesticides on them that don't wash off.  Try to buy these as organics and if you buy conventional try to wash them very thoroughly.  

• PeachImage courtesy of a Sampeson Blog
• Apple
• Bell Pepper
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Grapes
• Carrot
• Pear

The Clean Fifteen

These food are the lowest in pesticides.  But you should still wash them (where applicable)!

• Onion
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Sweet Peas
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Sweet Potato

Hope this helps next time you're questioning the value of organics in the grocery store!  There's even an iPhone application put out by the Environment Working Group so you always have the information on the go.  And remember, for farmer's markets and CSAs just ask about growing practices.  

Happy Shopping!