Food news de semaine

Food

Food is the ‘news de jour’ or I should say ‘...de semaine’. Everywhere I turn my ears and eyes this week I am reading, watching and listening to the topic of food. Both TVO and the CBC radio (Toronto, Canada) had programs related to food. Food, not just for health and sustenance, has been put on the menu of geopolitics: both environmental and social.

Eating organic is getting its share of the plate. I listened Michael Pollan (author of the Omnivores Dilemma) talk about new approach to eating – which is actually very old. Basically, he suggests, “Eat the way your grandparents ate”. He has a lot of very common sense advice and although I didn’t read the book I did read an article that he wrote (New York Times, January 28, 2007, Unhappy Meals – article attached). He dispels a lot of the current fodder that consumers are inundated with. For one thing, nutrients have no nutrient value and can only be analyzed when combined with other stuff.

Studies have shown that people who take supplements are healthier. Well, Pollen posits that this is true not because of the supplements but because of the confounding factors. People who take supplements care about their health, are more educated about food, and are simply..more educated. Even without the supplements, statistics show that this population is healthier.

Food issues still confound. One attitude suggests buying ‘fair trade’ which is buying from third world and developing countries. However, another relatively new socially acceptable attitude is to ‘buy locally’. These socially and politically correct attitudes contradict each other. Matters get even more convoluted as ‘fair trade’ is not deemed ‘fair’ unless it is certified to be so.

Furthermore, buying locally may, on the surface, appear better for the environment as distance travelled from earth to mouth is much closer and therefore emissions from trucks, etc. are
less - however the argument has been made that the amounts of food that are shipped to local markets are so small, and the converse where produce shipped from larger farms far-away are so large, that the net effect is negligible.

It is obvious there is a problem and a concern. Why would it get so much press if it were not? I find this to be such a paradox. In North America we have arguably the most advanced medicine and progressive attitude towards diet and life in general. We have health clubs, and good education; we have factories and laboratories engineering the most advanced systems and foods for us to eat. Then why are we so fat and why is disease so prevalent?

I agree with Pollen when he suggests that “we eat the way our grandparents ate”. But I am going to add to that and suggest that we live more like our grandparents did. Yesterday I was on the road during rush hour on the outskirts of town and drove into a Tim Horton’s to get a double-double (with milk!) to go. As I drove in I noticed the drive-through looked quite busy. I counted 17 cars as I walked past them and into the restaurant and straight to the counter to order my coffee. There was not one person inside. And in less than 30 seconds I was back in my car.