A few quotes from Pollan's first part of The Omnivore's Dilemma really made me think and then completely disagree but one stood out to me,
"In the
third age of food processing, which begins with the end of World War II,
merely preserving the fruits of nature was deemed too modest: The goal
now was to improve on nature." (91)
To think that humans improve nature is preposterous, actually there are many examples in nature when species improve themselves to adapt to the environment including the animals that co-inhabit the land. One specific example that I can think of now, and in which we as gwu students are currently dodging, is the poo berries from the gingko trees. Contrast to the cute name gwu students have given them, poo berries are not berries at all...they are seeds which are encased in a fruit. To us, the fact that these seeds smell terrible is a real inconvenience, but no one seems to question why they smell.
Gingko trees evolved in an area of the world that was highly inhabited with komodo dragons, some lizards, and iguanas. These animals have very poor senses of smell, so the gingko trees adapted to produce a foul smelling acid in order to attract these species that would eat the fruits and carry to seeds away to germinate in new soils. However, in North Carolina you don't really see komodo dragons walking on the sidewalk...but some animal will eat them and carry the seeds away.
That is just one specific example of how smart nature is and in my opinion animals just move around seeds and do the work of plants so that the plants survive and thrive. Which in turn allows us to live because of the oxygen byproducts.
There were several scientific issues I had with the reading, but Pollan does a good job and getting the reader's attention which is his job as an author.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Industrial Corn
While reading Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, I came across one phrase that really stood out to me, "the only reason contemporary animal cities aren't as plague-ridden or pestilential as their medieval human counterparts is a single historical anomaly: the modern antibiotic."
First of all, the modern antibiotic is probably the worst thing to happen to the human food source. I say this because now modern antibiotics are being overused and the long term result will create weaker immunity for both the animals and humans. Separating sick animals and disposing of them would be a more productive means to the human immune system than pumping animals with lists of expensive antibiotics. Granted some antibiotics are necessary, all of them are most likely not especially growth hormones.
Antibiotics get rid of a certain strain of one particular bacterium...however bacteria adapt incredibly fast, meaning their DNA can change in a matter of seconds. DNA changing means now the antibiotic that worked does not work anymore and perhaps no antibiotics will, the bacterium might become antibiotic resistant through mutation as a result of antibiotics.
Don't get me wrong, antibiotics are a good development, but I would argue that in the United States today, the USDA and EPA set such high standards of health and safety that all of the excess antibiotics are unnecessary and potentially harmful to the health of humans.
However, having taken antibiotics myself I can't imagine that all of those antibiotics would be good for a livestock's digestion system (from having problems of my own with some medications). Therefore this leads me to think that Pollan found an exception to the rule rather than what actually happens at farms/feedlots across the country. If he had gone to 40-50 farms and shown how they operated I might be more convinced. But as a scientist this observation of one feedlot isn't convincing me of anything.
First of all, the modern antibiotic is probably the worst thing to happen to the human food source. I say this because now modern antibiotics are being overused and the long term result will create weaker immunity for both the animals and humans. Separating sick animals and disposing of them would be a more productive means to the human immune system than pumping animals with lists of expensive antibiotics. Granted some antibiotics are necessary, all of them are most likely not especially growth hormones.
Antibiotics get rid of a certain strain of one particular bacterium...however bacteria adapt incredibly fast, meaning their DNA can change in a matter of seconds. DNA changing means now the antibiotic that worked does not work anymore and perhaps no antibiotics will, the bacterium might become antibiotic resistant through mutation as a result of antibiotics.
Don't get me wrong, antibiotics are a good development, but I would argue that in the United States today, the USDA and EPA set such high standards of health and safety that all of the excess antibiotics are unnecessary and potentially harmful to the health of humans.
However, having taken antibiotics myself I can't imagine that all of those antibiotics would be good for a livestock's digestion system (from having problems of my own with some medications). Therefore this leads me to think that Pollan found an exception to the rule rather than what actually happens at farms/feedlots across the country. If he had gone to 40-50 farms and shown how they operated I might be more convinced. But as a scientist this observation of one feedlot isn't convincing me of anything.
Foothills Farmer's Market
Farmer's markets have always been my favorite. The vendors are all nice and willing to talk with you about how their food is grown or how their animals are raised. But once I got to the farmer's market, I realized very quickly that I did not bring enough money nor did I have a game plan on what to buy. I left the market with a pound of green beans, fresh herbs, green onions, and two books. The vendors were out of eggs or else I would have left with those too.
While I was talking to the man who was selling me green beans I was very excited to hear that he would be back next weekend with yellow tomatoes. I have no idea what those taste like, so I asked. He said they taste the same but have less acid, I told him I would be back next week to try them. I've also never eaten eggplant so I'll have to try some of those as well.
I had a conversation with one of the meat vendors and we talked about cooking for a little while. He thought it was great that college students can still cook nowadays (well some of us). I told him I would have purchased some if I had more money and he was very kind telling me he would be in Charlotte at their farmer's market next weekend.
While I was talking to the man who was selling me green beans I was very excited to hear that he would be back next weekend with yellow tomatoes. I have no idea what those taste like, so I asked. He said they taste the same but have less acid, I told him I would be back next week to try them. I've also never eaten eggplant so I'll have to try some of those as well.
I had a conversation with one of the meat vendors and we talked about cooking for a little while. He thought it was great that college students can still cook nowadays (well some of us). I told him I would have purchased some if I had more money and he was very kind telling me he would be in Charlotte at their farmer's market next weekend.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Cooked
While I was reading and preparing for this week's class I realized that the barbecue world is far more extensive than I realized, I mean Pollan filled 120 pages by talking about different types of barbecue and even barbecue in different cultures. It is pretty incredible that cooking with fire evolved into writing entire books about just one dish.
However, growing up with barbecue and being around barbecue all of the time, the reading wasn't as fascinating to me as others but at the same time I didn't realize so much went in to making and preparing barbecue. I also didn't realize the masculine associations with cooking barbecue.
Even though I grew up with barbecue, reading about so much barbecue made me really hungry. While I was eating it I thought why don't I eat this more often...but then I remembered. My stomach was not as appreciative of the offering as my taste buds were and although Pollan mentions that cooking food yields better digestion, it also makes food taste better and gives meat some texture.
The barbecue cooking process at Bridge's was fascinating to me mainly because the process was so simple. I also love how nice the people were that they would just let us walk on through their restaurant and observe.
However, growing up with barbecue and being around barbecue all of the time, the reading wasn't as fascinating to me as others but at the same time I didn't realize so much went in to making and preparing barbecue. I also didn't realize the masculine associations with cooking barbecue.
Even though I grew up with barbecue, reading about so much barbecue made me really hungry. While I was eating it I thought why don't I eat this more often...but then I remembered. My stomach was not as appreciative of the offering as my taste buds were and although Pollan mentions that cooking food yields better digestion, it also makes food taste better and gives meat some texture.
The barbecue cooking process at Bridge's was fascinating to me mainly because the process was so simple. I also love how nice the people were that they would just let us walk on through their restaurant and observe.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
In Defense of Food
After class last night, I kept thinking more about culture and specifically American culture and realized that yes it is different, but most families tend to stick with their traditional upbringing...at least the families in which the moms make a sit down dinner at least 3 times a week. My mom loves to cook, so when I was growing up she would teach me and I would often times just watch with my head barely reaching above the counter tops, following my mom around to "clean up" anything as she went, and at times helping cook dinner. I realized that she let me annoy her all those years for a reason...so that when I could finally see over the counter top that I could cook for myself. So, from a young age I cooked for myself and often times my sister, even though she is very capable at cooking for herself, whenever my mom was at work and couldn't make it home in time to arrange a meal. My mom did this because that was how she was raised...if you want something, then do it yourself, be proactive not lazy. My mom is also a no nonsense cook, if you don't like what she made then you don't eat. Which was passed down from her mom and I will probably be the same way.
I do think there is culture amongst individual families, but especially those families in which the mom prepares food for a sit down dinner. The reason I say sit down dinner is because generally mothers that make a meal for sit down dinners make a specific dinner which is intended to be eaten by the family. The family does not pick and choose what they want to eat and hand it to the cook 20 minutes before dinner and expect magic, the cook plans and creates a balanced meal for the family to enjoy. Today especially, I think this concept is being lost more and more even in my own family. Families get busy and start going out to eat at restaurants where you eat a speedy meal and look at your electronic devices at least twice during the meal. This is not seen in other cultures.
Pollan talks about the French paradox a lot and when I compare and contrast French dining to American dining, they are incredibly different and largely due to the way the countries operate. Walking down a street in France, you will see restaurant after restaurant after restaurant and you will come to the conclusion that these restaurants are all different. Even when traveling across the city there will be different restaurants, all operated by different owners and all offering different variations of French food. This is something we don't see in the United States. Much like grocery stores, you can find a "chain" restaurant on every corner, even out here in Boiling Springs. Chain restaurants are typically very unhealthy. Why? Because chains are owned by one person or a group of people who want to make money. They conserve money by creating a menu that can be mass produced at several different locations every night of the week. Which does in fact make the food cheaper. There is a weird paradox about this in the United States...yes buy food cheap and save money, however when it comes to other health services such as laser eye surgery do you really want the cheapest surgery to save money? Of course not. So why do Americans do this for other aspects of health like eating?
This reminds me of what Pollan said about pay more and eat less. I watch the food channel a lot and there is a common theme among top chefs in the United States: they were trained by first their family members and second by culinary schools, at least for the majority. Therefore these chefs have a particular culinary background such as Italian, Indian, or French cuisines. Then these skills get fine tuned in culinary schools and they eventually open up their own restaurant. These chef run, no chain restaurants are indeed more expensive. However, you are eating food prepared by a chef who has been trained beneath a specific culture and who combines flavors and spices to create a balanced meal for the paying customer. So this is what I think Pollan meant by pay more and eat less, at a restaurant when you pay more it is typically because the chef uses ingredients that are a little more expensive to create his/her dishes...is that really a problem? No, but most Americans don't want to pay for the extra attention given to the dish. When in fact these no chain restaurants will undoubtedly have a menu along the same cultural cuisines and have a kitchen headed by a well equipped chef. And this is what you see in France, individual restaurants headed each by their own chefs and each having a well balanced four course (at the least) meal for customers to enjoy. The French don't want to push people through the doors of their restaurants, they want the customer to enjoy the food along with their party.
We could all learn a thing or two from other cultures, especially about food because in the United States I would say the only thing in common we have, in terms of food, is which diet we're going on next.
I do think there is culture amongst individual families, but especially those families in which the mom prepares food for a sit down dinner. The reason I say sit down dinner is because generally mothers that make a meal for sit down dinners make a specific dinner which is intended to be eaten by the family. The family does not pick and choose what they want to eat and hand it to the cook 20 minutes before dinner and expect magic, the cook plans and creates a balanced meal for the family to enjoy. Today especially, I think this concept is being lost more and more even in my own family. Families get busy and start going out to eat at restaurants where you eat a speedy meal and look at your electronic devices at least twice during the meal. This is not seen in other cultures.
Pollan talks about the French paradox a lot and when I compare and contrast French dining to American dining, they are incredibly different and largely due to the way the countries operate. Walking down a street in France, you will see restaurant after restaurant after restaurant and you will come to the conclusion that these restaurants are all different. Even when traveling across the city there will be different restaurants, all operated by different owners and all offering different variations of French food. This is something we don't see in the United States. Much like grocery stores, you can find a "chain" restaurant on every corner, even out here in Boiling Springs. Chain restaurants are typically very unhealthy. Why? Because chains are owned by one person or a group of people who want to make money. They conserve money by creating a menu that can be mass produced at several different locations every night of the week. Which does in fact make the food cheaper. There is a weird paradox about this in the United States...yes buy food cheap and save money, however when it comes to other health services such as laser eye surgery do you really want the cheapest surgery to save money? Of course not. So why do Americans do this for other aspects of health like eating?
This reminds me of what Pollan said about pay more and eat less. I watch the food channel a lot and there is a common theme among top chefs in the United States: they were trained by first their family members and second by culinary schools, at least for the majority. Therefore these chefs have a particular culinary background such as Italian, Indian, or French cuisines. Then these skills get fine tuned in culinary schools and they eventually open up their own restaurant. These chef run, no chain restaurants are indeed more expensive. However, you are eating food prepared by a chef who has been trained beneath a specific culture and who combines flavors and spices to create a balanced meal for the paying customer. So this is what I think Pollan meant by pay more and eat less, at a restaurant when you pay more it is typically because the chef uses ingredients that are a little more expensive to create his/her dishes...is that really a problem? No, but most Americans don't want to pay for the extra attention given to the dish. When in fact these no chain restaurants will undoubtedly have a menu along the same cultural cuisines and have a kitchen headed by a well equipped chef. And this is what you see in France, individual restaurants headed each by their own chefs and each having a well balanced four course (at the least) meal for customers to enjoy. The French don't want to push people through the doors of their restaurants, they want the customer to enjoy the food along with their party.
We could all learn a thing or two from other cultures, especially about food because in the United States I would say the only thing in common we have, in terms of food, is which diet we're going on next.
Supermarket Food Challenge
The supermarket challenge was to find three food items that were real foods, but the food could not be anything on the perimeter of the store. I also added a challenge to myself to find three foods that I could actually eat as a whole meal or part of a meal, not just an ingredient or a snack. 
The first item I found was Cuban flavored rice and beans. This product does break a few of Pollan's rules, for example this product has ferric orthophosphate which is just an agent industry uses to extend the shelf life of products...but it is just an additional source of iron and can even be used as an iron supplement. But too much iron in the diet can be harmful. You can also see that there are a few more than 5 ingredients, probably about 15, but most are items you can find in your kitchen such as salt, whole black beans, garlic, and parsley.
I looked up why Hispanic cultures eat rice and beans together and interestingly enough, they still eat rice and beans today because their ancestors made rice and beans centuries before them and passed on the recipe. On the food side, rice is a complex carbohydrate....meaning that it takes longer for your body to break down the rice and convert to glucose, which is a good thing. The beans are a great source of antioxidants. So, their ancestors knew a thing or two when it came to delicious and healthy eating.
The next food product I found was rolled oats. Before I go into why I think this product is healthy, the container can tell us a lot right off the bat, but that's not necessarily a good thing. First, this product boasts that oatmeal helps reduce cholesterol...I had no idea what this claim truly meant, so I looked it up. Yes, eating oatmeal actually does reduce cholesterol levels, specifically LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. As well as oatmeal being an insoluble fiber, meaning that oatmeal is not readily absorbed by the body and will be, ahem, pushed through your system. So yes, all of the health claims on this particular package are accurate...but most health claims are not.
Moving on the the ingredient list, you can't really see it in this photo but rolled oats contain a shocking amount of 100% rolled oats...sweet. There aren't any shelf life increasing ingredients, added sweeteners, or ingredients you can't pronounce. To make oatmeal you just add water, so this is a healthy breakfast item and apparently my grandmother was on to something when she would add oats to chocolate chip cookies.
The last product I found was tuna. This packaged tuna contained: white tuna, water, vegetable broth, salt, and pyrophosphate. This food item almost makes the cut for 5 ingredients by coming in close with 6. I had no idea what pyrophosphate was, so once again I looked it up and found that once again this is a food shelf life extender. In small doses, like eating this twice a week, it is not harmful but excess eating of packaged tuna will cause an increase in the level of phosphorus in your body which leads to health problems. The rest of the ingredients are ingredients you can find in your kitchen, except for the actual fish. So, packaged tuna is healthy in moderation. That concludes my shopping trip!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Here's a pretty cool documentary on food that astronauts eat in the space station. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vVle67Tfjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vVle67Tfjc
A Reflection on Food Rules
Being a science major, I find myself observing other students especially in the cafeteria where the conversation isn't very taxing and my eyes can wander. Observing what people eat is very interesting and especially amongst the swim team. One interesting aspect about swimmers is the amount of food we can consume daily. One of my friends, about 180 and 6 feet tall can easily out-eat a 250+ pound football player in one sitting. Eating is more of a chore for him. He always jokes that if he could just put the food directly in his stomach he would be immensely happier. He makes a good point. As an athlete, eating to fuel your body for the next work out and not over eating is a tricky endeavor. Eat too little and you suffer at the next workout...but eat too much and you gain excess weight. Eating as an athlete is an additional responsibility on top of scheduled practices and events.
After reading Food Rules and listening to the dietary lectures in class last night, people's eating habits in the cafeteria catch my attention more. For example, everyone is told that yogurt is good for you...it's natural, healthy, low-fat, etc. When in reality, the yogurt that is the best for you, nutritionally speaking, is the yogurt that no one likes to eat. Greek yogurt is not sweet, but almost has a sour taste which most consumers do not prefer. Greek yogurt contains less than 14 grams of sugar, low carbohydrates, live bacterial cultures, and a whopping 20 or more grams of protein in one serving. Here's an experiment for you that is pretty simple and doesn't cost any money: go to the grocery store and in the yogurt section find another yogurt that has less sugar or more protein. It's not possible. Why? Because food manufacturers know that yogurt is becoming a healthy food fad. Therefore they make their yogurt taste good by adding sugar or changing the product label to various eye catching colors. Anything to make their yogurt compete better on the consumer shelf.
Back to the main point, the yogurt in the cafeteria has more than 20 grams of sugar in one serving and only 5-6 grams of protein. Sure it tastes good and with the common thought that yogurt is healthy, everyone in the cafeteria eats it and adds granola. The granola has lots of added sugar in addition to the excess carbohydrates. Whenever I see someone eating a bowl of cafeteria yogurt and granola this scenario runs through my head and sometimes I voice my thoughts but no one cares. The yogurt tastes good and they think it is healthy so they will keep eating it regardless of who tells them otherwise.
I find this concept especially interesting because today with the over availability of food individuals have the ability to create their own fate, if you will, about what they consume. In today's supermarket, you can find "food" products that everyone will like and eat. Added sugar, added sodium, and excess chemicals to prolong shelf life all have effects on developing children. Children grow up eating what tastes good and this creates eating habits that may lead to health problems.
The rules we read for class are just that, rules. If it's any indication of how many parking tickets and speeding tickets the town of Boiling Springs gives out daily, then it's probably safe to assume that people don't like following rules. Individuals will eat what they like to eat regardless of who tells them otherwise unless they give themselves a reason to change. Food Rules was written because of the surplus food supply that we just have to consume...if someone makes it, someone is going to eat it. The trick is to know your body and know what works for you.
Over the years I have experimented myself with what I eat and then watched the results. I found that a high protein diet with lots of vegetables and some carbohydrates works the best for my body and metabolism. However, the discipline to maintain this diet is not as readily available.
Accompanying my reflection on Food Rules are some rules of my own:
1. Oil and spice and everything nice.
2. Baked goods are best from scratch, but never from a box.
3. If you can't pick up off the ground or kill what you are eating, it's probably not real food.
4. Cheese is an essential and delicious part of the food pyramid.
5. If my grandmother doesn't have a recipe for it or doesn't use it in a recipe, I probably shouldn't eat it.
After reading Food Rules and listening to the dietary lectures in class last night, people's eating habits in the cafeteria catch my attention more. For example, everyone is told that yogurt is good for you...it's natural, healthy, low-fat, etc. When in reality, the yogurt that is the best for you, nutritionally speaking, is the yogurt that no one likes to eat. Greek yogurt is not sweet, but almost has a sour taste which most consumers do not prefer. Greek yogurt contains less than 14 grams of sugar, low carbohydrates, live bacterial cultures, and a whopping 20 or more grams of protein in one serving. Here's an experiment for you that is pretty simple and doesn't cost any money: go to the grocery store and in the yogurt section find another yogurt that has less sugar or more protein. It's not possible. Why? Because food manufacturers know that yogurt is becoming a healthy food fad. Therefore they make their yogurt taste good by adding sugar or changing the product label to various eye catching colors. Anything to make their yogurt compete better on the consumer shelf.
Back to the main point, the yogurt in the cafeteria has more than 20 grams of sugar in one serving and only 5-6 grams of protein. Sure it tastes good and with the common thought that yogurt is healthy, everyone in the cafeteria eats it and adds granola. The granola has lots of added sugar in addition to the excess carbohydrates. Whenever I see someone eating a bowl of cafeteria yogurt and granola this scenario runs through my head and sometimes I voice my thoughts but no one cares. The yogurt tastes good and they think it is healthy so they will keep eating it regardless of who tells them otherwise.
I find this concept especially interesting because today with the over availability of food individuals have the ability to create their own fate, if you will, about what they consume. In today's supermarket, you can find "food" products that everyone will like and eat. Added sugar, added sodium, and excess chemicals to prolong shelf life all have effects on developing children. Children grow up eating what tastes good and this creates eating habits that may lead to health problems.
The rules we read for class are just that, rules. If it's any indication of how many parking tickets and speeding tickets the town of Boiling Springs gives out daily, then it's probably safe to assume that people don't like following rules. Individuals will eat what they like to eat regardless of who tells them otherwise unless they give themselves a reason to change. Food Rules was written because of the surplus food supply that we just have to consume...if someone makes it, someone is going to eat it. The trick is to know your body and know what works for you.
Over the years I have experimented myself with what I eat and then watched the results. I found that a high protein diet with lots of vegetables and some carbohydrates works the best for my body and metabolism. However, the discipline to maintain this diet is not as readily available.
Accompanying my reflection on Food Rules are some rules of my own:
1. Oil and spice and everything nice.
2. Baked goods are best from scratch, but never from a box.
3. If you can't pick up off the ground or kill what you are eating, it's probably not real food.
4. Cheese is an essential and delicious part of the food pyramid.
5. If my grandmother doesn't have a recipe for it or doesn't use it in a recipe, I probably shouldn't eat it.
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