"The crucial ingredient our diet lacks"

Merin Porter

"Recently, people have been realising there is something lacking from their diets: quality information.

High-profile incidents, like a 2013 scandal when cheap horsemeat was discovered in European beef products, have meant that people today are more wary of eating anonymised produce. 'Consumers are realising that they are more vulnerable than they knew'” says Bateman. 'It doesn’t mean our food systems are less safe than they were before, it is that there is a growing awareness.'"

..........and, this has absolutely nothing to do with the topic, but I really like that vibrant blue/orange combination on the lead photo! :)

jjocean

I try to eat things that don't have ingredient lists. e.g a tomato doesn't have anything else in it. Likewise I use flour to make bread rather than buying something that has a lot of unpronounceable things in it. If I want tacos I start with meat, cornmeal, veggies from the garden (organic of course) Simplest way of controlling what I eat. Granted buying something that is labeled organic is a leap of faith but I don't grow corn or wheat so I have to trust something. Must be working .... I'm old, feel great and have all the energy I had when I was young.

Torey

I agree with @Lisa K. Real foods are what is missing in a lot of peoples' diets. I took a workshop with a Holistic Nutritionist once who said: Shop around the outside perimeter of the grocery store where all the fresh, whole foods are. If you do venture into the middle aisles and buy something in a package, bring it home, empty out the contents and eat the box as it probably has more nutrition than the contents. :) She was being facetious but I wonder how close to the truth it might be for some products.

ines871

Hundreds or more people-in-the-know (Nutritional Biochemists) say the Top most missing/Critical item in people's eating are most minerals. - And that more in the general population are not Aware of that is alarmingly problematic.

Obiora E

@MerinPorter I heard a few or more years ago that one of the filler ingredients in "Parmesan Cheese" was wood pulp. I try to forage, grow my own food, eat fresh produce, and/or buy simply processed foods and then prepare myself.

As investors seek higher ROIs for their investments in food companies executives are going to cut corners to increase the profit margin, and so this will continue, unless there is a change in the attitude of consumers (and even to a lesser extent regulators and government officials, who sometimes collude with the manufacturers, but that's another story).

Meme Grant

I keep it simple, My body was made by God, or nature if you wish, to run on God/nature food, if I cannot recognize it as God made I do not eat it...putting man made or man "fiddled" with food like substances into a God body is like trying to run a petrol car on diesel...it will break.

We are learning to do Permaculture on the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. We used to sail for a living, still a bit of a plant hazard but learning. lol

I am a qualified nutritionist, learned to keep my husband alive, he was stage 4 melanoma in 2010, now been tumour free for over 6 years...

nksunshine27

@Obiora E i had read about the wood pulp they put in grated Parmesan cheese also. sure enough it is and ingredient but they claim it is an anticaking agent. the thing i'd like to know first of all is how much is wood pulp and how much is cheese. the other thing is wood pulp is also in almost all low calorie diet food as a filler to make them feel fuller. then there was the ingredient in lucky charms that was basically TSP they have since removed it from the ingredient list. oh and ranch dressing had white paint in it titanium dioxide. ( we make our own ranch dressing if we want it now) .

sorry didn't mean to go on a rant but the biggest one that gets me is for a long time the FDA said the farmers feeding chickens arsenic wasn't staying in the chicken meat and passed right thru then they did more studies being pushed by people and admitted it did stay in the meat and then suddenly banned it fro feeds but some say they just changed the name.

herbantherapy

Yes information is lacking! I like to buy my food products from local farms and if I can I will visit the farm every couple of years to see how they are raising my food.

Of course this is not always possible with all food and it’s hard to research every company out there. So many things to consider! Carbon footprint in the traveling about to my semi-rural town. Pesticides allowed at certain stages are not required to be claimed so an “organic” fruit may have been sprayed just before flowering so the tree itself has poison in its sap...how much is passed on to me? All that packaging, it just grinds on me a good ethical product will be wrapped in plastic for sale. And then my biggest caveat...political affiliations; product may be in my party but the store it’s sold in is not or visa-versa. I Vote with my dollars!

Thankfully I grow most of my veggies and herbs. I only buy local fruit (I do miss exotics, but at what cost to eat them??). And I try to buy my meats from 4 local farms. Once I FINALLY get a deep freezer this Summer this will be easier to do.

Obiora E

@nksunshine27 Thank you for the additional information about the fillers in food! We as consumers (and even food growers and producers) need to become more engaged and knowledgeable about our food supply (and the food system).

Kelley

We are converting to all home grown foods but figure it will take about 5 years to accomplish it. We grow veggies, herbs, have some fruit trees started, and raise chickens,goats, a pig and rabbits. We luckily have a couple acres but it is only a couple of acres. If this pans out, we will try to get a larger lot.

Torey

@timtandme I read an article many years ago on biodynamic gardening. The author of the article was farming on less than an acre in an urban setting. He had a milk goat and chickens and was able to support his family on this small plot, trading excess with neighbours for anything he couldn't/didn't grow himself. So your two acres should do nicely as you progress and learn what is working for you. Good luck on your journey!