Food teaser

This quote is from the very clever Michael Pollen, his books are worth reading. he talks about the processed food industry and how wheat barons such as Kelloggs convinced the world that wheat flakes were the best way to start your day. He also advises against eating any food that has anything added to it. His mantra is simple : Eat Food, not too much, mainly plants. Although we may not have recognised kiwi fruit and yoghurt as foods 50 years or so ago, other cultures would have. I have read his books several times, well worth a read.

Michael Pollen's quote makes eminent sense to me - much more so than the faddy dietary advice of celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow!

Yes, I know quite a few people who live by that one. Anything that had been 'invented' is off the menu. So as (plain unsweetened) yoghourt has been around for centuries, it's fine. Food with no additives or preservatives, nothing processed. Anything that has seen the inside of a factory, is how my daughter puts it, but that can be hard even with yoghourt!

I was reading somewhere that it's not just water and preservatives being syringed into meat that we have to worry about, but also sugar solution being added to some fruits when they are being fed and watered in factory-grown conditions, so it's a bit of a minefield. Even some bagged salads have gas pumped into them to keep them fresh for longer.

I had never heard of gas being added to bagged greens so I looked it up. It would appear that they add themselves inside a closed environment (a sealed bag), as it says here:

"Bagged salad producers don’t have worry about adding any gasses, though. The lettuce adds this gas to the package itself. When lettuce is cut, the cells rupture which induces a host of physiological changes, including an increased rate of CO2 release."

The whole article is here.

When potatoes were introduced to France the general populace was very suspicious and didn't want to eat them. Antoine-Auguste Parmentier persuaded Louis XVI to let him plant a field of potatoes just outside Paris and set a very conspicuous guard around it to "protect" the crop. Naturally, Parisians were very indignant about this luxury food reserved for the rich and aristocratic and the field was comprehensively plundered. After that, it became très chic to eat potatoes. To cement the potato's reputation Parmentier, who was a very wily man, threw a court dinner with potatoes served at every savoury course and persuaded Marie Antoinette to wear potato flowers in her hair. Mission accompli.

Extra CO2 is added to some crop greenhouses because it is an essential plant food so it is supposed to help the plants grow more efficiently.

By extra I mean a bit more than is in the atmosphere already.

I think the quote is confusing but like the principle and agree with janer's daughter. As far as possible, without being fanatical, I think we pretty much stick to that with a few exceptions but never even consider it when we are outside our own home.

It seems to me that it was a snappy way to warn against heavily processed and 'added value' food.

I agree with this dictum - for the most part - but I make an exception for Lidl crisps, which I find irresistible.

However on a more serious note I often travel on a bus across a part of town which has a high rate of unemployment and a lot of deprivation. When schools finish for the day the bus fills with about 30 teenagers, all without exception, either overweight or obese and every single one of them carrying a box of chips with very greasy fried chicken. This is a daily occurrence. And sadly, the messages about sensible and enjoyable eating are unlikely to reach, or be heeded by, this group of children. Multiple reasons as we know, but very worrying for the future health of the nation.

The chemical equation for photosynthesis is:

6CO2 + 12H2O + light → C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O

6 molecules of carbon dioxide (6CO2) and 12 molecules of water (12H2O) are consumed in the process, while glucose (C6H12O6), six molecules of oxygen (6O2), and six molecules of water (6H2O) are produced.

Very worrying MiceElf

Micelf It's the same where I live. And sometimes, early in the morning, I see toddlers in pushchairs tucking into a bag of crisps for breakfast.

There is enough information on TV and everywhere else showing that these sorts of foods, whilst OK occasionally, are unhealthy if eaten on a regular basis. I find it difficult to understand why people - especially parents - don't seem to take any notice.

I watched a programme last night called Secret Eaters. Never seen it before but it can't be for real surely? Two fat women, insisting they ate healthily and couldn't understand how they were 17 & 20 stone. Cameras followed them for a week as they sank bottles of wine, cider, takeaways, pizzas, chocolate, biscuits, etc.
Come on ...surely they knew they were being filmed stuffing themselves? They're having a laugh, yes?