America's Unhealthy Relationship With Food

The relationship between humans and their food is complex.

Food isn’t something we simply consume to sustain ourselves. There’s diets, lifestyles, and beliefs that influence what we put into our bodies. Additionally, there’s cultural factors that affect our dietary choices. Let’s think about food in a cultural context. It brings people together for celebrations, business meetings and family traditions. Recipes and habits are passed down from parents to children, and can survive over many generations - strangely, sometimes much longer than the humans who keep them.

Food is literally one of four things we need to survive and thrive - so why do we have such an unhealthy relationship with it?

Take a look at these statistics to give this question some perspective:

• Since 1970, our daily diets have grown by approximately 600 calories, which is enough to add 31 pounds to each person every year.
• 45 million Americans engage in dieting every year, and spend an astonishing $33 billion dollars on weight-loss products. 95% of these dieters will regain their weight within 1-5 years.
• Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats account for 40% of total daily calories for kids aged 2-18.
• 42% of 1st to 3rd grade girls want to be thinner. (This is so sad.)
• According to a report published in 2011, more than half of all adults will be obese (they’re already overweight) by 2030.

So hold up - what’s the issue?

I wasn’t really aware of the issues associated with food until I was entering my freshman year of college. When I first enrolled, I declared a journalism major - though I’d eventually change it - and one of our summer assignments leading up to the first semester was to read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals as an example of creative nonfiction. It was a great example of a factual piece that was both ethical and interesting, but, journalistic example aside, the content was mind-blowing. It is still a book I keep with high regard on my bookshelf, and I’ve read it with such frequency that the pages are dog-eared and stained with coffee.

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan explores the history of the human diet while reporting on a parallel thread - the average North American’s current diet. He points out the vast space between where we started (natural foods we grew, gathered, and hunted ourselves) and where we’re at (super processed foods with added sugar, fat, starch, preservatives, chemicals…). Looking at the entirety of human history (in which people lived mostly healthy lives on a day-to-day basis), how did we get here in a period of just 40 or so years?

Sure, there’s plenty factors that influenced the way we eat today, but what I believe had the most impact on the food crisis we face today was the demand for convenient meals at the precise time that the major food conglomerates were lobbying the government for regulation that favored them.

Here’s a condensed timeline that explains what happened:

December 7, 1941: Japan bombs the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

December 8, 1941: The United States enters WWII, leading to an increased number of enlisted men. Employers desperately needed to fill their positions and began to hire women to replace the men that traditionally held roundhouse jobs. Child care facilities and pre-cooked meals that could be purchased and reheated at home became useful in a way that they’d never been before, and simultaneously became the new normal.

September 2, 1945: The war ends and men come home and resume their jobs. Women are forced back into the household, but have learned that they can help support themselves/their family and care for their children thanks to the new convenient developments.

1947: The “radarange,” the first microwave oven, is put on the market for $5,000.

1953: The number of women working equals the number of women working at the height of WWII.

1960s: Aluminum cans are sterilized for the purpose of storing commercially available foods. Irradiation is first used to sterilize dried fruits and vegetables. Diet Pepsi goes on the market. Green Giant frozen vegetables in butter sauce go on the market. Monsanto Company begins manufacturing Agent Orange for the United States to use as chemical warfare in Vietnam.

1971: Americans are on an economic disadvantage on a nationwide scale. Hamburger Helper and Betty Crocker are all the rage because they’re inexpensive and convenient.

1972: The FDA bans Red Dye No. 2 because studies show it may cause cancer. High fructose corn syrup becomes prevalent in snack foods and beverages.

1979: 1% of American households have microwaves.

1980: Aspartamene, an artificial sweetener, is approved by the FDA. Lean Cuisine frozen dinners go on the market.

1983: Monsanto scientists publish a report stating that they are the first to successfully genetically modify a plant cell.

1985: Monsanto aquires G.D. Searle & Company, a life sciences corporation that focuses on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health.

1986: 25% of American households have microwaves.

1988: Monsanto conducts field tests on genetically modified crops.

1990: The Nutrition and Education Act is passed, forcing food manufacturers to list ingredients on the packages of their products. GMOs become widely prevalent in the 1990s.

1997: 90% of American households have microwaves.

2000: “Low-fat” and “fat-free’ start to appear on the packages of processed foods. Pressure from consumers forces manufacturers to cut fat content by reducing high-fat ingredients, like butters and oils. To keep their foods appealing, they added artificial sweeteners, preservatives and artificial flavors.

2002: The Washington Post publishes a front-page report on Monsanto’s legacy of environmental damage.

2008: 95% of American households have microwaves.

What all of this means is that we have a nexus of nutritionally barren (but “convenient, low-fat”) products on the market and a major chemical company (one that also developed the bovine growth hormone to make cows grow at an unnatural and alarming rate) producing and controlling 80% of the country’s corn market and 93% of the country’s soy market.

Unfortunately, despite a few scandals that were quickly covered with multi-million dollar PR fixes, most of this flew under the radar.

If you take a stroll around your supermarket, you might notice the labels that scream out at you from the packaging. They may claim "low-fat," “healthy alternative” or, my personal favorite, “natural.” The average American is easily duped by these labels, which essentially mean nothing. In fact, the products that make these claims can be even worse for the human body (considering their artificial ingredients) than their full-fat/processed cousins.

The only labels that really mean anything are “Non-GMO Project Verified*” and “USDA Organic.”
They look like this:

Despite what your grandmother says, these labels aren’t a conspiracy to get more money out of the collective consumer pocket. They’re more expensive because their production is more expensive. In addition, no food manufacturer can simply claim that their products are free from GMOs or organic; these labels are earned after a lengthy and thorough application process that ensures the products are kept to the standard. This process costs money. That’s why you’re paying more for an organic avocado than you pay for a non-organic one.

USDA organic is a valid stamp developed by the FDA after being made target by activist groups demanding these legislations. This labels help you understand, at the very least, that your food isn’t sprayed over thousands of times with pesticides that were developed to kill living organisms.

Non GMO Verified, on the other hand, is a label that ensures your food isn't genetically modified. The organization responsible for this is a third party that tests for the absence of GMO risk. Verification is maintained through an annual audit. Here's a list of products already verified by the Non GMO Project.

Eating clean, organic and non GMO foods are just the beginning to eating a nutritionally sound and sustainable diet, but they’re a step in the right direction. Awareness of these issues is necessary on a nationwide scale so that people can really understand - and adapt to - the fucked-up food landscape of America.

Remember that laws aren’t always a reflection of the collective consciousness of society. Sometimes, they’re an expression of who holds the power. In this case, the food manufacturers that are producing nutritionally deficient foods to steal consumer money and laugh behind their backs.

In the capitalist market, every dollar counts and every single person is responsible for how they spend their dollars. One dollar = one vote. Stop giving your dollars and votes to corporations that are raping human health and the planet.

Here’s a few suggestions for how to start living a healthy, sustainable life:

• Limit frozen and processed foods. Cook meals using fresh, organic ingredients as often as possible.
• Avoid medicating yourself with traditional pharmaceutical solutions, which interfere with your ability to listen to your body’s signals. If you have a headache, you don’t need Tylenol. You need more sleep, more exercise, or more fresh air, and less sugar, caffeine, or alcohol. If a problem persists, there are natural, holistic ways to solve most ailments.
• Grow some of your own produce, and don’t use pesticides. This way, you have at least some fresh, organic produce that you know for a fact is 100% natural. Buy your seeds only from organic, non-GMO seed companies! If you don’t have outdoor space, volunteer at a community or urban garden (lots of these will allow you to take home produce in exchange for your time.)
• If you aren’t ready to give up meat, buy only organic, hormone-free and grass-fed varieties. Still, consider a vegetarian or vegan diet.
• Educate yourself. Here’s a few books that’ll get you started:
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• Natural Health, Natural Medicine by Dr. Andrew Weil
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and Control of the World’s Food Supply by Marie-Monique Robin
• Food, Inc. by Peter Pringle

This post may sound negative, but I’ll end this with a quote by David Icke:

“Terms like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are extremely simplistic in what is a far more complex situation. Truth can’t be negative. It can only be truth.”

*Edited 01/09/16. I was incorrect in my original comments about the Non GMO Project label. I said initially that it was a government organization that did the testing, but the organization that enforces and maintains standards is a private, third-party organization. 

9 Environmentally Friendly Habits for the New Year

Happy new year!

I've been doing a lot of running around lately, and even though I've been busy, I've been thinking of ways to better myself this upcoming year. Lots of people make resolutions to better themselves. Although the top resolutions for Americans are to lose weight and enjoy an active lifestyle, there's plenty of great habits unrelated to health that are easy to form and stick to. Studies also show that habits formed in groups are more consistently kept.

So whether you're considering your health or something else as you move into 2016,  do yourself and the earth a favor and adopt one (or all!) of the following environmentally friendly habits.

1. Use Reusable Canvas Bags for Grocery Shopping

The question of "paper or plastic" is so outdated. Reusable canvas bags should be the standard by now. It's 2016, for the sake of all things holy.

Despite my grandma's opinion, reusable bags aren't a conspiracy thought-up by grocery stores to save on overhead. They're actually a solution to a problem that began in the 1970s when plastic bags were introduced to make things easier for shoppers.

Here's some quick facts to make you think twice about continuing to use them:

• The U.S. uses about 100 billion plastic bags per year, most of which end up in landfills. 
• About one million birds, 100,000 turtles, and innumerable other sea animals die each year from ingesting plastic bags.
• The U.S. cuts down 14 million trees per year to supply the demand for paper shopping bags.
• If every person in New York City used one less grocery bag per month, it would cut waste by 5 million pounds and save $250,000 in disposable costs.

2. Stop Using Water Bottles. Seriously.

Like plastic bags, plastic water bottles are harmful to the environment because they create unnecessary waste. They're also costly, and contrary to their manufacturers' claims, aren't any cleaner or better than filtered water from the tap.

Additionally, plastic bottles contain a harmful substance called PET that doesn't look good our health. That's why you're not supposed to leave them in a hot car. Get a reusable bottle instead!

3. Store Your Food In Airtight Containers, Not Plastic Bags

You're probably getting the message by now: plastic, as a one-use disposable option, is bad news. It's just so wasteful. That means the days of bringing your sandwich to work in a plastic bag are over. Switch to glass air-tight containers instead. They'll last a lot longer and ultimately save you money because you won't be buying what is essentially made to be thrown away so often.

4. Compost Food Scraps

I love the idea of composting so much, I wrote an entire post about why we should do it and the different options we have when we decide to start a compost bin.

In a nutshell, composting cuts landfill waste and allows food scraps to decompose in a natural way. It also turns what would otherwise be waste into an organic fertilizer for our gardens (or, if you don't have a garden can easily be given away or sold.)

It costs almost nothing and is the upkeep is easy. It's a simple way to cut your contribution to landfill waste.

5. Reduce Paper Towel Consumption

There's a pattern here. Most of the ways to live sustainable lives are to reduce our carbon footprints. This means using less. The next thing on the list is to reduce our paper towel consumption.

Use hand dryers in public bathrooms whenever possible, and instead of using paper towels around the house, utilize rags. See? Easy.

6. Consider Alternate Means of Transportation

There's ways to get around besides driving. Biking, walking, public transportation, and carpooling are all suitable options for work and play commutes.

If getting in shape is on your list of new years resolutions, you'll kill two birds with one stone. 

7. Eat Less Meat

This infographic, by Cowspiracy, offers plenty of reasons to eat less meat (or quit eating meat entirely!) Cattle ranching is the prime cause of deforestation, with 1-2 acres of rainforest being cleared every minute. It's responsible for a staggering 91 percent of destruction in the amazon.

Additionally, 51 percent of global greenhouse gases are produced by livestock. This is an extremely harmful practice and it's not sustainable at all in our world. If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend watching Cowspiracy and reading Michael Pollan's An Omnivore's Dilemma. They're both shocking and eye-opening sources of worthy information on this topic.

8. Switch to Paperless Billing

9. Buy Less.

We're taught from an early age, not only to consume, but to over-consume. We buy things to make us feel better about ourselves and to prove our worth, and it seems that the more we have, the more we need. But it's a trap! We need to appreciate what we do have and stop wanting so much.

Not only will this cut back on waste, but it'll help us with our mental health, too. Being grateful is one of the top traits in happy people. When we've learned to say "thank you" is when we'll realize that we don't need to keep up with the Joneses, because we are the Joneses.