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Woman interviewed in the NYT, claims processed food is to blame for the rise in allergies:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/09alle.html
The comments are full of unscientific woo-woo as well.
I do feel conflicted about it, though. I don't believe her thesis, but at the same time, I do generally believe in less processed, responsibly farmed food. I'm distinctly uncomfortable with many food crusaders. Every time I walk into a supermarket and pick a product off a shelf, I'm aware of how many choices I'm making and the statement my choices make. My choices are not only personal; they also reflect how I believe people should eat. I can feel uncomfortable buying organic or fairtrade products because I know it is not possible for everyone to do so. (Using current organic methods, we simply couldn't produce enough food, forget being able to pay for it.) I don't feel that advocating fresh food in general is classist (because cheap food is bad for you) as I believe that consumer demand is necessary to make it available and cheaper, but insisting on organic, or buying directly from farmers, or things along those lines does have the whiff of class privilege about it.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm falling into producers' traps. Last week, I was in front of the yoghurts at Waitrose. Usually if I want to give Aliza a yoghurt I mush up fruit and add fresh yoghurt myself, but I wanted to see if I could find a ready-made one for times I need something quick. I know that a lot of the kids' yoghurt and fromage frais are full of sugar so I was reading the labels. One boasted that it had no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and for the topper, that its recipes were developed in consultation with a paediatric dietician. I was torn between buying it (healthy, right?) and being deeply suspicious about its claims. I checked the label. No sugar, no--but fruit juice concentrate, which probably isn't much better. I did buy it in the end, though: it had more fruit, less sugars, and fewer additives than any of the others.
(I know I sound like the anal mother from hell, but she's only a year old and she's got two sweet-toothed parents.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/09alle.html
The comments are full of unscientific woo-woo as well.
I do feel conflicted about it, though. I don't believe her thesis, but at the same time, I do generally believe in less processed, responsibly farmed food. I'm distinctly uncomfortable with many food crusaders. Every time I walk into a supermarket and pick a product off a shelf, I'm aware of how many choices I'm making and the statement my choices make. My choices are not only personal; they also reflect how I believe people should eat. I can feel uncomfortable buying organic or fairtrade products because I know it is not possible for everyone to do so. (Using current organic methods, we simply couldn't produce enough food, forget being able to pay for it.) I don't feel that advocating fresh food in general is classist (because cheap food is bad for you) as I believe that consumer demand is necessary to make it available and cheaper, but insisting on organic, or buying directly from farmers, or things along those lines does have the whiff of class privilege about it.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm falling into producers' traps. Last week, I was in front of the yoghurts at Waitrose. Usually if I want to give Aliza a yoghurt I mush up fruit and add fresh yoghurt myself, but I wanted to see if I could find a ready-made one for times I need something quick. I know that a lot of the kids' yoghurt and fromage frais are full of sugar so I was reading the labels. One boasted that it had no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and for the topper, that its recipes were developed in consultation with a paediatric dietician. I was torn between buying it (healthy, right?) and being deeply suspicious about its claims. I checked the label. No sugar, no--but fruit juice concentrate, which probably isn't much better. I did buy it in the end, though: it had more fruit, less sugars, and fewer additives than any of the others.
(I know I sound like the anal mother from hell, but she's only a year old and she's got two sweet-toothed parents.)
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