Is it just me?
I repeat...is it just me????
What is happening to our food?
Last week I was talking about irradiation and how we have supper foods. I was just talking to my mother-in-law about her breast cancer which she is recovering from. She said she knew that she had gotten it because of the replacement hormones her doctors had recommended her to take 20 years ago. It was safe and her quality of life would improve by taking these drugs. These drugs had been approved and millions of women took them. Only now do we know that they were not so safe for everyone.
So when they say these food additives are safe, should we believe them. But more importantly, should we feeding the to our children. I know this topic is far from cookbook writing but why do we create memory cookbooks anyway. It is for our families. We feed our children to help them to grow up bright and strong. So what we feed them is important. When we write our recipes down for them to keep long after we are gone we area giving them our best wishes for the future. I think we should be taking the same time and care with the foods we feed them.
Here is the article that I am referring. Super foods ..... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/dining/17nutrients.html?ref=dining
Here is just a bit of it if you do not want to read the whole thing.
"These additives are often called nutraceuticals, broadly defined as ingredients that are derived from food, and that offer health benefits associated with that food. Nutraceuticals like garlic pills and cranberry capsules became popular in the 1990s, usually taken alone in the form of dietary supplements.
Now Kraft, Dannon, General Mills and many other companies are adding nutraceuticals to existing foods: “fat-burning waffles” made from a newly developed corn flour, cheese that kills intestinal parasites, even ketchup that regulates digestion, are on the shelves or in the works. New technologies in food processing, and a landmark 1999 court decision giving the makers of supplements broad leeway to advertise their health benefits, have brought this new class of enhanced foods to supermarket shelves.
These products are known as functional foods, meaning they have been modified to make them more nutritious, like genetically modified rice or fortified milk."
What is happening to our food?
Last week I was talking about irradiation and how we have supper foods. I was just talking to my mother-in-law about her breast cancer which she is recovering from. She said she knew that she had gotten it because of the replacement hormones her doctors had recommended her to take 20 years ago. It was safe and her quality of life would improve by taking these drugs. These drugs had been approved and millions of women took them. Only now do we know that they were not so safe for everyone.
So when they say these food additives are safe, should we believe them. But more importantly, should we feeding the to our children. I know this topic is far from cookbook writing but why do we create memory cookbooks anyway. It is for our families. We feed our children to help them to grow up bright and strong. So what we feed them is important. When we write our recipes down for them to keep long after we are gone we area giving them our best wishes for the future. I think we should be taking the same time and care with the foods we feed them.
Here is the article that I am referring. Super foods ..... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/dining/17nutrients.html?ref=dining
Here is just a bit of it if you do not want to read the whole thing.
"These additives are often called nutraceuticals, broadly defined as ingredients that are derived from food, and that offer health benefits associated with that food. Nutraceuticals like garlic pills and cranberry capsules became popular in the 1990s, usually taken alone in the form of dietary supplements.
Now Kraft, Dannon, General Mills and many other companies are adding nutraceuticals to existing foods: “fat-burning waffles” made from a newly developed corn flour, cheese that kills intestinal parasites, even ketchup that regulates digestion, are on the shelves or in the works. New technologies in food processing, and a landmark 1999 court decision giving the makers of supplements broad leeway to advertise their health benefits, have brought this new class of enhanced foods to supermarket shelves.
These products are known as functional foods, meaning they have been modified to make them more nutritious, like genetically modified rice or fortified milk."
During much of the last few decades I've noticed a focus shift from the "Art of Cooking" to the "Science of Food". Everything from water to sugar has fallen victim to the trend.
We think nothing of polluting the environment by buying water bottled in plastic containers (which disintegrate causing us harm if we reuse them)as long as the water is fortified with vitamins and has a hip name like XXX or Revive.
Rather than modify our cookie and sweet consumption we search endlessly for the perfect sugar substitute. Never mind that the first sugar substitutes manufactured were found to cause cancer in rats and we don't know the long term effects of this second breed of sugar wannabes.
When will we learn that if something is synthetic our bodies tend to reject it and certainly don't synthesize it in the same way as natural food products. When will we come to realize that the reason Mom's home cooking tastes so good is that she doesn't use additives and preservatives.
Foodies everywhere stand up and make "real food" the "real trend" of our time. It tastes great, costs less, and you can pronounce all the ingredients!
Cindy Lou (editor www.mymidlife.com )
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