Green, or Full of Beans?
I spent the better part of last Sunday canning green beans. I canned 14 quarts and 10 pints. This brings our total for the season to 34 quarts and 28 pints, all grown in our garden.
Why so many? Well for one thing, we feed our family of four and my older stepdaughter and her husband for the year with them. We also give them to other family members.
By growing and canning some of our food, we know exactly what we are eating. There have been no chemicals sprayed on the plants, none added during the canning. Nothing in the jars except green beans, water, and a little salt.
It was interesting that while one batch processed, I saw on TV a lecture by Michael Polland who has written a book titled In Defense Of Food, An Eater’s Manifesto
One of the points he makes is that in parts of the world where the “Western Diet” is not common, there is a much lower incidence of cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. He also mentioned that when people who are not accustomed to this way of eating adopt our diet, they begin to suffer from the same illnesses that affect us.
In his book, he talks about how the emphasis, in the west, has switched from food to nutrients. He blames this, in part, on the fact that in 1977 The Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, released a document titled “Dietary Goals for The United States”. The dietary guidelines in this document called for Americans to drastically reduce their intake of red meat and dairy products.
Almost immediately, the red meat and dairy industries attacked the report, as well as the politicians who were responsible for it.
The result was a watered down report. Instead of advising a reduction in red meat, the report advised “Choose meat, poultry, and fish that will reduce saturated fat intake”. Thus began the “tinkering” with food to make it appear better for us.
It was learned that by feeding chickens flax seed, you could boost the Omega 3 in the yoke. By feeding pigs flax seed you made them leaner and higher in Omega 3. Suddenly eggs were good for us again and pork was advertised as “The Other White Meat”. Fat was skimmed from milk only to be replaced by chemicals or powered milk to make it look and taste like milk again.
Polland’s message is pretty straightforward, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. He says not to buy food that won’t rot. Don’t buy anything that your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. Don’t get your fuel at the same place your car does. Avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs. Shop the outside aisles of the supermarket where the fruits, vegetables and meats are, and avoid the middle of the store where the highly processed foods (as he calls them, edible food-like products) are.
I thought the timing of this TV show was good since I was doing something good for my family at the time. But it also pointed out how much more we need to do.
What do you do to try to eat healthier? Do any of you garden? Do you garden just to get fresh veggies or out of concern about what is in or on the food you get at the store? Are you concerned about the way our food has been modified in order to make it look better and last longer while possibly making it less healthy? Does it worry you that the food producers and marketers might have more say in food policy that the government does?