Local Food - Top Six Food And Body Benefits to Eat Locally

There's a new movement brewing - eat locally. But what's the importance of eating food grown and produced locally? There are plenty of great reasons to eating local - from conserving energy to supporting local economies. But the best benefit lies in developing a new, authentic, and richly rewarding relationship between your body and food.Your body knows exactly what to eat and when to eat it. It's not based on rules, science, good foods or bad foods, a strict eating regimen, or any "right" diet. Instead, it's based on listening to the spontaneity and wisdom of what your body needs today, right now, for health, vitality, life, and a joyful experience.Chances are, if you struggle with food cravings, weight issues, or even a full-fledged eating disorder, you do not trust yourself to listen to your body's true needs and wants. Instead, we're easily lured into the seductive promise of the temporary comfort of sugary foods, or heavy, overly processed foods. While those types of foods have their place, they are more like the spice of life than the foundation of life. Eating a diet loaded with sugary or processed food does not allow room for a vibrant connection with life.Eating local foods is a great way to reconnect with food and explore your relationship to your own life. Listed below are the top six ways eating locally will provide an easy, rewarding experience to nourish your mind, body, and soul.1. Eating Locally Gets You More Involved With Your FoodThe more involved you are in the sensory experience of your food, the more connected you are to life. Eating locally means getting more involved with life as you touch, smell, and chose foods that are at their peak qualities of freshness, nutrition, and taste. When you are intimately connected with the experience of a visually appealing red apple, smelling its ripeness, anticipating its firm, cold crunchiness, and then taking that first juicy bite, you are no longer tied up in food rules or diets. Instead, you are in the moment, trusting your senses, alive, and living a moment of peace with food and your body. You stop being so afraid of food. Food is no longer the enemy. Instead, you begin to slow down, relish your food, and eat the foods your body and your senses want because you feel good doing so.2. Cooking With LoveThere's something extra special about cooking with really fresh, vibrant food. Even if you only cook several times a week, cooking with one or two ingredients that were grown locally adds a whole new spark of creative energy to your preparation. When you cook with a homegrown herb, or a local farmers fresh tomatoes, your feel passionate, alive, and excited. That feeling translates into the food, which is then passed to anyone eating your food. Cooking with love expands and shares the love that you are.3. Raise Your Eating Experience from Ordinary to ExtraordinaryWant fresh produce, picked that morning? Your local farmers market is a fantastic resource for freshness and quality. Baskets and barrels overflow with colorful abundant, nutritious, and high quality food. Want something even fresher than that? Imagine taking your family blueberry picking in the spring, apple picking in late summer, pecan picking in the fall, and pumpkin harvesting in late October. You not only get the freshest food possible, you also create memories that last a lifetime.4. Better Relationship with Your LifeBuying locally grown food grows all sorts of life-enhancing relationships. Experience the delight of getting to know the farmer who brings local tomatoes to the market or the baker who makes the bread you eat. Sample the goods. Learn about unique food varieties. Greet your neighbors. It's like the difference between buying an original hand painted piece of art at a local arts festival versus buying an art print off the internet. At the local art festival you get to look at the art, talk to the artist, and get a feel for the energy of both the artist and the creation. The same is true of buying from a local farmers market, farmers stand, or buying locally produced food. You get the opportunity to connect with freshly picked food that is still filled with life, and socialize with the grower of the food. In addition, you can know that the farmer or producer selling you the food is genuinely happy to have you as a customer.5. Going GreenEveryone's "going green" to help the environment. What could be "greener" than your community farmers market? Bring your environmentally friendly tote bag, car pool with your best friend, and pick up the freshest locally grown fruits and vegetables. As an added bonus, you support your local community. Want something even more green? If you're ready to get your hands a little dirty and put in a few hours of preparation then consider growing your own garden. You don't need a lot of land to cultivate your favorite fruits and vegetables. A window sill, a patio, a balcony or a doorstep will provide sufficient space for a productive container grown planting.6. Food Buying Goes From a Chore to a Fun Experience Shopping locally is a fun experience. Instead of rushing through the cold fluorescent-lit grocery store, and then walking yourself through a computerized, depersonalized checkout, you get to stroll leisurely and enjoy your shopping experience. Bring your friend, partner, or kids and walk around outside, in the weather, meeting people. Interacting. Being part of the social structure of life. Meet farmers and growers who are proud of what they have grown. Listen to local farmers boast, "We have the best tomatoes or peaches. We've won the blue ribbon at the State Fair for the last three years!" Then they give you a sample that backs up their brag!Go ahead! Take another step on your "eat local" journey by visiting your local farmers market, picking apples at the local orchard, tasting farm fresh eggs, sampling a new variety of local honey, or planting a peach tree in your back yard. The importance of one small, habitual change can bring about a radical turnabout with your relationship between your body, your food, and your life.

The Right to Food

Most of us living in big and action-packed metropolises have a similar life pattern. All through our lives, we use the assets and gifts with which the Almighty Has blessed us without giving anything a second thought. Perhaps, we have taken everything for granted. Living in our air-conditioned rooms, we avoid a wrenching reality that 60% people around the world live below the poverty line with absolutely no concept of housing and electricity what so ever. With education easily accessible to us, we never realize that only 1 out of 8 children in the world ever gets to see a school. With our refrigerator and food supplies at just some steps, we tend to forget an eye opening and heart shattering fact that it's just a game of destiny that we are born in the right part of the world and into the right social class. If we hadn't, then we might have gone hungry all our short life, as 800 million people do, who were born in the wrong place or wrong conditions or into the wrong social class. This has to change. With caring and nourishing our own selves, we need to know and develop a better understanding of Human Rights and when do we actually start misusing them.According to the Declaration of the United Nations, "Human rights are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. To violate someone's human rights is to treat that person as though she or he were not a human being. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of all people be respected." It also refers to a concept that all human beings are free and have universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction, and likewise other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality, race, color and family background. This concept is not very new. The Theory of human rights is based on the dogma of "Moral Universalism", initially put forward by Greek philosopher Aristotle. In "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle presents his argument in support of the existence of "a natural moral order" and says that such a "natural" order should be the basis for all truly rational systems of justice. This concept of moral universalism implies that morality is not dependent on social and historical conditions and applies to all human beings regardless of place and time, and forms the basis of human rights. Roman Stoic philosophers such as Cicero and Seneca, also supported 'moral universalism' and argued that all moral laws originated in the rational will of God and the authority of such moral law transcended all local legal codes. Christianity, which emerged later, maintained the belief of a universal moral code in the ensuing centuries. Islam, one of the most believed and fastest growing religion of the world also makes a resounding effort to ensure equal rights to all people. Standing on these strong historical and religious grounds, much has been done to date to ensure rights to every individual living on this planet. United Nations along with its associate agencies in collaboration with hundreds and thousands of NGOs is trying to make this possible. At the same time, a great emphasis has been given to the fact that all the rights are inter related and solving one problem at a time would need to tackle all the other issues. While U.N.E.S.C.O is working for education and U.N.I.C.E.F for children, agencies like W.H.O, F.A.O and W.F.P are dealing with one of the most intense issues of our world and going every length to ensure one of the most basic rights to all humanity.The Right to Food.The Center for Economic and Social Right states "The right to food guarantees all people the ability to feed themselves. It also obligates states to cooperate in the equitable distribution of world food supplies. As part of the more general right to an "adequate standard of living," the right to food contributes to a broader question of whether people live in basic dignity. People have a right to the basic amount of food necessary for survival, but they also have a right to food of high enough quality and quantity to live in adequate dignity". This generalizes that hunger, malnutrition and inaccessibility of food is not only violation of a very basic human right but is also an obstacle for attaining social, political and economic stability and harmony. It stresses towards a fact that irrespective of all social, political, economic and geographical differences, every human being has a birth right to lead a life with access to adequate supply of food and water.Providing adequate food and work has always been seen as prime moral obligation for the kings and monarchs with large empires and those ruling the common men. The only basic difference between these moral responsibilities and human rights is that the human rights give the poor and unprivileged people a claim, which principally is enforceable.In those times of monarchy, people had no option other than to revolt against the king or state that failed to meet this obligation and responsibility to feed its citizens.This signifies a fact that the idea of human right to food is to establish a practical and legal channel for fulfillment of this basic right and to seek remedies against authorities which fail to guarantee access to food. This idea is barely 200 years old-and not yet legally implemented in most states even today.The right to adequate food is a human right and is well established and recognized on several premises under the international laws. Just after three years of the World War II, On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of this declaration states that everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food. This universal declaration of human rights sets a common and realistic standard of achievement for all people and nations. Keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, states and nations shall strive to achieve the common global goal and emancipate their respective people from the curse of hunger, malnutrition and starvation. Nearly 20 years later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) developed these concepts more fully, stressing "the right of everyone to adequate food" and specifying "the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger". The Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (1974) and the World Employment Conference (1976) also pressed to this fact asking for an inalienable right of food for all humans in order to develop their physical and mental faculties. Conferences and declarations such as The International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), World Declaration on Nutrition (1992), the Rome Declaration on World Food Security (1996) and the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit (1996) all stressed up to ensure right to food throughout the world. Agencies working under the United Nations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O), World Health Organization (W.H.O) and World Food Program (W.F.P) are taking all considerable and necessary steps to eradicate the nuisance of hunger and starvation from the entire humanity. "Achieving food security for all" is the main point of focus of F.A.O's efforts. And to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. F.A.O's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy. They also provide assistance to those nations who need to increase their crop yields but lacks technical skills. With a staggering budget of $765.7 million, F.A.O aims to achieve its goals on community, national and international levels. On the other hand, the largest international food aid organization, World Food Program, combats hunger in underdeveloped nations of the world with severe shortage of food. This hard and strenuous fight has been carried out through plan action of Rescue, Rapid Reaction and Rehabilitation. Expanding its activities into 78 countries around the world and with direct expenditure of US$ 2.9 billion, W.F.P is distributing food to 87.8 million poor people in the world which is the largest relief and aid operation of its kind ever since the dawn of human history. Most recent relief operations of W.F.P include earth quakes of Pakistan in 2005, floods in Bangladesh of 2004 and recent famine in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, every year on 16th October, World Food day is celebrated to re-think and re-plan the strategies for present and future.But despite the fact that the international community and UN has frequently reaffirmed the importance for the right to adequate food and launched multitudes of operational projects, a disturbing gap still exists between the standards set and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world. The target of reducing world hunger by the year 2015 which was set in World Food Summit in 1996 still appears a far cry. Statistics show that since 1990, the number of hungry and underfeed people is constantly and unceasingly increasing. In developing countries spread across 5 continents, it has started to increase at a rate of almost four million per year. By the advent of 21st century, the total number of undernourished people worldwide has risen to 854 million (14% of the world's total population): 820 million in developing countries, 25 million in countries in transition and nine million in industrialized countries. Today, only one out of seven people do not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. According to a research conducted by F.A.O about the state of food insecurity in the world in 2006, 25,000 lives are lost everyday due to poverty and hunger. In the developing world, every second a child dies due to hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, 27 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight. In 2005, about 10.1 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. Almost all of these deaths occurred in developing countries, 3/4 of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions that also suffer from the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition. Today, one in nearly seven people does not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. Adding to this, malnutrition and undernourishment leads to many chronics and deficiencies leading to physical and mental restraints which they effected carry all through their lives. All these numbers and statistics lead us to the loop poles in international working bodies and their incomplete strategies and approach in dealing with these intense issues. At the same time, it indicates the presence of many other factors and causes that are still making hunger, malnutrition and violence of right of food the number one risk to health worldwide with greater number of victims annually than AIDS, malaria and cancer combined.
In order to understand the factors of this prevailing state of hunger and violence of the right to food, one needs to understand that inadequate food access can be due to two prime reasons: There is absolutely no food available, or the food is available but far from the access of deprived and unprivileged people. Stereotypically all importance and emphasis has been given by the states and the welfare organizations on the overall food availability and it has been thought that mainly through increasing food production and quality, hunger and malnutrition can be overcome and target of ensuring food rights to all can be achieved. Such a strong emphasis is only reasonable when the production of food by the poor is for themselves. But there is another view point to this situation. According to different experts, adequate quantity of food is available or can be produced with the current resources almost in every country of the world. Many of the countries considered poor, produce food enough for not only their domestic markets but for export as well. Nonetheless, hunger and malnutrition still persists. It may surprise us but according to the annual report presented by F.A.O in 2004, only 10% of the total hunger death is due to famine and malnutrition. This leads us to re-examine and arrive at some more obvious causes. Lack of food isn't the only cause of malnutrition and hunger but is also due to social injustice and political, economic and social segregations. There are almost one billion people around the world who earn less than $1 a day. These poor people are deprived of the rights to have their resources while the rich and those in power monopolize these resources for their own luxury and comfort. Billions of people all around the globe in their respective countries are never given opportunity to have a secure economic life and hence have food security. This statement is well proved by the facts like the total assets of the three wealthiest men in the world constitute 47% of the world's total monetary assets, and all three of them belong to the United States of America. On the other side, most food productions whether agricultural products or food obtained from oceans or rivers, goes towards feeding livestock whose meat and by-products are consumed mainly in the countries of the industrialized North.The other reason for this number of deaths is global debt-trap. The World Bank has admitted that today, the developing countries pay $13 in debt as repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. Due to this, tens of billions of dollars which can be used to improve infrastructure, development of rural communities, education and health care are just being wasted in paying those debts to the World Bank. Thus, it would be rational to say that "Global Capitalism" and "Unequal distribution of resources" are the main monsters under the disguise of hunger and food shortage which are responsible for the massacre of human lives on such a massive scale.Today, in order to bring hunger and malnutrition to an end and make access to food possible for all, long term attempts should be made on International, National and Individual grounds. Globally, the world has to re-realize a fact that right to adequate food is inherently linked to the dignity of humanity and is inseparable from the fulfillment of all human rights for all. Eradication of poverty, ensuring equal rights, education, employment, better and fast ways of transportations and better facilities for health would also improve food security. Necessary steps should be taken to ensure economic democracy and micro- finance should be made available on local level to reduce the global dominance of big industries on agriculture sector.Internationally, accumulation of wealth should be reduced by massive redistribution of wealth and other resources. This also includes cancellation of debts to the Western banks and increased investment in rural and under-developed sectors. The West and those belonging to the industrialized and developed world should join hands today and try to improve the infrahuman conditions in many parts of the world such as Africa, South America and South Asia. At the time of a natural calamity, the welfare organizations and NGOs should establish a check and balance system to make sure that all the aids go to the deserving and those in need. As declared by the Economic and Social Council, "The role of the United Nations agencies, including through the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) at the country level, in promoting the realization of the right to food is of special importance. Coordinated efforts for the realization of the right to food should be maintained to enhance coherence and interaction among all the actors concerned, including the various components of civil society. The food organizations, FAO, WFP and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNICEF, the World Bank and the regional development banks, should cooperate more effectively, building on their respective expertise, on the implementation of the right to food at the national level, with due respect to their individual mandates."On national level, the state government should design and adapt a national strategy based on human rights principles to ensure food security for all its citizens. It should formulate policies and take all necessary steps to make sure that everyone is free from hunger and can enjoy his right to adequate food. It should also identify the resources available to meet the objectives and the most cost-effective way of using them. The national strategy should give particular attention to prevent discrimination in access to food on different aspects such as color, caste, creed, gender, financial standing and geographical location. Moreover, the state government should take all necessary measure to ensure transparency and accountability in all aspects of food system including production, processing, distribution, marketing, food safety and nutritional value. Adding to this, those who suffer the violation of the right to food should have full access to the judicial system of the country and all necessary steps for compensation and prevention for any further cases should be taken.Last but not the least, every one of us who has got sufficient amount of resources to feed ourselves, must thank the Almighty for His blessings and should take small steps on individual and community basis to help those millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer from famine, hunger and malnutrition and are deprived of their right to food. We all must try not to waste the food and should contribute through our money, time and knowledge in ensuring the right to food to every human being on our mother Earth.

Speculating in Hunger - Are Investors Contributing to the Global Food Crisis?

Investment newsletters are now featuring headlines like "How You Can Profit from the Global Food Crisis." The recommended investments include agribusiness stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that speculate in agricultural commodities. These investments will no doubt do very well in the global food crisis; but before you put your money down, you may want to explore whether you will be helping to alleviate the problem or actually contributing to it. Do you really want to "invest" in starvation? In an April 23 article in the German news source Spiegel Online called "Deadly Greed: The Role of Speculators in the Global Food Crisis," Balzli and Horning note, "Many investors . . . are simply oblivious to the fact that by investing in the global casino, they could be gambling away the daily food supply of the world's poorest people."Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has called the exploding food crisis "a silent mass murder." In an interview in the French daily Liberation on April 14, he said, "We are heading for a very long period of rioting, conflicts [and] waves of uncontrollable regional instability marked by the despair of the most vulnerable populations." He blamed globalization and multinationals for "monopolizing the riches of the earth," and said that a mass uprising of starving people against their persecutors is "just as possible as the French Revolution was."In some places, in fact, this is already happening. In Haiti, where the cost of rice has nearly doubled since December, the prime minister was fired this month by opposition senators after more than a week of riots over the cost of staple foods. Violent protests over food prices have been set off in Bangladesh, where rice has also doubled; in the Ivory Coast, where food prices have soared by 30 to 60 percent from one week to the next; and in Egypt, Uzbekistan, Yemen, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Italy. In an April 21 Wall Street Journal article titled "Load Up the Pantry," Brett Arends observed that the food riots now seen in the developing world could soon be affecting Americans as well. Rocketing food prices are not a passing phase but are actually accelerating. He recommends hoarding food - not because he is actually expecting a shortage, but as an investment, because "food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund." Arends goes on:"The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food. A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply."That's the rationale published in the Journal of Wall Street, the financial community that brought us the housing bubble, the derivatives bubble, and now the commodities bubble, producing the subprime crisis, the credit crisis, and the oil crisis. The main reason for the food crisis, says this author, is that the Chinese and Indian middle classes are eating better. Really? Rice has been the staple food of half the world for centuries, and it is hardly rich man's fare. Moreover, according to an April 2008 analysis from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, food consumption of grains has gone up by only one percent since 2006.That hardly explains the fact that the price of rice has spiked by 75 percent in just two months. The price of Thai 100 per cent B grade white rice, considered the world's benchmark, has tripled since early 2007; and it jumped 10 percent in just one week. The fact that corn is being diverted to fuel, while no doubt a contributing factor, is also insufficient to explain these sudden jumps in price. World population growth rates have dropped dramatically since the 1980s, and according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, grain availability has continued to outpace population. Biofuels have drained off some of this grain, but biofuels did not suddenly happen, and neither did the rise of the Asian middle class. If those were the chief factors, the rise in food prices would have been gradual and predictable to match.Another explanation for the sudden jump in grain prices, not mentioned by this Wall Street Journal writer, is suggested by William Pfaff in the April 16 International Herald Tribune:"More fundamental is the effect of speculation in food as a commodity - like oil and precious metals. It has become a haven for financial investors fleeing from paper assets tainted by subprime mortgages and other toxic credit products. The influx of buyers drives prices and makes food unaffordable for the world's poor. 'Fund money flowing into agriculture has boosted prices,' Standard Chartered Bank food commodities analyst Abah Ofon told the media. 'It's fashionable. This is the year of agricultural commodities.'"The "hot money" that has fled the collapsed real estate bubble is now moving into the commodities bubble, and that includes food. "Hot money" is an influx of speculative capital in search of high rates of return, quickly moving from one market to another. It moves, however, not because the products are better (the traditional justification for price-setting according to "free market forces") but because the speculative "spread" is better. Money is invested not in making real goods and services but simply in making more money. Food prices are being driven by speculators, and today that includes ordinary investors like you and me, who can now gamble in agricultural futures through ETFs that have opened up a lucrative market formerly available only to big investment players.Conventional economic theory says that prices are driven up when "demand" exceeds "supply." But in this case "demand" does not mean the number of hands reaching out for food. It means the amount of money competing for existing supplies. The global food crisis has resulted from an increase, not in the number of mouths to be fed, but simply in the price. It is the money supply that has gone up, and it is investment money in search of quick profits that is largely driving food prices up. Much of this seems to be happening in the futures market, where fund managers seek to maximize their profits by using futures contracts. Balzli and Horning explain:"The futures market is a traditional tool for farmers to sell their harvests ahead of time. In a futures contract, quantities, prices and delivery dates are fixed, sometimes even before crops have been planted. Futures contracts allow farmers and grain wholesalers a measure of protection against adverse weather conditions and excessive price fluctuations. . . . But now speculators are taking advantage of this mechanism. They can buy futures contracts for wheat, for example, at a low price, betting that the price will go up. If the price of the grain rises by the agreed delivery date, they profit. Some experts now believe these investors have taken over the market, buying futures at unprecedented levels and driving up short-term prices. Since last August, this mechanism has led to a doubling in the price of rice."The authors quote grain wholesaler Greg Warner, who says what is happening now in the grain futures market is unprecedented. "What we normally have is a predictable group of sellers and buyers -- mainly farmers and silo operators." But the landscape has changed since the influx of large index funds into the futures market. "Prices keep climbing up and up." Warner calculates that financial investors now hold the rights to two complete annual harvests of a type of grain traded in Chicago called "soft red winter wheat." He calls these developments "stunning" and points to them as "evidence that capitalism is literally consuming itself."What about investing in agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which have promoted the "Green Revolution" through the bioengineering of foods and the production of GMO (genetically modified) seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and herbicide and pesticide sprays? Won't these corporations, at least, help to alleviate the global food crisis? To the contrary, critics say these businesses too are just driving food prices up. Monsanto's patented GMO seeds have been genetically engineered so that they cannot reproduce but must be purchased every year from the company. Small farmers who have fallen for the hype of greater productivity and subjected their land to these seeds and chemicals have found that not only have their yields been reduced but that the land will no longer bear anything except GMO seeds. Farmers who can no longer afford the seeds are priced out of the market, handing monopoly control over to the agribusiness giants that can then raise prices to whatever the market will bear; and in the case of food, it will bear a lot, right up to the point of slavery. As Henry Kissinger once famously said, "Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world."What can you invest in, then, that actually would help relieve the global food crisis? One possibility is local organic farming. "Community-supported agriculture" (CSA) is a model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at increasing the quality of food and the care given to land, plants and animals, while reducing losses and risks for producers. A variety of CSA systems are now in use worldwide, allowing small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market while providing their customer-members with a regular delivery or pick-up of healthy local produce. The USDA provides a list of CSA addresses and websites.That still leaves the problem of speculation in food futures. How can parasitic profits to non-producing middlemen be eliminated while still protecting farmers? The futures market was first created for farmers, who needed to be able to lock in a price today that would cover their costs and return a reasonable profit later. One interesting proposal is to return to the policy of "farm parity pricing" enacted during the 1930s. It ensured that the prices received by farmers covered the prices they paid for input plus a reasonable profit. If the farmers could not get the parity price, the government would buy their output, put it into storage, and sell it later. The government actually made a small profit on these transactions; food prices were kept stable; and the family farm system was preserved as the safeguard of the national food supply. With the push for "globalization" in later decades, farm parity was replaced with farm "subsidies" that favored foods for export over local markets. They also favored large corporate farms engaged in chemical farming over sustainable farming, forcing thousands of family farmers out of business. Farm parity pricing could help, but a complete solution to the problem of global inflation would require an overhaul of the private central banking system that has created one bubble after another for the last century. (See E. Brown, "Market Meltdown: The End of a 300 Year Ponzi Scheme," webofdebt.com/articles, September 3, 2007.)If you want to invest in the commodities boom without driving up the global prices of food or fuel, buy gold.

Avoid Junk Food or Eat Healthier Junk Foods?

As a fitness professional, I'm always amazed (and puzzled) with the conflict people seem to have with losing weight, yet they refuse to stop eating junk food. An interesting thing I have noticed over my many years helping people to lose weight is that almost every single person that has told me that they are "attempting" to lose weight, almost always has their house filled with all sorts of junk food instead of whole unprocessed natural food.It is not uncommon for people to tell me that they are trying really hard to lose weight, but I will still notice boxes of apple jacks and fruity pebbles on their counters, cakes, candies, and chips in their cupboard, and sodas or syrupy juices in their refrigerator.So the question that always stumps me is that if all of these people honestly wanted to lose weight so bad, why in the world do most people still have their houses filled with junk foods instead of healthy food?Interestingly, the answer usually is that they do not want to give up their favorite foods because they think that eating this junk food allows them to "live a little"... if you ask me, it sounds more like dying a little with each bite!My take on it is that eating junk foods has nothing at all to do with enjoying your life... In reality, when you give up junk foods you actually enjoy life more because you feel better and are more energetic every day. In addition, getting into better shape by not eating junk food can obviously help improve the way your body looks (and therefore increases your confidence), thereby making you enjoy life even more.One thing that many people fail to realize is that eating healthy does not have to mean eating bland and boring food. Instead, when you learn to enjoy natural unprocessed food and start exploring all of the varieties of natural food that this planet has to offer us, you learn that you can enjoy the natural flavors of real foods more than overly processed aggressive tastes that are so common with excessively sweet and salty junk food.An example of this is that the other day I wanted an unsweetened iced tea while out on the road, but all that the store had available was these bottles of heavily sweetened iced tea. Well, I have not bought a fully sweetened iced tea in probably at least a few years now... I have actually gotten used to drinking unsweetened iced tea and have learned to appreciate the natural taste of tea without needing sugar or other sweeteners.Whe I drank this bottled sweet tea, I almost gagged because it was so syrupy sweet, it was absolutely nasty.A similar example... I used to need a lot of sugar in coffee, but after a slowly reducing the amount of sugar I would use in coffe, I can now actually drink black coffee and enjoy the natural flavor of it without needing sweeteners (although I rarely drink coffee).These are just a couple examples of how once you start appreciating the natural flavors of real food, you find that you no longer need the super-aggressive salty, sugary, or artificial flavors that have been ingrained in us by the food companies and all of the junk food they push on us.My belief is that everyone should actually enjoy what they eat, and can do it without eating overly processed junk food... Actually, people are often surprised to hear that a lot of the foods that they think are junk food, I have healthy alternatives that they never thought of.A few examples:Junk food: a chocolate candy bar, a chocolate donut, or a piece of chocolate cakeHealthier alternative: a couple pieces of extra-dark chocolate (greater than 70-75% cocoa content only)... this is higher in fiber and much less sugar than milk chocolate or even dark chocolates that are less than 70% cocoa contentJunk food: Deep fried and breaded chicken fingers and fries on the side (loads of nasty trans fats)Healthier alternative: grilled chicken breast strips with peanut dipping sauce and vegetables on the sideJunk food: a cheap fast-food burger on a processed refined white bunHealthier alternative: A grass-fed burger (higher in CLA and omega-3 fats) with raw grass-fed cheese on a sprouted grain rollHow about that for eating healthier yet still very tasty foods!I hope that what you get out of this article is that there is more to life than eating junk food, and eating junk does not necessarily mean that you're "living a little" as so many people say. Instead, I feel the opposite is true.Eat healthier and discover the natural flavors of real foods (not processed) and you'll soon discover that you no longer need junk food. Enjoy!

The ABCs of Food Allergies

Approximately 8% of children and 2% of adults suffer from true food allergies. When the culprit food is eaten, most allergic reactions will occur within minutes. Skin symptoms (itching, urticaria, angioedema) are the most common, and occur during most food reactions. Other symptoms can include nasal (sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and eyes), gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea), lung (shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, chest tightness), and vascular (low blood pressure, light-headedness, rapid heart beat) symptoms. When severe, this reaction is called anaphylaxis, and can be life threatening.Allergy or Intolerance?Most reactions to food are probably not allergic in nature, but rather intolerance.This means that there is no allergic antibody present against the food in the person. Intolerance can be classified as toxic and non-toxic. Toxic reactions would be expected to occur in most people if enough of the food was eaten, examples include alcohol, caffeine or in cases of food-poisoning. Non-toxic food intolerance occurs only in certain people, such as lactose intolerance, which is due to the deficiency of lactase, the enzyme which breaks down the sugar in milk and dairy foods. Patients with lactose intolerance experience bloating, cramping and diarrhea within minutes to hours after eating lactose-containing foods, but do not experience other symptoms of food allergies.Non-allergic Immunologic ReactionsA less common form of non-allergic reactions to food involves the immune system, but there are no allergic antibodies present. This group includes celiac sprue and FPIES (food protein induced enteropathy syndromes). FPIES typically occurs in infants and young children, with gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools, and weight loss) as the presenting signs. Milk, soy and cereal grains are the most common triggers in FPIES. Children typically outgrow FPIES by 2 to 3 years of age.Common Childhood Food AllergiesMilk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish and shellfish compromise more than 90 percent of food allergies in children. Allergy to milk and egg are by far the most common, and are usually outgrown by age 5 years. Peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies are typically the more severe and potentially life-threatening, and frequently persist into adulthood.Cross-Reactivity and Cross-ContaminationCross-reactivity refers to a person having allergies to similar foods within a food group. For example, all shellfish are closely related; if a person is allergic to one shellfish, there is a strong chance that person is allergic to other shellfish. The same holds true for tree-nuts, such as almonds, cashews and walnuts.Cross-contamination refers to a food contaminating another, unrelated food leading to a "hidden allergy". For example, peanuts and tree nuts are not related foods. Peanuts are legumes, and related to the bean family, while tree nuts are true nuts. There is no cross-reactivity between the two, but both can be found in candy shops and in a can of mixed nuts, for instance.Diagnosing Food AllergiesThe diagnosis is made with an appropriate history of a reaction to a specific food, along with a positive test for the allergic antibody against that food. Testing for the allergic antibody is typically accomplished with skin testing, although can be done with a blood test as well.The blood test, called a RAST test, is not quite as good of a test as skin testing, but can be helpful in predicting if a person has outgrown a food allergy. This is especially true since in many cases the skin test can still be positive in children who have actually outgrown the food allergy.If the diagnosis of food allergy is in question despite testing, an allergist may decide to perform an oral food challenge for the patient. This involves having the person eat increasing amounts of food over many hours under medical supervision. Since the potential for life-threatening anaphylaxis exists, this procedure should only be performed by a physician experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. An oral food challenge is the only way to truly remove a diagnosis of food allergy in a patient.Managing Food AllergiesTreat the reaction: If a reaction to the food is present, the person should seek immediate emergency medical care. Most patients with food allergies should carry a self-injectable form of epinephrine, or adrenaline (such as an Epi-pen®, with them at all times. These medications can be prescribed by a physician and the patient should know how to use this device before an allergic reaction occurs.Avoid the food: This is the main way to prevent future reactions to the culprit foods, although can be difficult in cases of common foods such as milk, egg, soy, wheat and peanut. Organizations such as the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network offer help and support to patients and parents of children with food allergies.Allergy physicians can also offer additional information and advice on avoidance.Read food labels: Since accidental exposure to the allergic food is common, reading labels on foods and asking questions about ingredients at restaurants is important and recommended.Be prepared: Patients with food allergies should always be prepared to recognize and treat their reaction, should one occur. Remember, since exposures to the allergic foods are frequently accidental, being prepared to treat the reaction with epinephrine is paramount. Emergency medical care should always be sought if an allergic reaction to food occurs, whether or not epinephrine is used.Communicate with others:Communication with family members, friends, and school staff about the patient's medical condition and knowledge of how to administer epinephrine is also important. It is also recommended that the patient wear a medical alert bracelet (such as a Medic-Alert® bracelet) detailing their food allergies and use of injectable epinephrine, in the case the patient is unable to communicate during a reaction.

Feel Better - Eliminate Conflicting Foods and Additives

Are those delicious foods that you just consumed making you feel sick and tired? You could be allergic or intolerant to certain foods and by understanding the warming signs, you can eliminate that food or additive before it becomes a complication, affecting your health. If you're experiencing gas, bloating, indigestion or heartburn, these reactions are alerting you that your food choices need a modification.Foods that are most often responsible for allergic reactions include milk, eggs, peanuts, strawberries, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. When a food allergic reaction occurs, the immune system interprets this specific food as a threat, forming antibodies, which attaches to the allergen assisting in its removal. The immune system continues its defensive action as inflammation occurs in the intestinal tract lining, interrupting the absorption process of the conflicting food.Another type of adverse food reaction is food intolerance. This occurs when something in a food irritates your digestive system and you're unable to properly digest or breakdown the food. Some food intolerance is caused by enzyme deficiencies or a sensitivity, to synthetic chemicals which hinder the functioning of the digestive tract. People that are lactose intolerant do not produce enough of the digestive enzyme called lactase, which breaks down the milk sugar (lactose) found in dairy products. When too much undigested lactose makes its way into the large intestine, people suffer from gas and/or diarrhea.The following Warming Signs, Indicators, Symptoms and Reactions can happen after you eat certain foods or additives that you're allergic or intolerant of.o abdominal paino anxietyo bloatingo chest paino crampso dark circles or puffiness under the eyeso depressiono diarrheao ear infectionso fatigueo fluid retentiono gaso headacheso heartburno hiveso inflammationo irritabilityo nauseao nervousnesso rasho shortness of breatho sinus congestiono stomach paino swelling of the air passageso vomitingOur immune systems have become so over-worked from constant stress, exposure to air and water pollution, pesticides and chemicals found in our foods. Synthetic chemicals, like sulfites, that contain preservatives used in dried fruits, wines and many other processed foods are intolerant to many people. Synthetic food colorings are problematic for many people. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is an additive used to increase flavor and many people become bloated or experience severe headaches after eating. By eliminating additives, preservatives, chemicals, synthetics, pesticides, artificial flavors and colors, your immune system can function more effectively, protecting you.Food allergies and intolerance can be hereditary. If your mom or dad can't eat a certain food without difficulty, you might have the same reaction. Most food intolerance can be found through trial and error. Determine which food or foods cause the symptoms by keeping a food diary to record what you eat. People with food sensitivities must completely eliminate the offending food from their diet.When you're trying to identify problem foods, an elimination diet works well. This involves completely eliminating any suspect foods from your diet until you're symptom-free. Then begin to reintroduce the foods, one at a time. This can help you determine which foods cause the reactions. Talk with your Healthcare provider before beginning an elimination diet to be sure your diet provides adequate nutrition. Stimulates and sweets are irritating to your digestion. Alcohol, caffeine and processed sugar, should be avoided.You know your body better than anyone. When certain foods make you bloated, fart or you feel sick and tired, you don't want to continue eating that food, no matter how good it taste. 50% of all Americans have adverse reactions to certain foods. The warning signs are alerting you to the incompatibilities. By eliminating the compromising foods or additives, your body will feel better and be able to digest and absorb the nutrients your cells need to stay healthy and strong. You'll gain more energy and nothing looks better on you than a healthy body that feels so good.

Food Allergies in Children

Could your child be suffering from hidden food allergies?The issue of food allergies, reactions to preservatives and food colourings, and food intolerances in children has received much attention by researchers in recent years. Studies have shown that many children to react to foods and food additives, causing a host of health problems.In my practice, I frequently see children suffering from food allergies. Symptoms can range from hives and asthma, to digestive complaints, ear infections, bed wetting, eczema, and behaviour problems. Research now strongly suggests that indeed, food allergies are becoming more common I western societies. Why is this the case? Let's take a look at1) What are food allergies?2) What can cause food allergies?3) How can you test for food allergies4) How can they be treated?What are food allergies?A food allergy is basically an immunological reaction to a protein component of a particular food.There are different types of reactionsIgE food allergy is the more serious reaction that can cause hives, breathing problems, and anaphylaxis. It is caused by the release of histamine by particular immune cells. These are the food allergies commonly tested via skin prick by the allergist. Most parents know what foods their child is reacting to because the reaction can occur immediately after ingesting the food. Strawberries, shellfish, peanuts, and egg are common IgE mediated food allergies.IgG food allergies are more difficult to pinpoint because the reaction can be delayed for up to a day after the food was eaten. These reactions are less severe and less life threatening but nevertheless can cause significant discomfort. Symptoms of the delayed reactions can range from attention deficit disorders, skin rashes, ear infections, hay fever, chronic nasal congestion, headaches, and bed wetting, to name just a few.What can cause food allergies?The complex cascade of events is beyond the scope of this article-here are just a few examples of possible factors.The digestive tract is an important mediator in allergies. Most people don't know that 70-80% of the immune system is actually located in the gut. The gut has a surface area of half a tennis court. Peppered throughout that tennis court are areas called Peyer's patches, which are like little life guard stations of the immune system. Covering the surface of the tennis court are beneficial bacteria like acidophilus and bifidobacteria (probiotics), which stick to the mucosal wall of the gut. These important bacteria have several key functions, one of them is to mature our immune cells located in the gut Peyer's patches. This is a complicated process of critical importance to a young immune system like that of a child. Babies born vaginally pick up their probiotics from the birth canal. Researchers now believe that Cesarean born babies have a higher incidence of allergies because they lack these beneficial bacteria from the birth canal and therefore cannot properly mature their immune systems.So probiotics are critically important from an early age. Another reason we may be seeing more food allergies is because our food is so much more processed. Wheat, for example, is now found in many foods you would never suspect such as lunch meats, soy sauce, and soups. Having constant exposure to common foods can cause reactions and intolerances.
Another common factor in the development of food allergies is a process known as "leaky gut". This occurs when improperly digested food particles cross the gut wall and constantly stimulate the immune system to launch a reaction. This can develop with insufficient digestion, overgrowth of pathogenic organisms such as candida albicans, and mucosal insufficiency.How can you test for food allergies?I usually recommend the IgG food allergy test from one of the more reputable laboratories. It tests for over 90 foods and can be conveniently done at home. All it requires is a quick finger prick to collect 3 drops of blood and most kids won't even feel it. It is a relatively costly test, but most parents appreciate knowing which foods to avoid. Ask your health care practitioner about this test.Alternatively, an elimination diet can also be helpful in identifying which foods your child reacts to. This process involves systematically avoiding key allergens such as dairy, gluten (the common allergen in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats) and eggs. After a period of 2-3 weeks the food is reintroduced while watching out for symptom recurrence. This is a bit more tedious as most of the time it is impossible to avoid all possible allergensHow can food allergies be treated?The wonderful thing about children is that, for the most part, they are very resilient. Their bodies heal very quickly once allergies are identified.I usually focus on allergy avoidance for a period of about 3 months while building up the immune system with natural products like probiotics and specific nutrients to stimulate proper immune response. I also often suggest a gut healing protocol to prevent further "leaky gut" and to improve digestion.

The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth - The REAL Story And History Behind The Whole Food Craze

Well to put it simply - whole foods are just that - no - I don't mean you get a "whole" cheeseburger instead of sharing it with your friend, Nope - I also don't mean that all of the food you eat will be made primarily with whole grains. You are not even warm. Let me enlighten you. Whole foods means - the whole enchilada - or more appropriately the whole potato, the whole apple the whole peach the whole (well almost) orange. You see, the reason why the Whole Food craze seems "new" to us is because it is been so long since we had a real potato - or a real orange. When was the last time you even SAW the white membrane of an orange? Or when was the last time you took a bite into the skin of a potato? We have just become too accustomed to eating our food, skinned, peeled, pasteurized, homogenized, boiled, freeze dried, mashed, or whatever other way we can think to alter the natural state of our food. Of course, this article does not address meats of any kind. We know that the only people who ate meat in their "whole food" state probably didn't live very long. We are talking about fruits, grains and vegetables. Now, lets talk about how we go so far away from eating food in its natural state, and why it seems like whole foods is a new craze.A History Lesson:We have forgotten how to eat whole foods, or should I just say it like it is - REAL food - so that is part of the reason why bookstores - online or down the street - advertise like crazy the benefits of eating whole foods, like it was a new thing. Well of course it isn't! Think back to the first siblings - Cain and Abel - Abel was by all accounts the first recorded whole food producer (human that is) that ever lived. He of course even garnered the favor of Our Creator due to the high standards he must have held to. But since that time, whole foods, have been slipping in the ratings. Well, what is the best way to eat the food that comes from the ground, just like we do? It makes perfect sense that we should eat our fruits and veggies as close to their natural state as possible - they grow from the same soil we are made of - yes! that is right. Our bodies are made of the same components that the soil in your back yard is made of - amazing right? But true. So by filling our tummies with more natural forms of food, means that our bodies will tolerate it better, will digest it better, and will use it as fuel in a more efficient way - in other words - we will be healthier beings.Whole food eating really took a decline during the 50's - now here goes the history lesson:1950s: Remember, Leave it to Beaver? And how envious we all were when "The Beav's" mom would call them in to a succulent dinner? Well don't be so envious. Because that meal probably tasted great - but it was by no means "real" food - or even close to whole foods - no way! In the 50's food on the shelf was a great thing. The more canned food that was purchased, the longer shelf life and the more efficiently all of the at home mothers could run their domain - the kitchen.One little problem with canned food though - Canned fruits and vegetables come with high levels of sugars and calories - watered down, and loses a lot of its nutritional value. You know that other buzz word - antioxidants? Well your canned foods don't have nearly what you need and you need to take supplements along with those canned veggies to stay on top of your health. However, in its natural state, or "whole" state, vegetables and fruits provide you with what is called Phytonutrients . These are nutrients found in the skins of several fruits and vegetables, which give the food color as well as flavor and scent. Phytonutrients are simply put the best types of antioxidant foods that you can find anywhere. The other thing about canned foods is that with the skins cut off, and the high heat that is needed to process the food before canning, quite a bit of the fiber and bulk of the vegetable is lost, thus you feel that you need to eat more to get full. That is another great thing about whole foods - you get more per serving, which means you can eat less - and stay healthy and trim. With foods that are nutrient and fiber deficient, you have to eat more to get full and you don't even get nearly as much nutritional value.1960's and 70's: The 1960's brought in the first "wave" of technology to the kitchen. The microwave oven. Now you will have those who state that the ease and speed of cooking outweighs any nutritional value lost. I beg to differ. Studies have shown that due to the way microwave ovens heat food, this causes the creation of molecular friction, This molecular friction destroys molecules of vitamins and phytonutrients that are naturally found in whole foods. One study showed the loss of vital nutrients to be up to 97% of the nutritional content that prevents disease, including cancer, and that boosts our immune system and keeps us healthy. Heart disease, cancer and other diseases have been linked to the use of microwave ovens. Another link is to obesity, which is a vicious cycle. Microwaves are convenient mostly to cook items that are pre-packaged and made to be cooked in the microwave. Those packaged foods have high concentrations of sugar, salt and are by far over processed and usually also have a high fat, low nutritional value content. So someone eating a lot of microwaved food, would not get that full feeling that he or she would receive from eating whole foods with high fiber and nutrient content. And even if that person decided that they wanted to eat healthier, and bought whole foods but still cooked them in the microwave, the microwave kills a lot of the nutrients in the food, and thus, the vicious cycle starts all over again.80's and 90's: were the years of "you can never be too rich or too thin" - again - I beg to differ. Many people, really were more interested in fitting into their size 2 Calvin Kleins than they were about the nutritional value of what they ate. They would primarily eat to not feel light headed and pass out, but a lot of thought was not put into what foods people were eating. Though those were the "Me" years, a lot of people were not really thinking of themselves in the right way - in other words they were not thinking of how they should best take care of their bodies - they were more interested in how the outer shell looked to the opposite sex than what was going on inside where no one could see.And so we arrive in the 21st century - with new "waves" in technology - called microwave and convection cooking, fast food establishments popping up on every corner, during the first part of this century at least, we really didn't start to "get it" . But between the pesticides, the reoccurring epidemics, bird flu, mad cow disease and heaven knows what else - someone finally said "lets stop the madness" - let's start eating the way our bodies were designed. We are basically like furnaces, right? our bodies work best with a certain type of "fuel" that doesn't gunk up the works - whole food eating is the way to keep our furnace running at optimum efficiency and assures that we will add years to the warranty.Well years of bouncing in and out of good health, I am convinced. I have converted. I of all people never thought I would. The reason? Not because I was really against it - but I have four junk food loving kids and a meat and potatoes loving husband- need I say more? But alas! They surprised me - well at first it was a major conspiracy rivaling watergate - when they heard strange noises coming from the kitchen (my new VitaMix!) and saw me putting into it strange combinations of things - like grapes and wheatgrass and carrots and strawberries - has Mom lost it? So for a while, each time they heard the whirring sound of the new mechanical addition to the family (seriously, I am drawing up adoption papers for VitaMix Daniels) they would sneak into the kitchen to see exactly what concoction I was brewing for them. But after a week or so - I heard words from one of my son's mouths that I never thought I would hear - other than in a drug induced dream - he said unto me - "Mom, I think the smoothie needs more carrots" - Yes, you ask - I am willing to take the oath and swear with my right hand on the Bible, he said it, and eagerly watched me as I added more - dare I say it - carrots!Needless to say - after that spine tingling moment - my motivation to succeed in the Whole Food world became almost superhuman - I was Whole Food Woman hear me roar (or turn on my VitaMix). But I couldn't stop at smoothies - I made soups with whole vegetables - and ice cream with whole fruits and no sugar - and when I made my first loaf of whole grain bread after grinding my own wheat berries - it was like giving birth without the stretch marks - well not quite - but darn close! Yes, I am a little "zealous" should I say about the whole thing - you may say I am a little over the edge when I search the trash bags for potato peels and other food skins and as I wave the brown peels in the air like a flag and repeat the mantra - "no peels go uneaten in this house" - but I can't help it - it is like a drug without the side effects and corny commercials - I have arrived into the whole food world! Come and join us - we are a growing group - a little "nutty" but we mean well, and we sleep much better too! By the way - speaking of nutty - I am running out of peanut butter - VitaMix here I come! click, click - Whirr Whirr! - Ahhhh!!!

Low Glycemic Foods - 3 Myths About Low Glycemic Foods And The Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is one of the newer tools used to measure the "healthiness" of a food item. The lower the Glycemic Index score of the food item, the healthier it is supposed to be. However, this is an oversimplification of what a low glycemic food actually is. There are many prevalent myths about the this Index and Low Glycemic foods that are encouraged by the latest 'fad' of low glycemic foods being the 'in' thing to eat. Here are five of the most common ones:Myth #1 - The Glycemic Index Measure How Good The Food Is For Your Health:The glycemic index is not a measure of healthiness in any way, shape or form. What it actually measures is the rate at which the food releases sugar into the system and how quickly it is digested. The faster the food is digested or absorbed, the faster it releases sugar leading to a spike in sugar level in the blood. The foods which cause a spike quickly, are given a higher GI score, and vice versa. As such, high GI foods lead to a sudden feeling of being "full" and hunger returns soon afterwards. On the other hand, low GI foods take longer to digest, giving a much longer feeling of being full. Additionally, for diabetics, it is "safer" to eat low GI foods as the sugar level does not spike rapidly and the body can absorb the food slowly. this has no bearing on any of other parts of the food. For example, a food that is generally good for your health, may be a high GI food, such as protein shakes. On the other hand, something with very high fat content might have a low GI rating giving the illusion that it is healthier when it isn't.
Conclusion : GI rating is just one of the things to keep in mind while organizing your diet. Low glycemic foods are not naturally healthier.Myth #2 - Glycemic Index is an accurate measurement of the sugar content in a food:This one comes from the wrong understanding of the Glycemic index itself. Some people assume that foods high in sugar case a high blood sugar level spike, and therefore have a high GI rating. The truth is, that a food with lower sugar content might actually lead to a higher spike. This is all based on the speed with which the food is absorbed and the sugar is released. Think of this as the difference between sprinting and jogging. You might sprint 300 meters, or jog 300 meters. The distance covered is the same, but the speed is very different.
Conclusion : Two foods with significantly different sugar content may have the same GI score. At the same time, two foods with different GI scores may have the same sugar content. Foods low in this index simply release the sugar slower, not more or less of it.Myth #3 - Diabetics Should Buy Low Glycemic Foods Without Knowing Anything More :The truth is that the Glycemic Index scores of various foods are drastically effected by the way the foods are cooked. For example, raw carrots have a much lower GI rating than cooked carrots do. As such, it is actually MORE important to know how to prepare and cook foods properly rather than simply buying low GI foods (unless they are ready to eat). As such, all diabetics and people looking to adopt a low GI diet should equip themselves with the proper knowledge on how to cook foods the right way.These are just some common misconception that misrepresent what Low Glycemic foods are and how they are applicable for someone's diet. Clearly, the GI can be a great tool for a healthier diet, but only if it is properly understood and placed in its context.

What is Food? What Does it Represent?

Well that's a simple question to answer, huh? I can just go consult Google and get a dictionary definition, right? any substance that can be metabolized by an organism to give energy and build tissueOk, that's great. We can even expand that definition a bit by checking in with Wikipedia:(1)Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal for nutrition or pleasure.Now we're getting somewhere! Ok, maybe not. In the strictest, dictionary definition of the word, any substance that provides energy is a food. By that definition, a Twinkie is food, though I doubt few here would agree, myself included. So what is food really?Food, to me, is one of the most important elements of truly living, and I don't mean that simply because it's a requirement to keep from wasting away. Frankly, I love food. I don't mean that in the "I love to eat" sense, though I do love to eat, but it's deeper than the mere act of eating. I genuinely love food - the aromas, the textures, the flavors, the camaraderie. In fact, while I know that not everyone is a foodie, it amazes me that people can be so blase when it comes to what they put into their bodies. What you put into your body becomes your body.Ok, so let's go back to camaraderie. Or socializing. Call it what you will, but it is one of the most important aspects of eating. Humans have the distinct privilege of being the only animal that doesn't simply eat, but "dines". Dining is more than simply stuffing food down one's gullet and moving on. Dining is a celebration of the experience of food. "Breaking bread" with other humans has been part of the human experience since time immortal. When a tribal hunting party brings home an animal, the hunter that killed the beast (or the person supplying the arrow depending on the culture) doles out the meat. Eating becomes a festival of sharing. Today, I feed you, for tomorrow, I may need you to feed me. Think of any gathering of family or friends. I bet nearly every time you gather with others for a good time, there is food involved. The act of cooking for someone else is an act of love and respect. To receive food cooked by another shows that they have concern for your well-being.If you doubt me, think of people's feelings toward those that hoard their food. Or people that refuse to eat other people's food. The feelings attached to food and to the offering of food are why I will usually sacrifice my diet when someone puts in the effort to cook for me. If I go to my mom's and she cooks spaghetti, I eat it. I may not always want to eat it, but the social aspect is more important than the food in that situation. Rejecting something that someone put the energy into making for you is generally taken as an insult if you don't have an allergy to said food. It is not simply a rejection of the food, it is a rejection of the person.Unfortunately, US culture places little emphasis on food. Largely, food is for nothing more than providing fuel. Few people here revel in food in the way that the French or Italians revel in food, as something more than some combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. Perhaps I should say that the emphasis we do place on food is of the wrong kind. As a culture, we hate food. It's merely something that is required to stay alive and even then we can't agree on what foods to eat. We've let corporations determine "what is food" and seem to have forgotten the most elementary task of nourishing ourselves. The problem with that is that corporations have little concern for your well-being unless it somehow positively affects their bottom lines. Why let someone feed you that doesn't care about you as a person?The phrase "soul food" keeps coming into my head while writing this. Those two little words say a good deal. Think about it..."soul food." Food for your soul. It's more than mere nourishment. While most "soul food" isn't the most healthful fare, it shows the emphasis on dining, sharing, and community that are put into the food. It's something given from one to another to provide more than just energy. That's food to me. To spend an hour or more of your time to cook for another is quite an expression. It both shows and adds to the value of a relationship.To truly experience a culture, you absolutely have to experience its food. In college, I took a Spring Break trip to Cancun, Mexico. Off the top of my head, my meals were largely eaten at Outback Steakhouse, Hard Rock Cafe, Subway, McDonald's, and whatever other US-based chains we came across. Obviously at age 20, I wasn't there to experience the gastronomy of the region (let's be frank, I was there to drink tequila and party). For my honeymoon, I went to Acapulco, Mexico and actually got out and ate at some of the local restaurants, truly experiencing Mexican cuisine. Both trips were great in their own way. But from the standpoint of cultural experience, Acapulco was much better, the fact that I was in Cancun largely being irrelevant other than the drinking age and the skin color of the workers. It wasn't solely the food, but that is a major part of it.Some may think that I've just turned the act of eating into something that it's not. But it's only been in the past half-century or so that food has taken on the role of mere fuel. It's only since the industrial complex started doing the cooking for us that eating has been an "on the run" affair. When we're too busy to properly nourish our bodies, times are bad for sure. Other cultures - for instance Mexico, Italy, and Argentina - place a very major emphasis on socializing during meals. Long lunches, multiple course dinners, elaborate dishes prepared lovingly by mom for hours, all shared with immediate and extended family and friends. June Cleaver never let a show end without making sure Wally and Beaver were well-fed. Food creates a family and a community.While we don't all have the pleasure of eating with others, you can still give your meals the attention they deserve by eating at a table, not watching TV, not surfing the Internet, perhaps not even reading a book. I'm guilty of doing other things while eating, though I am working on that. Food is, and should be, an experience. Take the time to savor every bite that you take. Take in the smells and colors and textures. Put time and effort into your food; the time you put into preparing good food for you and your family is effort you are putting into caring for yourself and others. Ensure that you're cooking flavorful, high quality food so that it is something to get excited about. If you can't cook, learn. If you don't have the time, reprioritize. Why simply eat when you can dine? So with all of that, I'll end by saying "Respect Your Food. Respect Yourself."

Did You Know Reading Food Label Can Be So Tricky?

I began to look out for nutrition information on food label when choosing honey. And when progressing from honey to other foods, the learning process didn't get any easier; in fact it only got more overwhelming. From your cabinet or refrigerator, pull out a few canned foods, bottled drinks, and packaged biscuits, and look at their labels and packaging. Are you able to make any sense out of what you read on the food label? Do you question how transparent food manufacturers are? How much is truth and how much is pure marketing tactics? You probably know what I mean by now.Food label is an important touch-point for us consumers as it serves as a key source of nutrition information when looking for healthy food. A huge global study done by a marketing research agency ACNielsen revealed that the top six ingredients most likely checked by consumers were "Fat, Calories, Sugar, Preservatives, Colouring, and Additives". And because manufacturers recognise how powerful product claims can be, many have exploited them by being very creative in presenting of information on the food label to the consumers. Here, I have made a list of 8 simple pointers that I thought Benefits of Honey visitors could gain in one way or another.1. Look Out for Hidden MSG!Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), "the miracle flavour enhancer" often associated with Chinese foods, is known to be neurotoxic or harmful to our brain cells. Packaging can claim "no MSG" yet still contain MSG, which can be hidden in fancy or confusing names like yeast extract, autolyzed yeast, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed protein, yeast food, yeast nutrient, calcium caseinate, gelatine, glutamate, textured protein, and torula yeast. And as if this doesn't boggle our minds enough, there is also "No Added MSG", which seems to imply that there is already some. The truth is MSG is much more prevalent than many people realize. Many popular fast-foods have MSG, and in general, the more highly processed a food is (or the more ingredients listed on its label), the more likely it is to contain MSG.2. Do You Perceive "Red and Vibrant" as "Fresh"?I began to realise how much effort food manufacturers spent on food appearance when I learnt that most commercial honey was pasteurised or treated with high heat to prevent crystallisation, which makes it impossible to compete with honey that are smooth, creamy, and appealing. Similarly, "sodium nitrates" are added to meats to make them look fresh and red on the shelf. Without it, meat would be gray and too unappealing for consumers to buy. Many scientists believe that "nitrates" or "nitrates" found in processed meats like bacon, ham, sausage, pepperoni, salami are cancer-causing chemicals. Dyes are fed to egg-laying hens to make egg yolks turn bright orange, and also given to salmons to look orange-red. Bacon and ham get their red tint from sodium ascorbate, a colour stabilizer, to make them look fresh and vibrant.3. Don't Expect All Ingredients to be ListedFood companies can get away with using non-natural processes and chemical ingredients and claim all natural. For example, foods fried at high temperature, resulting in the formation of cancer-causing acrylamides. There is no requirement for food ingredients lists to include chemical contaminants or toxic substances found in food and manufacturers need not declare all of the ingredients they use. Additives which are used as processing aids or serve no technological function in the finished product also don't have to be listed.4. Definition of "Natural" can be Ridiculously LooseA food labelled "all natural" can contain pesticides, herbicides, heavy metal toxins, hidden MSG, synthetic chemical vitamins, and a host of other non-natural substances. "Natural" does not mean organic. As there is no official definition for "natural food", food producers and manufacturers have the liberty to call anything natural. Another trick is to pad the list with itsy-bitsy amounts of great sounding ingredients like natural berries and herbs. Having a tiny amount of a superfood appear at the end of the ingredients list often doesn't mean anything in terms of health value.5. Beware of "Natural Coloring"!Artificial colours like FD&C Red No.5, FD&C Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine), FD&C Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue FCF) come from coal tar which is basically a petrochemical product. Found in ice cream, canned processed foods, sweets, drinks, soaps, shampoos, and cosmetic application, they have caused allergic reactions such as migraines, itching, rashes, anxiety, and general weakness in some people. Carmine, a well-known natural food, drug, and cosmetic additive found in "strawberry" yogurt, ice-cream, milk, fake crab, lipstick, eyeliners, nail polish sounds like an innocent pink food colouring but it's actually made from the smashed bodies of cochineal beetles (shocked?). Despite reports of severe allergic reactions, it's still been regarded as safe and imposing "no significant hazard" to the public.6. Know that Sugar and Fat Have Many NamesOne of the most common tricks is to distribute sugars such that they don't appear in the top three of the food label. For e.g, a manufacturer many use a combination of sucrose, high-fructose syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose to make sure none of them are in large enough quantities to attain a top position on the ingredient list. The same goes for fat; "total fat" includes all kinds of fat: saturated, trans fat, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated. Many foods that claim to be "low-cholesterol" can be full of saturated fats.7. Nutrition Claims Can Be Awfully DeceptiveThe name of the food product has nothing to do with what's in it. For instance, a "cheese cracker" doesn't have to contain any cheese, or a "fruit juice" doesn't have to comprise any drop of real fruit juice. Nutrition labelling is required when a nutrition claim is made e.g "High in calcium", "High in Fibre", "Low in Sugar", "Zero Trans-fat". By the way, any food containing 0.5g or less of trans fat per serving is allowed to claim zero trans fat on the packaging. Hence companies arbitrarily reduce the serving sizes of their foods to ridiculously small amount (e.g 1 small cookie) to bring trans fat down to 0.5g per serving. If you take 30 cookies with 0.5g of trans fat each, you would have taken 15g of trans fat in total!8. Think Twice When Laying Hands on "Sugar Free" and "Diet" FoodsWatch for hidden sugar in processed foods like bread, salad dressing, soups, and be careful with "fat-free" products, as sugar is often used to replace the flavour that is lost when fat is removed. Fat-free doesn't mean calorie-free. You think brown sugar is less refined and processed, and healthier than white sugar? Wrong, brown sugar is a gimmick to fool consumers into paying more; it's just white sugar with brown colouring and flavouring added. And don't be fooled by what artificial sweeteners can offer you. They mimic the taste of table sugar but have virtually no useful energy. In fact sugar substitutes like saccharin, aspartame and sucralose are toxic to the body. So be more sensitive to food label claims with words like "diet" "low calorie", and "sugar free".Be an intelligent shopper; fill your carts with lots of fresh raw foods like vegetables and fruits. Don't get fooled by deceptive food packaging, see through the marketing hype on food packaging, be sceptical about claims such as "less", "natural", "reduced", "free", "light", ask if the serving size indicated is the amount you would usually eat as one portion; be an avid food label reader.Source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/food-label.html

Why Does Some Pet Food Cost So Much?

In the UK you can buy a 15kg bag of dog food for £9.99, or you could dig deeper into your wallet and pay £41 for another brand. So why should we pay up to 400% more for a bag of food - is it justified?Well, I'm sure there are any number of reasons why one bag of food is more expensive than another, but I'm going to suggest a few possibilities which might make a difference to the price you pay for pet food (and this is true both for cat and dog food because the brand owners are the same)First and foremost, and this is putting my cynical hat on, you're paying what you are because the brand owner has decided that this is what you are prepared to pay for their pet food. The marketing department have done their research, millions have been spent on advertising and creating the right image, they've built up a degree of trust in the eyes of the consumer and now you've got to pay for that!Where's my evidence you might ask? Well, let's take a couple of examples and not from the extremes. Here's two lists of ingredients:Product 1Cereals, meat and animal derivatives, vegetable protein extracts, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals, yeasts. Contains EEC permitted antioxidants, colourant and preservative.Product 2Wheat, Meat Meal, Maize, Oils & Fats, Linseed, Beet Pulp, Peas, Lucerne, Vitamins & Minerals. Added Citrus, Yeast and Yucca. Contains EEC permitted antioxidants, colourant and preservative.Not a lot of difference in the ingredients, but Product 1 comes from a multinational with a marketing budget of millions to pay for, and it costs £25 for a 15kg bag. Product 2 costs £9.99 for 17kg. The brands are Pedigree and Wagg. I rest my case!1) Do ingredients make a difference to cost?Obviously there's going to be a difference in ingredients used (or we would hope so!) but can this account for such a difference, and does it matter? Let's look at a couple of examples. Firstly a typical bag of Eucanuba at £41.99 in the UK.IngredientsChicken: (>20%), maize, wheat, barley, sorghum, animal fat, fish meal, dried beet pulp, poultry meal, dried whole egg, brewer's dried yeast, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, linseed, DL-methionine, glucosamine HCl, chondroitin sulphate, salt, sodiumhexametaphosphateNow let's compare with Gilpa Kennel at £12.39IngredientsWheat, poultry, maize, wheatfeed, poultry digest, poultry fat, whey powder, soya oil, yeast, mixed herbs, extract of New Zealand green-lipped mussel, yucca extract, minerals, trace elements and vitamins, including zinc chelate. With EEC permitted antioxidants.Obviously the consumer has to make an informed opinion as to which is better for their pet, but essentially these are both wheat and maize based foods with chicken/poultry as the meat source. Both offer complete nutrition based upon current scientific knowledge with broadly similar analysis.More 'natural' and often more expensive foods will tend to use cereals other than wheat (rice typically) and maybe a single source of meat protein (chicken, duck, fish or lamb are most common) added as meat meal, and may be naturally preserved with vitamin E or similar. These types of food, which can be broadly classified as more hypo-allergenic are important because some pets suffer from an intolerance to common pet food ingredients so that has to be taken into consideration.It is a long forgotten fact however, that millions of pets have lived long and healthy lives on simple pet food with none of the fancy additives and supplements that manufacturers are luring us with now. Unfortunately, the trend is for manufacturers to try and get us to spend more by echoing the human food industry - with health claims and any number of ingredients which we wouldn't normally associate with food.2) All those fance advertisements: Some companies have amazing advertising budgets, and that spend has to be paid for in the price of the products (where else is it coming from?) 2006 saw the release of the world's most expensive television pet food advertisement coming in at £1 million to support the Sheba cat food brand.A Pet food company has broken the boundaries of TV advertising in the UK by becoming the first company ever to fully fund a television programme - on the terrestrial channel ITV. Content of the forthcoming ITV1 factual series Dog Rescue, scheduled to air early Sunday evenings, is to be fully funded by a single advertiser, the Mars, Masterfoods pet foods brand Pedigree.The Dog Rescue series will cover the activities of two animal re-homing centres, Manchester Dogs Home and The Dogs Trust centre in Harefield, West London. Despite concerns about moving a step closer to product placement in TV programming, the Pedigree brand will not be advertised during the show but it will appear at the beginning and end of commercial breaks.Sponsorship of premium events like Crufts cost brands such as Pedigree huge sums of money, which consumers are paying for in the price of the food.3) Research and development: Familiar brands such as Purina, Pedigree, Iams, Hills and Eucanuba which are global brands spend $millions worldwide on research and development, employing hundreds of scientists and veterinarians. This has to be paid for!4) The impact of the Distribution Chain: Some brand owners are also manufacturers (i.e. Gilpa) so it costs less to get the food to the shops. Others (Burns, Arden Grange etc) rely on a manufacturer making food for them, so already someone else wants a snip out of the profits. As well as the brand owner, there will be wholsalers and of course the retailer wanting their percentage. So it is that a bag of food that costs just a few £ to manufacture ends up costing around £40 in the shops!5) We love our substitute children! : Yes, pet food manufacturers know that you treat your pet like a child - go on, admit it!Euromonitor's research has found that the pet food market has been experiencing a trend towards premium and super-premium products. This stems from the fact that pet owners are increasingly treating their companion as a member of the family (or even sometimes as a partner, in the case of single households) and as such, expenditure on pet food is rising. This trend towards premium products has also been the result of efficient marketing communication by manufacturers about the benefits of prepared pet food and this has contributed to the development of branded premium products first, with private label premium products following suit.With the pet obesity rate reaching record levels, pet health and pet hygiene proved to be one of the biggest concerns of pet owners in 2006. This has resulted in a raft of new health focused multi-functional foods aimed at improving pet health, with product launches aimed at boosting pet paws, claws, eyes, coats, skin, teeth and even brain power. Key terms included omega 3 and 6, macro-nutrient profile, wheat and gluten-free and hypoallergenic. As pet owners became increasingly aware of the changing nutritional needs of their pets as they age, 2006 saw a great extension to life stage and lifestyle products, once the domain of premium and super-premium products. Even value manufacturers are cashing in on this trend.At the end of the day of course, the consumer can always vote with their feet and move to a different brand if they feel that they are being ripped off!

Food Safety to Help Avoid Bears in the Wilderness

If you plan on venturing into the wilderness on a camping or hiking trip, you need to be prepared to deal with potentially dangerous wildlife. Bears in particular need to be respected and avoided. One of the easiest ways to avoid bears is to be careful with storing and preparing food.Choosing the Safest Camping FoodStrong smelling food like tuna or garlic can attract bears easiest. When you choose which foods to pack, try to avoid foods that have strong odors. Canned or dried food is a much better choice. Not only do these types of food last longer, but they give off fewer odors too. Individual packaged food is better than larger packages that have to be manually resealed.Safely Storing Your Camping FoodOne mistake many campers make is not taking adequate precautions for storing food. All too often food is stored either in the same tent you sleep in or in a nearby cooler. This can be a very bad idea. You are essentially drawing the bears right to wear you are vulnerably sleeping.Your food should be stored a good distance away from your tent (at least 100 meters). To prevent food odors from blowing through your campsite, your food storage location should also be downwind from your campsite. When picking a location to store food, think of how close to your campsite you would be comfortable having bears. Obviously that is not very close at all.For actual food storage, you have a few choices. There are bear proof containers available in a variety of sizes. These bear proof storage lockers make it nearly impossible for bears to get at your food. It might not be practical to carry one of these durable containers to camp though.The more traditional method for camping food storage is to hang your food up in a tree in an airtight bag. Since bears do have some tree climbing capabilities, it is best to hang the food at least 5 meters above ground and at least 4 feet away from the trunk of the tree. A bear could easily reach a bag if it is too low or too close to the trunk of the tree. This is not the most secure method because using too small a branch makes it possible for a bear to break the branch and using too large a branch makes it possible for a bear to climb out to your bag. Bears can also chew through ropes holding bags up in trees. So if you plan on hanging your food, counterbalance the rope with a second bag. Then use a long stick to retrieve tour bags afterwards. Or you can suspend the food bag between two trees. Some camps have existing ropes or poles setup to use instead of hanging food from branches.As a last resort, you could also store your food in the trunk of your vehicle. This should be avoided though, as vehicles are not airtight and odors could leak out. This could lead to a bear scratching up your vehicle to get at your food. Bears with previous human contact may recognize coolers or other food containers. So don't just put food easily in sight in the front seat of your vehicle.As your garbage may also have food odors, it is recommended that you also safely store your garbage with your food supply. Other fragrant items such as soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and perfume should be stored with food too. If any of your clothes smell like food, be on the safe side and store these garments with your food. Ensure that no extra snacks are still in your daypack when you go to sleep. Tampons, napkins and toilet paper can also lure bears if not stored properly.Safely Cooking Food While CampingAnother mistake campers make is to cook food in the middle of the campsite. This will leave traces of food odors throughout your camping area. Assume that bears will come investigate your cooking area and position it away from your tent with your food supply.While you are cooking, try to keep the area well ventilated. If you are inside a tent, open the flap to air out some of the odors. You don't want these areas still strongly smelling like food when you go to sleep. Do not cook in the tent you plan on sleeping in! Covering any frying food prevents excess odors too. When you are done frying food, completely burn any excess grease and oil.Many people like to go fishing while they camp. If you are one of these people, don't clean your fish near your camp. Ideally, you would gut the fish in the middle of a lake where a bear would not smell the remains. Burying fish remains nearby is a bad idea.Another tip for camp cooking is to avoid cooking too much food. Don't cook more than you can eat as leftovers smell more than packaged food.Cleaning Up To Prevent BearsKeeping your campsite clean of garbage and food scraps will help keep bears away. Immediately after cooking and eating, you should thoroughly clean all your dishes. Strain the pieces of food from your dishwater and store that with the rest of your garbage and food. To dispose of the dishwater, dig a shallow pit. Then poor in the dishwater and cover it with ashes or disinfectant. This will stop odors and decomposition.While some people do not recommend burning any garbage while camping, it may be a good idea for any food scraps and food wrappers. It is better to burn these items leaving a temporary odor rather than keeping the items emitting bear attracting odors.Always pack out what you pack in. Leaving any garbage behind can turn the campsite into a regular bear hang out.ConclusionBe aware of the necessary food storage and cooking precautions while camping. Do everything you can to keep food odors away from your camp. Taking these precautions is the easiest way to prevent a bear encounter.

Why Do Americans Eat So Much Junk Food?

Why do Americans eat mostly junk food instead of a healthy meal?We didn't change our eating habits overnight. Imagine what our ancestors would have said about a book titled "In Defense of Food." They would never have believed that food needed defense. Today one of the leading indicators of the fix Americans are in is how quickly Michael Pollan's manifesto sped to the very top of the best-seller list. The book cover tells us - Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants."What other animal needs professional help in deciding what it should eat?" Pollan asks, recognizing the absurdity of the need for his own advice. Two different forces got us here. The first is "nutritionism," the idea fostered by science that food is nothing more than the sum of its nutrients. The second and more pernicious force is the $36 billion food-marketing industry that turns food into "food-like substances."Tips from his book: Avoid products made with ingredients you can't read or pronounce. Avoid products making health claims on the package. Yes, eat plants. But the best of them is: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.In a poll of Americans who were asked the top 5 reasons why people eat so much junk food:73% said convenience44% said it's what people like to eat37% said it's because of heavy advertising24% said it's more affordable14% said it's because people don't know which foods are healthyA lot of reasons we don't eat right is because of the food industry always finding ways to make more profit. They come up with fast dinners for families on the go. Convenience is what families have come to expect. We don't have time to actually cook healthy meals for our family. There's not enough time after we get home from work, help kids with school work, do after school activities and maybe pick the house up a little to plan and cook a healthy meal. Sometimes it's junk or nothing. Tip: Slow Cooker meals.We find time to shop for the perfect clothes, get our hair done, get together with friends, brush our teeth, and stop to buy that coffee from Starbucks but we don't have time to eat healthy. What's wrong with this picture? Food is what makes our body able to self-heal but we don't have time to feed it the one thing it needs, real food.Shopping for healthy food takes more time and costs more. The processed - boxed - quick meals will be on the center shelves of most grocery stores. This is done on purpose so it's easy to see - grab and go. Looking for healthy choices means looking from the very top, down to very bottom shelf, skipping over center. Healthy food costs more, at least at first. If you look at poor health resulting from eating junk food the price for healthy food is very cost effective. Tip: It isn't too hard to make a one skillet meal using whole grain pasta, fresh tomatoes spices and grass fed beef and it will taste better than the boxed Hamburger Helper.Eating too much and too little:It's not just about what we eat but also how much, too much or too little is unhealthy. So is when, how and why we eat the food we do. Most people think of eating too much and being overweight as being the biggest weight problem for Americans. Some people are so concerned about the way they look so they starve themselves. Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders in which the person views himself/herself as fat. When they do eat it's something they like and not likely to be healthy. Eating too much can be from boredom, stress, uncontrollable cravings etc.Junk fast food tastes better than healthy food. Kids are growing up eating junk food so they don't know what real food is. American's taste buds wouldn't know real food because it's so rare. If it isn't processed, loaded with sugar, salt, fat and will last longer than our kids because of the chemical preservatives, it has no flavor or doesn't taste right.Junk food is always available. Look at the check out counters at any store, they are loaded with candy bars, bagged snacks and even energy gum! There are snack machines everywhere, even outside my son's dentist's office. What a positive sight when you leave the dentist; eat more candy and wash it down with this Coke. We are exposed to junk food everywhere. Stores are playing on our impulse shopping, besides it's just a candy bar, right?This one is huge...We are bombarded with advertisements from McDonalds, Burger King and Arby's to name a few. This keeps food on our mind and after a while we think, hey that sounds good I'm going to make a McDonalds run for lunch. Our kids see commercials for fruit snacks, cereal, chips, candy, pop-tarts or Oreos and pick these things out when grocery shopping. We are being led to eat what is advertised, the whole purpose of the marketing.Keys reasons Americans don't eat healthy:Don't like the taste of healthy foodCan't afford itDon't have time to cookBombardment of Junk Food advertising from TV, radio, and onlinePicky eatersDon't know what is healthyProcessed - boxed - ready to cook - just add water - frozen dinners are quick and convenientFamily meals are a thing of the pastLack of knowledge about food:Americans think they are healthy so don't put thought into what they eat. They think if they're still alive after always eating the food they eat today it can't be all that bad for them. For some, it takes a death of a loved one to make them think about nutrition. It's hard to wonder if better food could have stopped disease. Don't wait until you are faced with disease to think about our biggest self - healing tool, food..If you still can't eat right I recommend the Pops, a whole food multi-vitamin to help get at least some good nutrition and stay alive longer.