We had a great meeting on Friday night at Lisa's home. Many thanks to Becky and Alyson for their engaging, delicious and truly eye-opening presentation on knowing the food we eat. Who knew that 20% of the "meat" in chicken nuggets is actually chicken skin? Or that extra-lean beef probably indicates meat taken from old/sick animals? I've been meaning to read such books as Fast Food Nation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma for quite a while, but now I'm on my way to the library! Becky and Alyson strongly encouraged us to make informed decisions about the food we eat--there is so much behind the scenes that we as consumers don't know. They also explained that moving toward sustainable eating is a gradual process and advocated starting with small, simple changes that do not feel too overwhelming.Here are a few of the tips they offered:
- Buy organic produce--especially the "Dirty Dozen": peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, pears, spinach & potatoes
- Buy organic whole milk dairy products
- Find a CSA (fresh, locally grown produce coop) at www.localharvest.org
- Limit sugar intake to 40g per day: avoid refined sugar and flour whenever possible.
- Use extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil or butter instead of vegetable oil, margarine or other highly processed butter/oil products
- Replace processed foods with whole grains: you need 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day
Here are 12 Food Additives to Avoid: I went home and checked my fridge and cupboards and couldn't believe how many of these additives I found! See this slideshow for all the details.
- Sodium Nitrate: Sure enough, there in the Oscar Meyer turkey hotdogs that my kids love.
- BHA and BHT: Oh my, this was in my Orbit sugarless gum and the packaging in our MiniWheats.
- Propyl Gallate: Didn't see this one in my cupboards, but apparently found in meat, chicken base in soups and gum.
- MSG: Wow. This was in my Campbell's soup, chicken bullion cubes and noodle mix.
- Trans-fats: I have been avoiding these, but found some in the cake mix I bought for my husband's birthday.
- Aspartame: There it was in my Orbit sugarless gum--yikes!
- Acesulfame: Sure enough, Orbit sugarless gum is the culprit again.
- Food Coloring: Found this in the cake mix, sugarless gum and the Listerine (of all places!)
- Olestra
- Potassium Bromate
- White Sugar: There it is, 5 lb. package in my pantry. Not to mention all that is in every other product out there.
- Sodium Chloride
Be sure to see Alyson's great blog for great healthy/organic recipes, reviews of organic products and musings on living a more sustainable lifestyle.
