Is Nutritious Food Good Food?
So summing up a discussion we had in class the other day,
I love that when our instructor asked “is nutritious food good food?” I’m pretty sure she silenced the crowd – birds chirped, and tumble weeds rolled right into the classroom.
I almost died laughing after that. Have we all gotten so jaded that we over-think every bite that we eat? Is that a hyper priviledged point of view, to have the time and energy to even dissect every morsel of information that jades our view of nutrition?
Hard not to agree when there are some pretty crappy products out there that sell scientifically quantified food, labeled as the hot new functional drink or beverage “proven” to provide you with such and such many grams of dietary — fill in the blanks.
from ‘more fiber’ to ‘less sugar’ and ‘low sodium’ claims, to the hot new anti oxidant or longevity drug. Are we so obsessed with our fountain of youth search for the holy grail, that any food will do even if it tastes like… pardon mon francais…shit?
So what is Good food to you?
Especially when there are so many cultural binaries that exist in western thinking – good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, overeating/starvation, sin/virtue, gluttony/taking care of oneself.
When it comes to food, we all think we’re experts in this matter because we all eat.
Hmm, let me try to put it in my own words.
Good food to me is something hearty, from the soul, hot and fresh, crisp in taste that hits the spot. Something people ooh and agh over, a conversation piece at the dinner table that brings people together. Something that leaves me satiated, but not gross full to a point where i can’t move, something that makes my body FEEL SO GOOD after consuming every, last, crumb. . .
good food can be nutritious and healthy, and healthy and nutritious food can be so good.
ain’t you sick of the crappy foods on the market that claim goodness, when it’s really nasty? or what happen to a cookie just being a cookie, you know it’s so bad for you, but because of that it tastes so good.
there’s also something to say about rebellion.
When someone tells you not to do something, not to eat something, that it’s forbidden, don’t you just want it that much more!?
and when someone tells you to eat something, to do something, and advises you to lean towards something that is “good FOR you”, don’t you just want to rebel and say no, just for the sake of saying no and regaining some sort of “control” over your own will?
Then,
How do you fit into this constant conversation? What’s good vs. what just tastes so good? how do you sort through all this information? Does it even matter? In the end, does the simple act of eating and the pleasures we gain from the act of eating hold enough value for us to just “live in the moment”? Or do we constantly have to fight ourselves in order to maintain healthy, and lead healthy lifestyles.
So which of these tenant do you follow?
“My body is a temple, I want to respect it as such”
“My body is a machine, input is directly related to output”
“My body is resilient, I bounce back from whatever I instinctually do to push my own limits to grow stronger”
“I eat whatever I want, and deal with or suffer through the advantages or consequences later”
For me, the search for GOOD FOOD in my life is simply a search for balance. I love to experience new things, yet what I find to hold true is what I decorate my body as temple with. What works for me not necessarily works for you, and i do not want to capitalize on any crash diets that have worked for a few. All i wish to do is share my love of eating and experiencing my world through food, with you.
Because living in the grey area has always been more fun. Black and White is too easy. Life’s a rainbow of gray, Live it up & Eat it up.
You decide. Everyone has a different formula for what’s best, and what balance means. But isn’t that the most beautiful and profound thing? That no two people in this world are alike, and all the nuances and differences is what shades this world of black and white with vivid colour.
So what I’m saying is — be aware of what you’re putting into your body, but enjoy the crap out of it too.
Happy happy eating ;)
I hope this inspires you to find what’s GOOD for you too.
April 6th, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Was your prof referring to all nutritious foods, like fruits and veggies etc., or only engineered nutritious foods, such as vitamin enriched or pro-biotic type of deals?
Either way, I almost want to say there’s no wrong answer. Like you said, it’s subjective no?
May 26th, 2010 at 5:49 PM
Was your prof referring to all nutritious foods, like fruits and veggies etc., or only engineered nutritious foods, such as vitamin enriched or pro-biotic type of deals?
+1
May 27th, 2010 at 2:46 AM
BOTH. it’s up to you to decide, and that’s the problem no?
it always boils down to marketing and education…
and then the problems go round dee round in terms of access to what we all define ‘good’ food to be, and who can or cannot afford it.
there are a lot of problems with improper health claims based on scientific studies that loosely correlate diet with dsease prevention because fact of hte matter is how do you isolate what one nutrient does in the body? the scientific methods of inquiry do not account for cultural and lifestyle differences with diet and nutrition. and then you have to look at who is paying who to do these studies and who publishes what health claim under what label. my point is, food has become so scientific, like packaged science, and i don’t like it.
it’s almost like sitting down to a meal prepared by your grandmother after a hard’s day of work, and asking her “why is this good for me- prove it!” and she’ll stare at you and smack you. saying “eat it anyway” cuz it’s like questioning years of cultural experience. and since the generalized american diet varies so greatly amongst populations, companies simply pick the greatest niche market that they want to sell to, target them and hope for the best returns on investment. one should be wary of nutrition that is ‘sold’ to you – because anyone trying to make a living off of selling something is only looking out for themselves, no? ain’t that business and econ 101? so then we are in the same position as consumers all over again. How do we decipher with the promise of free choice, what to buy? what to eat, and what is good? Especially when we know that deceit and deception stock the shelves, and “foodstuff” is marketed in a way that only promotes us to consume mooooorreeeee, it ain’t so glamorous, huh? esp when our natural resources are not limitless, which is the greatest external cost and flaw to economic theories of the free market system.
besides, what are BAD foods anyway? how do we define them within the bureaucracy? — i.e. the new soda taxes in different states –
all the talk now is centered around trying to define what a ‘sugary’ beverage is,
rather than, where is all that money going if we’re talking about money?!
i guess in the end, i am most interested in pushing other people’s ideas about what their relationship to food is — call me a rebel. because mine is changing every single day
May 27th, 2010 at 2:54 AM
ps – think about what the term ‘pro-biotic’ means — isn’t this just a marketed brand name for good live stuff – aka, good bacteria that we NEED? (post pasteurization or radiation where they kill off all bacteria, as a mass production food safe measure, and then fortify/add that shit back in… WHUT.. so funny)
hence the huge fad with the kombuchas and fermented things lately (when really civilizations and cultures have been eating fermented things for centuries — i.e. kim chee), and the huge push for grossly sweet yet completely fat free ‘healthful’ yogurts on the market now — with extra ‘probiotics’ and none of the healthy milk fat or omega 3s we could be getting (vs. the overdose of omega 6s in our diet — another post to come on that)
mmhmm, everything is branded. even science. have u ever seen cut up packaged apples at like subway or mcdees? they have nutrition labels on those and i swear when u look at the label, it doesn’t show much… but we all believe apples to be good for us