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Singing the Health Food Store Blues
- By Steven H Horne
- Published April 6, 2008
- Nutrition
- Unrated
Four Tips for Buying Healthy Food
1. Complex Carbohydrates are Healthy, Refined Carbohydrates are Not, Even if They are Organic
The good part of all this is that good sources of complex carbohydratesčorganically grown fruits and vegetables and whole grains and beans are now readily available. These are the carbohydrates we need, particularly the fruits and vegetables.
But, let’s get real. Have refined sugar, white flour and white rice suddenly become healthy just because they were made from organically-grown whole wheat, sugar cane or beets or brown rice? Of course not!
Organic agriculture isn’t just about growing food without pesticides and other chemicals; it’s about learning to work in co-operation with nature instead of fighting nature. Organic agriculture is about building up the health of the soil so that the foods grown on them will have more nutritional value. Our health begins with the health of the soil, which creates health in the plants and animals raised on that soil, which, in turn contributes to our health as we consume these healthy plants and animals.
One loses most of the benefit of this organic food when it‘s processed to strip away its nutritional content. So, don’t be duped. It’s not that having a little unbleached wheat flour or white rice once in a while is going to kill you. It isn’t. But, I still favor my whole grain flours, natural sugars and brown rice for regular use, and so should you if you’re interested in good health. We need whole foods, not just chemical-free foods.
2. The More Processed a Food is, The Less Nutritional Value It Provides Us
Obviously, this is an extension of the “complex carbohydrate” discussion, but what I’m talking about here is convenience foods. As I mentioned, there is a huge trend in the health food and organic movement towards convenience foods. I understand, we all have busy lives and sometimes we just don’t have time to prepare meals.
While I’m very glad that I can get healthier versions of some convenience foods, I don’t make the mistake of thinking these convenience foods are the optimal route to health. I like tomato soup, but rarely have time to make my own, so I’m glad I can buy Pacific’s Creamy Tomato or Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper, instead of canned condensed tomato soup. However, we need to keep in mind that all processing does result in some nutritional loss. So, if we freeze, can or dry a food it suffers some nutritional loss. However, food has to be preserved some way, so we can put up with some of this loss.
However, when they make pre-packaged meals, they are starting with foods that have already been preserved through freezing, canning or drying and mixing them into a meal which is then processed again by freezing, canning or drying. So, we’ve lost nutritional value a second time. The truth is, that pre-packaged meals will never be quite as healthy as meals we make ourselves, but I also realize that we live in a busy world and if we must use convenience foods, it’s nice that we at least have more convenience foods made with healthier ingredients.
Still, if you take these foods and heat them in the microwave, then you’re going to lose nutritional value again. It’s sad that people don’t realize how much damage microwaves do to the nutritional value of food. For example, I saw a booth at the Expo promoting fresh, organically grown baby food. This baby food hadn’t been processed through canning. It was refrigerated and fresh. However, the booth was advertising, “Just warm it in the microwave.” In other words, take this really healthy food and “nuke” it to kill some of its nutritional content before feeding it to your kid. We still have a lot of educating to do.
3. Fresh is Best, Which Means That Sometimes Locally-Grown May Be Healthier Than Organically-Grown
One of the problems the small co-ops and early health food stores sought to address was the environmental issues surrounding our food supply. For instance, why do we ship Florida oranges to California and California oranges to Florida? There is a lot of air pollution generated in this process of moving food around. It also means that the “fresh” produce sitting in the supermarket, really isn’t that fresh. Most likely it’s about 14 days old. That’s the average time it takes for the average produce item to reach the supermarket shelf after it has been picked.
For some foods, like apples, squash, potatoes, onions, etc. this isn’t much of an issue. These foods store well, and so they ship well. However, for many fresh fruits, tomatoes, peas, green beans, lettuce and other more fragile foods, this means there is a lot of nutrient-loss during shipping. There is also a loss of flavor. In the case of fruits like apricots, peaches and tomatoes, the only way these foods can be shipped is if they are picked green. This means they never had the chance to develop their proper flavor. Plus, varieties are selected based on what ships the best, not what tastes the best.
This loss of flavor is one reason why I believe many people don’t eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. As I write this, I’ve been out working in my garden. So far, I’ve planted carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, turnips, spinach, lettuce, radishes, chard, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe (not the musk melons we buy in the store, but the actual cantaloupes that are grown in France), pumpkins, Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, rhubarb and egg plant. I’ve still got more tomatoes, peppers and potatoes to plant.
I haven’t sat down and put pencil to paper, but considering all of the money I’ve spent on fertilizers, compost, equipment, irrigation supplies, plants and seeds, I’ll probably wind up spending more growing my own food than I would purchasing it at the grocery store. However, I can’t buy food that good at the grocery store. You can sometimes find really fresh produce at Farmers’ markets, but rarely at the grocery store, unless they stock locally grown produce. (And don’t be afraid to ask local farmers at the farmers’ markets about their farming and fertilization methods!)
A fresh-picked tomato, or green pepper or carrot or green bean from my own garden tastes completely different than anything I can buy at the grocery store. Plus, I love to grow varieties that you don’t often see at the grocery store. I’ve planted 11 varieties of potatoes, four varieties of carrots (orange, red and yellow), three varieties of beets (yellow, red, and red and white striped) which are all doing well.
I’m very glad that the owners of the Whole Foods chain has decided to dedicate part of the store to locally grown food. It’s a sign that even big businesses are starting to acquire some of the values that made the early co-ops and health food stores so appealing to me. But, the bottom line for me is thisčif I have my choice between locally grown, conventional produce and organically-grown produce that’s been shipped half-way across the country, I’ll buy locally-grown and wash it to remove pesticide residues. You don’t know what produce is supposed to taste like if you haven’t eaten it right after it’s been harvested.
4. Home-Cooked Food is Better than Pre-Packaged Foods
By now, this should be obvious, but I wish to reinforce the concept by telling you a little about my personal experiences. I love to cook. I never grew up, so I still like to “play” with my food. Chopping vegetables, mixing up a cake or cookie dough and other kitchen activities are fun for me.
However, for a time, I just didn’t have time to do much cooking. So, I relied on more convenience foods. I did buy these convenience foods as much as possible from the health food store or at least the health food section of my grocery store. And, even though I was eating healthier versions of these convenience foods, I still didn’t have the energy that I did when I was fixing my own food. The same thing happens when I travel and have to eat in restaurants—I notice a drop in my health and energy levels.
Recently, I’ve decided that enough is enough. I decided I didn’t care if it takes extra time—I was going to start fixing more fresh food, and I did. I broke out the juicer and started making fresh fruit and vegetable juices instead of drinking the bottled ones. I’ve made my own stock and made soups in a crock pot. I’ve steamed more fresh vegetables. I’ve packed my own lunches instead of eating out. And, as I previously indicated, I’ve been expanding my garden, which is giving me both fresh food and exercise.
Already, my energy level is improving. My supplements are working better, and my head is clearer and I’m being more productive with the time remaining.
But, there is another thing I notice. It’s a more subtle, perhaps even spiritual benefitča greater sense of connection with the food I’m eating. Food preparation for me is an act of love. If you believe in the intangible (as I do), then there is a subtle energy in a home-cooked meal that was lovingly prepared that’s different from something made in a factory.
That sense of relationship is even deeper when I’ve grown the food myself. When I pluck a fresh carrot from my garden, I not only get food of a quality that I cannot buy, I also have a sense of connection to the forces that produced my food—the earth, the water, the sun. For me it is a “rich” feeling to harvest food my own garden, a sense of “wealth” greater than a high balance in my checking account. I just don’t get the same feeling when I open a can. (The exception to that being opening a jar of food I bottled myself.)
I feel sorry that so many people in our society are missing the wonderful feeling of satisfaction that comes from growing, harvesting and preparing fresh food. It’s not just healthier for the body, it’s healthier for the soul.
Unless You’re Bankrupt, Finances Shouldn’t Stop You from Eating Healthy
Many people look at the increased cost of “health food” and feel they just can’t afford it. Well, if they are looking at convenience foods, that is a valid issue. However, if they would stop buying the soda pop, chips and other processed convenience foods and just purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and bulk grains, beans and nuts from the regular grocery store, they would save money on groceries. They should just wash the fruits and vegetables in a little Sunshine Concentrate or Dr. Bronner's Supermild Baby Soap (or something similar) to remove pesticides.
If time is a problem, buy a vegetable steamer and a crock pot. They are great investments for being able to prepare healthy meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Many times, I’ve put various chopped vegetables and some meat into a crock pot in the morning to come home to a tasty soup in the evening. You can also soak beans overnight, then rinse them the next morning, add some veggies or meat and let them cook through the day. Again, you’ll come home to a healthy, ready-to-eat dinner.
With the vegetable steamer, you can cut up your veggies, set the timer on the steamer and work on other things. The steamer automatically shuts off and you have some perfectly steamed vegetables that are both tasty and healthy.
Eating these whole foods and preparing them yourself will save money for two reasons. First, these foods are much cheaper than prepared foods, and secondly, because you’ll eat less. Whole foods are more satisfying and filling. But, there’s an even bigger bonus—you’ll have more energy and think more clearly, too. This will help you financially because you’ll be able to be more creative with earning money and managing it, too. So, the bottom line is—you can actually save money by eating healthy foods as long as you aren’t going for the convenience items.
I guess there’s really no reason for me to be “singing the blues” about the changes that have taken place in the “health food” industry. But, I do like to keep my eyes open and not blindly trust something just because the label says it’s “natural” or “organic.” One thing hasn’t changed since those early co-op days, however, and that is my firm conviction that whole, natural, properly grown foods are vitally important to our health and well-being. You just have to look closely to make sure you’re getting the real thing.
The good part of all this is that good sources of complex carbohydratesčorganically grown fruits and vegetables and whole grains and beans are now readily available. These are the carbohydrates we need, particularly the fruits and vegetables.
But, let’s get real. Have refined sugar, white flour and white rice suddenly become healthy just because they were made from organically-grown whole wheat, sugar cane or beets or brown rice? Of course not!
Organic agriculture isn’t just about growing food without pesticides and other chemicals; it’s about learning to work in co-operation with nature instead of fighting nature. Organic agriculture is about building up the health of the soil so that the foods grown on them will have more nutritional value. Our health begins with the health of the soil, which creates health in the plants and animals raised on that soil, which, in turn contributes to our health as we consume these healthy plants and animals.
One loses most of the benefit of this organic food when it‘s processed to strip away its nutritional content. So, don’t be duped. It’s not that having a little unbleached wheat flour or white rice once in a while is going to kill you. It isn’t. But, I still favor my whole grain flours, natural sugars and brown rice for regular use, and so should you if you’re interested in good health. We need whole foods, not just chemical-free foods.
2. The More Processed a Food is, The Less Nutritional Value It Provides Us
Obviously, this is an extension of the “complex carbohydrate” discussion, but what I’m talking about here is convenience foods. As I mentioned, there is a huge trend in the health food and organic movement towards convenience foods. I understand, we all have busy lives and sometimes we just don’t have time to prepare meals.
While I’m very glad that I can get healthier versions of some convenience foods, I don’t make the mistake of thinking these convenience foods are the optimal route to health. I like tomato soup, but rarely have time to make my own, so I’m glad I can buy Pacific’s Creamy Tomato or Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper, instead of canned condensed tomato soup. However, we need to keep in mind that all processing does result in some nutritional loss. So, if we freeze, can or dry a food it suffers some nutritional loss. However, food has to be preserved some way, so we can put up with some of this loss.
However, when they make pre-packaged meals, they are starting with foods that have already been preserved through freezing, canning or drying and mixing them into a meal which is then processed again by freezing, canning or drying. So, we’ve lost nutritional value a second time. The truth is, that pre-packaged meals will never be quite as healthy as meals we make ourselves, but I also realize that we live in a busy world and if we must use convenience foods, it’s nice that we at least have more convenience foods made with healthier ingredients.
Still, if you take these foods and heat them in the microwave, then you’re going to lose nutritional value again. It’s sad that people don’t realize how much damage microwaves do to the nutritional value of food. For example, I saw a booth at the Expo promoting fresh, organically grown baby food. This baby food hadn’t been processed through canning. It was refrigerated and fresh. However, the booth was advertising, “Just warm it in the microwave.” In other words, take this really healthy food and “nuke” it to kill some of its nutritional content before feeding it to your kid. We still have a lot of educating to do.
3. Fresh is Best, Which Means That Sometimes Locally-Grown May Be Healthier Than Organically-Grown
One of the problems the small co-ops and early health food stores sought to address was the environmental issues surrounding our food supply. For instance, why do we ship Florida oranges to California and California oranges to Florida? There is a lot of air pollution generated in this process of moving food around. It also means that the “fresh” produce sitting in the supermarket, really isn’t that fresh. Most likely it’s about 14 days old. That’s the average time it takes for the average produce item to reach the supermarket shelf after it has been picked.
For some foods, like apples, squash, potatoes, onions, etc. this isn’t much of an issue. These foods store well, and so they ship well. However, for many fresh fruits, tomatoes, peas, green beans, lettuce and other more fragile foods, this means there is a lot of nutrient-loss during shipping. There is also a loss of flavor. In the case of fruits like apricots, peaches and tomatoes, the only way these foods can be shipped is if they are picked green. This means they never had the chance to develop their proper flavor. Plus, varieties are selected based on what ships the best, not what tastes the best.
This loss of flavor is one reason why I believe many people don’t eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. As I write this, I’ve been out working in my garden. So far, I’ve planted carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, turnips, spinach, lettuce, radishes, chard, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe (not the musk melons we buy in the store, but the actual cantaloupes that are grown in France), pumpkins, Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, rhubarb and egg plant. I’ve still got more tomatoes, peppers and potatoes to plant.
I haven’t sat down and put pencil to paper, but considering all of the money I’ve spent on fertilizers, compost, equipment, irrigation supplies, plants and seeds, I’ll probably wind up spending more growing my own food than I would purchasing it at the grocery store. However, I can’t buy food that good at the grocery store. You can sometimes find really fresh produce at Farmers’ markets, but rarely at the grocery store, unless they stock locally grown produce. (And don’t be afraid to ask local farmers at the farmers’ markets about their farming and fertilization methods!)
A fresh-picked tomato, or green pepper or carrot or green bean from my own garden tastes completely different than anything I can buy at the grocery store. Plus, I love to grow varieties that you don’t often see at the grocery store. I’ve planted 11 varieties of potatoes, four varieties of carrots (orange, red and yellow), three varieties of beets (yellow, red, and red and white striped) which are all doing well.
I’m very glad that the owners of the Whole Foods chain has decided to dedicate part of the store to locally grown food. It’s a sign that even big businesses are starting to acquire some of the values that made the early co-ops and health food stores so appealing to me. But, the bottom line for me is thisčif I have my choice between locally grown, conventional produce and organically-grown produce that’s been shipped half-way across the country, I’ll buy locally-grown and wash it to remove pesticide residues. You don’t know what produce is supposed to taste like if you haven’t eaten it right after it’s been harvested.
4. Home-Cooked Food is Better than Pre-Packaged Foods
By now, this should be obvious, but I wish to reinforce the concept by telling you a little about my personal experiences. I love to cook. I never grew up, so I still like to “play” with my food. Chopping vegetables, mixing up a cake or cookie dough and other kitchen activities are fun for me.
However, for a time, I just didn’t have time to do much cooking. So, I relied on more convenience foods. I did buy these convenience foods as much as possible from the health food store or at least the health food section of my grocery store. And, even though I was eating healthier versions of these convenience foods, I still didn’t have the energy that I did when I was fixing my own food. The same thing happens when I travel and have to eat in restaurants—I notice a drop in my health and energy levels.
Recently, I’ve decided that enough is enough. I decided I didn’t care if it takes extra time—I was going to start fixing more fresh food, and I did. I broke out the juicer and started making fresh fruit and vegetable juices instead of drinking the bottled ones. I’ve made my own stock and made soups in a crock pot. I’ve steamed more fresh vegetables. I’ve packed my own lunches instead of eating out. And, as I previously indicated, I’ve been expanding my garden, which is giving me both fresh food and exercise.
Already, my energy level is improving. My supplements are working better, and my head is clearer and I’m being more productive with the time remaining.
But, there is another thing I notice. It’s a more subtle, perhaps even spiritual benefitča greater sense of connection with the food I’m eating. Food preparation for me is an act of love. If you believe in the intangible (as I do), then there is a subtle energy in a home-cooked meal that was lovingly prepared that’s different from something made in a factory.
That sense of relationship is even deeper when I’ve grown the food myself. When I pluck a fresh carrot from my garden, I not only get food of a quality that I cannot buy, I also have a sense of connection to the forces that produced my food—the earth, the water, the sun. For me it is a “rich” feeling to harvest food my own garden, a sense of “wealth” greater than a high balance in my checking account. I just don’t get the same feeling when I open a can. (The exception to that being opening a jar of food I bottled myself.)
I feel sorry that so many people in our society are missing the wonderful feeling of satisfaction that comes from growing, harvesting and preparing fresh food. It’s not just healthier for the body, it’s healthier for the soul.
Unless You’re Bankrupt, Finances Shouldn’t Stop You from Eating Healthy
Many people look at the increased cost of “health food” and feel they just can’t afford it. Well, if they are looking at convenience foods, that is a valid issue. However, if they would stop buying the soda pop, chips and other processed convenience foods and just purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and bulk grains, beans and nuts from the regular grocery store, they would save money on groceries. They should just wash the fruits and vegetables in a little Sunshine Concentrate or Dr. Bronner's Supermild Baby Soap (or something similar) to remove pesticides.
If time is a problem, buy a vegetable steamer and a crock pot. They are great investments for being able to prepare healthy meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Many times, I’ve put various chopped vegetables and some meat into a crock pot in the morning to come home to a tasty soup in the evening. You can also soak beans overnight, then rinse them the next morning, add some veggies or meat and let them cook through the day. Again, you’ll come home to a healthy, ready-to-eat dinner.
With the vegetable steamer, you can cut up your veggies, set the timer on the steamer and work on other things. The steamer automatically shuts off and you have some perfectly steamed vegetables that are both tasty and healthy.
Eating these whole foods and preparing them yourself will save money for two reasons. First, these foods are much cheaper than prepared foods, and secondly, because you’ll eat less. Whole foods are more satisfying and filling. But, there’s an even bigger bonus—you’ll have more energy and think more clearly, too. This will help you financially because you’ll be able to be more creative with earning money and managing it, too. So, the bottom line is—you can actually save money by eating healthy foods as long as you aren’t going for the convenience items.
I guess there’s really no reason for me to be “singing the blues” about the changes that have taken place in the “health food” industry. But, I do like to keep my eyes open and not blindly trust something just because the label says it’s “natural” or “organic.” One thing hasn’t changed since those early co-op days, however, and that is my firm conviction that whole, natural, properly grown foods are vitally important to our health and well-being. You just have to look closely to make sure you’re getting the real thing.
