One of the interesting ironies of the success of modern industrial food production is doctors seeing increasing numbers of kids who are both obese and undernourished.
What are they eating though?
Is it because they are eating all that fertilized corn or because they are eating all those processed corn chips?
Even if the corn had all its original nutrients in it, would it really matter when the kids aren't eating the stuff anyway unless its been processed, oiled, greased, and salted?
Over time our food has become less nutritious by the objective measures available to us today, and who knows how much worse the situation is than we actually know given the things we don't measure because we don't know they're important, or can't measure, or haven't even discovered yet.
But what are we measuring? Changes in the nutritional value of the base crop or changes in the nutritional value of the stuff that goes into people's mouths?
If people didn't eat McDonalds and Pringles all day, I really don't think they would be still fat and of poor health just because the nutritional value of corn has generally gone down through the years.
Pollan advises that it is best to simply ignore the claims of the food and nutritional industries and simply eat food. Locally grown normal, everyday food.
Sounds good. Whatever is in the corn (or isn't in the corn) it's better for you than what's in the corn chips.
But how much else might the western diet be responsible for? Increasing rates of autism? ADHD? Asthma? Pollan doesn't mention these problems, but his book does make one wonder.
We are a society of chemicals. I was doing some random surfing the other day and came across a claim that testosterone levels are decreasing in the population with each generationlikely from increased exposure to poisonous chemicals in food packaging.
So where do we go with this? Even with my processed food, disrupted endocrine system, and who knows what else I still chance to live longer than folks in developing societies. It would be good to get a handle on these problems, but even if we don't, is the tradeoff not still worth it?
Jon
Love your enemies!
™ Version 4.2
