You are what you eat

In a recent discussion with a nutritionist friend of mine, we talked about the value of whole foods versus processed. Our society is all about convenience and our food choices reflect that. The grocery stores are full of ready-made meals and non-perishable goods. These are wonderful items when life is busy and you need something quick, but the processing required to give them their shelf life often strips the food of its nutrients and adds unhealthy ingredients back in.

Take milk, for example. We take a wholesome source of nutrition full of good bacteria, enzymes and probiotics and we heat it up until it kills all of that. Then we fortify it with synthetic versions of what we took out. And this is necessary for milk to be mass produced, yet still safe enough to consume.

I’m not trying to bash the food industry here. I understand that we’re trying to feed more people with less land and processing is required to make food last longer and keep the industry efficient. I’m grateful that I live in a rural community where I can grow some of my own food and have neighbors that grow what I don’t. I know that not everybody has as much access to fresh food as I do and buying it in stores can be expensive.

That being said, I plan to take advantage of the opportunities to grow fresh food and buy local when I can. For things that I can’t get in Nebraska, I hope to do some research and find an unprocessed and unrefined version in the store. I know we’ll still enjoy a cardboard pizza and a bag of Doritos from time to time, but we’ll also be eating more homemade bread, locally raised meat and fresh garden veggies. As my friend said, “The best way to eat food is the natural way God intended it!”

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