'Clean food' is a dangerous fad

[Ptarmigan]

'Clean food' is a dangerous fad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9612872/why-clean-eating-is-worse-than-just-a-silly-fad/

The supermarket aisle has become a confusing place. It used to be full of recognisable items like cheese and butter; now you find yourself bamboozled by all manner of odd alternatives such as ‘raw’ hummus, wheat-free bread and murky juices. You have to stay pretty alert to make sure you pick up a pint of proper milk, rather than a soy-based alternative or one free from lactose. Supermarkets have become shrines to ‘clean eating’, a faith that promises happiness, healthiness and energy. Food is to be worshipped — and feared.

As with all growing religions, you know it by its disciples. On The Great British Bake Off, one contestant, Ugne Bubnaityte, has denounced cake as a ‘nutritional sin’ and she hopes to win with low-fat, vegan and gluten-free recipes. Commercially, she’s on to a winner: the market for gluten-free food is soaring and is forecast to grow by 46 per cent, to £560 million, within two years. For those who can’t wait, there’s always the NHS, which wrote 211,200 prescriptions for low-protein or gluten-free food last year (including cakes and pizza). As Dr James Cave, editor of the Drugs & Therapeutics Bulletin, puts it, the NHS is ‘acting as bakers and grocers’.

The high priestesses of this new religion are a group of young, attractive women who amass hundreds of thousands of followers online as more and more people turn to them for guidance. Essentially recipe bloggers, they are becoming revered for telling us what to eat and what not to eat. In an age of confusion, they seem to offer a path.

These crazy food fads people are no doubt leftists. 

[SVPete]

Culinary and Nutrition Luddites!

[DumbAss Tanker]

My position on gluten-free/superfood/holistic-diet stuff - "A (blank) and his (blank) are soon (blank)."  Yeah, I don't want to tip the DUmmies and YUPtards off on that one.

[ColonelCarrots]

They're eat healthy at 25, but die at 50 from from a heart attack or stroke. Meanwhile, some guy who never gave a damn about what he eats will live to be 90+.

[JohnnyReb]

35 years ago, I knew a guy that ate only "good" food. Bread and meat had to be fresh and from the right source. No food preservatives what so ever. He brought along all the food for the group that we camped/canoed/ backpacked/etc. with.

I told him I was going to smoke and eat whatever and out live him. I also said, at the time, why deprive yourself of all the good things in life so you can live a couple of years longer in old age. I'm going enjoy life and die at 70 and your going to worry yourself to death, not enjoy life and die at 72.

I'm 70 now but he is long gone.

Ever stop to think of all the people that would die young if not for food preservatives? It's better that I die at 70 from some disease caused by food preservatives than for a child to die from botulism or some other poison in food from the lack of food perservatives. Just think of how much food is produced, processed and eaten everyday in this country. It can't all be produced with 100% purity consistently all the time. 

[obumazombie]

Clean food is probably a racist construct.

[SVPete]

35 years ago, I knew a guy that ate only "good" food. Bread and meat had to be fresh and from the right source. No food preservatives what so ever. He brought along all the food for the group that we camped/canoed/ backpacked/etc. with.

I told him I was going to smoke and eat whatever and out live him. I also said, at the time, why deprive yourself of all the good things in life so you can live a couple of years longer in old age. I'm going enjoy life and die at 70 and your going to worry yourself to death, not enjoy life and die at 72.

I'm 70 now but he is long gone.

Ever stop to think of all the people that would die young if not for food preservatives? It's better that I die at 70 from some disease caused by food preservatives than for a child to die from botulism or some other poison in food from the lack of food perservatives. Just think of how much food is produced, processed and eaten everyday in this country. It can't all be produced with 100% purity consistently all the time.

The modern "health" food, "organic" food, etc. movement have roots whose mention would confirm "Godwin's Law" and even earlier.  It's part of the self-contradictory pseudo-science nostalgia that at once sees humans as evolved from a god-free nature, yet alien, disrupting nature.

The basic premise of the organic food, health food, etc. movement, that farmers would knowingly and willingly produce meats, veggies, and fruit that would sicken and kill those on whom they depend, cannot withstand cursory consideration. Ditto food processing corporation, large or small. Ditto the seed, fertilizer, and pesticide companies, and all the other conspiracy-theory bogeymen.

[The Stranger]

'Clean food' is a dangerous fad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9612872/why-clean-eating-is-worse-than-just-a-silly-fad/

These crazy food fads people are no doubt leftists. 

Really? I drink soy milk, I eat organic, mostly grown in my own property. If you never had organic peppers, tomatoes or even nuts you are clueless. All taste much better and have many more nutrients then the forced grown fertilized to cancer stuff from wally world for sure. I should clarify heirloom not just organic. The tomato or spinach of yesteryear(heirloom)has thousands of times more vitamins then the forced grown tasteless cardboard you buy today. My bell peppers has a meaty skin twice or more as thick as store bought, my tomatoes actually taste like a tomato!
Try it sometime, you'll like it.
Love ya's!

[FlaGator]

The whole glutton free thing is just a waste of money. The only people helped by glutton free food are those who are allergic to glutton which most people aren't. I hear people claim how much better they feel since going glutton free so I ask them, "have you been diagnosed with a glutton allergy?" When they say no I have to chuckle to myself. The placebo effect in action.

[JohnnyReb]

Really? I drink soy milk, I eat organic, mostly grown in my own property. If you never had organic peppers, tomatoes or even nuts you are clueless. All taste much better and have many more nutrients then the forced grown fertilized to cancer stuff from wally world for sure. I should clarify heirloom not just organic. The tomato or spinach of yesteryear(heirloom)has thousands of times more vitamins then the forced grown tasteless cardboard you buy today. My bell peppers has a meaty skin twice or more as thick as store bought, my tomatoes actually taste like a tomato!
Try it sometime, you'll like it.
Love ya's!

Rutgers?????

[Big Dog]

Really? I drink soy milk, I eat organic, mostly grown in my own property. If you never had organic peppers, tomatoes or even nuts you are clueless. All taste much better and have many more nutrients then the forced grown fertilized to cancer stuff from wally world for sure. I should clarify heirloom not just organic. The tomato or spinach of yesteryear(heirloom)has thousands of times more vitamins then the forced grown tasteless cardboard you buy today. My bell peppers has a meaty skin twice or more as thick as store bought, my tomatoes actually taste like a tomato!
Try it sometime, you'll like it.
Love ya's!

Ah, a false dichotomy: if it's not 'organic',  then it must be the product of a factory farm.

Check your premises.

[SVPete]

... If you never had organic peppers, tomatoes or even nuts you are clueless. All taste much better and have many more nutrients then the forced grown fertilized to cancer stuff from wally world for sure. The tomato or spinach of yesteryear(heirloom)has thousands of times more vitamins ...

And the data to support these ludicrous claims are ...?

then the forced grown tasteless cardboard you buy today. My bell peppers has a meaty skin twice or more as thick as store bought, my tomatoes actually taste like a tomato!
Try it sometime, you'll like it.
Love ya's!

Anyone who has grown their own veggies in their own garden, non-"organically" or eaten veggies ripe from the (non-"organic") field - I've done both, my Dad being a farmer - knows that the problem is not with the variety of tomato, etc. or "organic" vs. non-"organic", but with the realities of how produce gets from the field to large supermarkets. The simple, no-conspiracy-theory-needed fact is that a tomato picked ripe in the field would be rotten by the time it got to Safeway (Kroger, etc.). Any farmer or farmer's kid (me) from a tomato-growing area knows this. So, yes, that part of your post truly is a very false dichotomy.

I see you ignored (or lacked time to respond to) my comments below:

The basic premise of the organic food, health food, etc. movement, that farmers would knowingly and willingly produce meats, veggies, and fruit that would sicken and kill those on whom they depend, cannot withstand cursory consideration. Ditto food processing corporation, large or small. Ditto the seed, fertilizer, and pesticide companies, and all the other conspiracy-theory bogeymen.

Want to try to explain why the farmers and seed companies of your slanderous fantasy-world conspiracy-theory would knowingly poison the customers they need to but their products year after year, decade after decade?

[SVPete]

Ah, a false dichotomy: if it's not 'organic',  then it must be the product of a factory farm.

What is a "factory farm? I'm not arguing with you, but commenting on the propaganda image.

Fruits and vegetables are grown in an open field, and mechanized equipment is used for soil prep, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting, regardless of whether the field is 50 acres or 1000 acres. "Factory farm", when it comes to produce, is a propaganda image designed to provoke an emotional response, not anything substantial, real, and different. BTW, some of the largest farmers in my original home county, Yolo County, CA, are family-run farms, so that side of the "factory farm" image ignores a substantial part of reality.

[Big Dog]

What is a "factory farm? I'm not arguing with you, but commenting on the propaganda image.

Fruits and vegetables are grown in an open field, and mechanized equipment is used for soil prep, planting, fertilization, pest control, irrigation and harvesting, regardless of whether the field is 50 acres or 1000 acres. "Factory farm", when it comes to produce, is a propaganda image designed to provoke an emotional response, not anything substantial, real, and different. BTW, some of the largest farmers in my original home county, Yolo County, CA, are family-run farms, so that side of the "factory farm" image ignores a substantial part of reality.

A word or phrase is only a 'propoganda image' if the speaker/writer intends to use it as such. Tell me, what is my intent?

Is it your intent to censor my language because you find the words to be offensive?

[SVPete]

A word or phrase is only a 'propoganda image' if the speaker/writer intends to use it as such. Tell me, what is my intent?

Is it your intent to censor my language because you find the words to be offensive?

You seem to have missed or misunderstood this statement in my post, BD:

I'm not arguing with you, but commenting on the propaganda image.

IOW, I was not attacking you or your usage.

[Big Dog]

You seem to have missed or misunderstood this statement in my post, BD:

IOW, I was not attacking you or your usage.

Mea culpa.

[The Stranger]

And the data to support these ludicrous claims are ...?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/14/Vegetables-Arent-as-Good-for-You-as-They-Used-to-Be.aspx
http://www.thekitchn.com/fruits-veggies-are-not-as-nutr-153292

So I'm being ludicrous because you don't believe. OHHHHHHHHKAY.

Anyone who has grown their own veggies in their own garden, non-"organically" or eaten veggies ripe from the (non-"organic") field - I've done both, my Dad being a farmer - knows that the problem is not with the variety of tomato, etc. or "organic" vs. non-"organic", but with the realities of how produce gets from the field to large supermarkets. The simple, no-conspiracy-theory-needed fact is that a tomato picked ripe in the field would be rotten by the time it got to Safeway (Kroger, etc.). Any farmer or farmer's kid (me) from a tomato-growing area knows this. So, yes, that part of your post truly is a very false dichotomy.

Sorry to disagree but I've had gardens (up to 4 acres) my entire life and also have friends (farmers, thousands of acres) here who grow everything from apples to cucumbers and all but maybe one agree that mine taste much better. I live in WNC where there are thousands of acres of apples and I wouldn't eat an apple from the store or their farm for a million dollars. They are sprayed nearly everyday with some kind of bug killer or with some sort of fertilizer.
I grew beets 2-3 years ago I today have folks stopping by looking for my beets. Sweeter and redder then the reddest you could by in any store.
When a veggie isn't forced grown it tastes better.

I see you ignored (or lacked time to respond to) my comments below:

Want to try to explain why the farmers and seed companies of your slanderous fantasy-world conspiracy-theory would knowingly poison the customers they need to but their products year after year, decade after decade?

Not all know it they just think they are growing veggies and selling them. Some like you just don't care as long as it's red and looks like a tomato or green and looks like lettuce who cares. I bet you eat McD's chicken nuggets and think it's good chicken too?
Not here to argue with anyone but these are my opinions and what I have seen with my own two eyes and tasted with my own taste buds is all.

[ColonelCarrots]

I like seeing the foods that are "gluten-free" when they don't have gluten in them to begin with. Gluten is a protein found in wheat/oats.

[libertybele]

Really? I drink soy milk, I eat organic, mostly grown in my own property. If you never had organic peppers, tomatoes or even nuts you are clueless. All taste much better and have many more nutrients then the forced grown fertilized to cancer stuff from wally world for sure. I should clarify heirloom not just organic. The tomato or spinach of yesteryear(heirloom)has thousands of times more vitamins then the forced grown tasteless cardboard you buy today. My bell peppers has a meaty skin twice or more as thick as store bought, my tomatoes actually taste like a tomato!
Try it sometime, you'll like it.
Love ya's!

Good for you.  I'm still kicking myself for not moving out of the area about 5 years ago to a remote area, where I could grow my own vegetables.  I buy as often as I can from the local farmers (of what's left of them) around here instead of from the supermarket chains and yes indeed their tomatoes taste different.  Perhaps the biggest taste difference is in the beef I buy; I purchase it from a butcher that sells only certified black angus.  I quit eating supermarket beef several years ago.  Definitely have seen the difference in my health. 

[SVPete]

Mea culpa.

's cool. BTDT, got more of those T-shirts than I desire to count.

[JohnnyReb]

The best tomatoes I ever grew were yellow tomatoes grown on top of the septic tank drain lines. Now that's organic.

[SVPete]

Not all know it they just think they are growing veggies and selling them. Some like you just don't care as long as it's red and looks like a tomato or green and looks like lettuce who cares. I bet you eat McD's chicken nuggets and think it's good chicken too?

Wow! You've never met me but know my eating habits and tastes? That post was just really dumb.

Had you bothered to read my post, you'd have noticed that I'm the son of a farmer, who grew up in a tomato growing area. And if you knew much about real farmers, you'd know that they trade produce among themselves. More than a few times the tomatoes I had for dinner were vine-ripe and still warm from another farmer's field (as I posted above, field-ripe tomatoes are not sent to market, because they would be rotten before getting there). In turn that farmer would get a meal or two worth of asparagus from my Dad's field. So the crappy bulk tomatoes at the local supermarket are not to my taste. Thankfully, they do carry specialty tomatoes (some "organic", some not) that are quite good, when in season. And in some years I've grown my own.

As for M, I haven't set foot in one this year, and don't think I've had their chicken nuggets this century, if ever.

Maybe you should try responding with substance instead of stupid ad hominem attacks. I enjoy exposing the silliness and ignorance of such attacks, and it, ummmm, reflects badly on you.

[catsmtrods]

I do know anything I grow, raise or shoot taste better than anything I buy in a supermarket. I would rather eat a whitetail deer than any other meat. This may sound psycho but I butcher all my own animals and only get hungry while cutting up deer! Any other animal kinda grosses me out a little and I have to lay off eating them for a few days. So there's that and I do like to know the animals I eat are not tortured.

[The Stranger]

Good for you.  I'm still kicking myself for not moving out of the area about 5 years ago to a remote area, where I could grow my own vegetables.  I buy as often as I can from the local farmers (of what's left of them) around here instead of from the supermarket chains and yes indeed their tomatoes taste different.  Perhaps the biggest taste difference is in the beef I buy; I purchase it from a butcher that sells only certified black angus.  I quit eating supermarket beef several years ago.  Definitely have seen the difference in my health.

The only meat I eat is what I harvest, usually deer and bear. I occasionally kill some of my range chickens, they eat well off the pasture and I rarely feed them from may till oct and they are pretty plump eating bugs. The taste of the meat does have a lot to do with what they eat. Until my first bear here I never liked it. But they eat mostly berries, corn and apples where I live. I have had bear from the western states and it tasted terrible, I was told many in the west eat dead fish and even dead animals. I am assuming this is the difference in the taste.
Good Luck!

[The Stranger]

Wow! You've never met me but know my eating habits and tastes? That post was just really dumb.

Had you bothered to read my post, you'd have noticed that I'm the son of a farmer, who grew up in a tomato growing area. And if you knew much about real farmers, you'd know that they trade produce among themselves. More than a few times the tomatoes I had for dinner were vine-ripe and still warm from another farmer's field (as I posted above, field-ripe tomatoes are not sent to market, because they would be rotten before getting there). In turn that farmer would get a meal or two worth of asparagus from my Dad's field. So the crappy bulk tomatoes at the local supermarket are not to my taste. Thankfully, they do carry specialty tomatoes (some "organic", some not) that are quite good, when in season. And in some years I've grown my own.

As for M, I haven't set foot in one this year, and don't think I've had their chicken nuggets this century, if ever.

Maybe you should try responding with substance instead of stupid ad hominem attacks.

You do jest. Have you ever read any of your own post?

I enjoy exposing the silliness and ignorance of such attacks, and it, ummmm, reflects badly on you.
Obviously not. Again .

If you believe that dumping thousands of gallons of chemicals don't effect the growth and flavor of vegetable that's your choice. I think differently.
Good day.