A few weeks ago a friend and I saw the film Food Inc. I've always known that some of the food we eat isn't exactly healthy, but the film illustrated how almost all of the food we eat is all part of a huge system. A really messed up system.
We all know it's expensive to eat healthy; a bag of spinach is more expensive than a pack of Little Debbie's--my number one enemy of all snack foods. The answer lies across the entire midwest-corn and soy production. Because the government subsidizes these crops, they are super-cheap and have found their way into nearly everything we eat. We see "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" on peanut butter and salad dressing, but what is that? Partially hydrogenating the oil causes it to become saturated and harder. In a few years that yummy cream from the inside of your Swiss Roll is going to be some not so yummy buildup in your arteries. Here's what's going into your body...
Sugar, Corn Syrup, Water, Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil with TBHQ to Preserve Flavor (Contributes a Trivial Amount of Trans Fat), Palm and Palm Kernel Oil, Dextrose, cocoa, Eggs, Soybean Oil, Colors (Caramel Color, Red 40), Emulsifiers (Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 60, Mono- and Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin), Whey (Milk), Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Salt, Corn Starch, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Egg Whites, Citric Acid.
Above is a map from the USDA that shows where and how much corn is grown. Most of the corn that's grown in America is used for animal feed (even though most of the animals that are eating it should naturally be eating grassy stuff). Because the government subsidizes the corn, it can be sold at super-low prices and exported (about 20% of the corn the US grows is exported). International growers are unable to compete with these prices, so those farmers are put out of business. The low prices also allow American manufacturers to find great places to put corn in--like our juices and even our plastics.
Similarly, soybeans are grown all over the Midwest (the largest protein feed, and second largest source of vegetable oil), and have become cheap substitutes in foods because they easily modified to play a hundred different parts in a hundred different foods. Soybeans and soybean products are second only to corn in production. The most common one that everyone knows is the partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which i mentioned a little about before. We HAVE to stop putting this junk in our bodies.
So...now we know why things that are good for us are more expensive. They are generally less subsidized, so they are grown a lot less. Take a look at how much Americans are growing sweet potatoes (you know how much i love sweet potatoes.):
and peas (not my favorite, but still)...
The most effective way to change the way this is to EAT LOCALLY. I went to the farmer's market for the first time last November, and I looooved it. I bragged to all of my friends about it...but after learning about all of this stuff, I realize how important it is to support local farmers...even if it is a little more expensive. Find your own local farmers market (even though Columbia's is the best) here.
The film Food Inc. is super duper enlightening, and my fourth grade adjectives won't do the thing thing justice. Here ya go.
*Michael Pollan was part of Food Inc., and is most well known for his publications about the food industry. Check out his super-fab amazing open letter to the prez...here.
*The data from this post can all be found on the USDA website
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