The food can of worms, reopened.
9:36 a.m.
The people who are most defensive about their diets, the ones who are overweight and browbeat you about how "well" they eat, may be telling the truth. But it's not just quality that counts here. You can be eating the very best food that mother nature has to offer, and yet still be eating too much of it. That is something they haven't yet worked out in the equation. Tofu is a high-fat food. It's good for you, but eat enough of it, you'll still get fat.and she responded with this one (slightly edited):
A great deal of the "food politics" articles I've been reading lately address your very point. There were US government efforts to address nutritional issues and when folks were developing guidelines they were never allowed to say "eat less" of anything. They could say "eat more green leafy vegetables" but they weren't allowed to say "eat less XX". Part of what one author contends is the "problem" making fad diets so popular in America (I wonder who much this is true of Canada) is the lack of "food culture". This one author suggests that cultures around food evolve over hundreds of years but given the newness of America and the lack of adaptation of any of the indigenous people's food cultures, there is a floundering re: the place of food in society/culture. Living in California I'd contend that there is perhaps more of a food culture in California than in the rest of the US, but/and there were elements of food culture in the Midwest too�derived from the Scandanavian/northern European settlers and then "Americanized". I think the American left likes to talk about the groundless/rootless American people, that somehow they gain political currency by pointing out that Americans lack "culture" at all levels. But it totally denies the melting pot of culture that is rich and wonderful and that's too bad. Having German immigrant farm worker grandparents on the one side and Norwegian blue-color immigrant workers on the other�I felt the influences of many cultures on both food and traditions of life. Yes these were blended and "Americanized". [...] Because I think you're right�and that's what most of these food politic people are saying�it's not being rigid about WHAT one eats that is the key to transforming oneself (and they contend this transformation will extend to the planet.. maybe that's a little wishful thinking) but it's HOW MUCH one eats. They say the French are generally slender and healthy people and they eat fois gras; but a little fois gras--a LITTLE--is maybe good for you once in awhile.
I believe that zuzu is quite right. If you look at the ethnic cultures which are most likely to have overweight and obesity issues, you will find that historically an excess of avoirdupoids has connoted success, i.e. wealth, status, having servants to do one's work. I have read descriptions of the kinds of dinners these aristocratic types would serve their friends, and there was enough food on the table to feed a small village. It's no wonder that overweight and obesity resulted from such excess.
In North America we are deluged with the idea that we should be getting more for less at every opportunity. This has given rise to the "all-you-can-eat" culture, "two-for-one" deals at restaurants, and the "supersizing" which has already been proven in at least one film documentary to be so incredibly dangerous to the arteries of Americans. It's not so bad yet in Canada, but we are definitely following hard on our American neighbours' footsteps. We live in a society where we can buy the best of everything right in our local supermarkets, and we do, ranging from meats to imported exotic fruits and vegetables at any time of year to the tempting baked goods fresh from the in-store ovens. There is nothing wrong with any of these foods. One can totally avoid the processed food aisles and prepare a healthful and nourishing diet from scratch. Hell, I used to make my own granola, I still bake my own bread, and I make pesto from homegrown basil which lines my freezer shelves. I've even made my own pasta, but there's no need for me to overdo the boasting here. However, even being the vegetarian I am, eschewing processed foods (not all--I'm no saint, believe me), I still struggle daily to maintain or reduce my weight, which has a tendency to go up even from inhaling the aromas of calorific foods.
There is in Japan the island of Hokkaido (I'm citing this from memory, so I might get it wrong) where the natives make a point of leaving the table before they are full. There is no overweight on this island, the inhabitants are slim and healthy, avoiding the "western" diseases that are starting to plague other Japanese people who are succumbing to the delights of the cheeseburger-and-fries culture. I think we could learn a lot from the Hokkaidans, we would do well to emulate their example. Yet, when I go to a restaurant and order a meal, there is as much food on my plate as I would prepare for my whole family (this makes me look like the kind of mother who doesn't feed her brood properly, but I'm trying to make a point here). I have a choice: I can eat it all and gain weight, or I can eat some of it and take the rest home in a doggy bag, or I can eat some of it and let the rest go to waste.
Having been raised by parents who were themselves children in the great Depression, when there wasn't enough to eat in their own homes, I was always admonished to finish everything on my plate. Old habits die hard. Mind you, my parents never overfed me. When my kids were little, I scrutinized their little tummies very carefully before I put food in front of them. Sure, I expected them to eat it all up, but then I never gave them too much. I have always looked on in horror at parents who shtip their kids constantly with food, as a pacifer mostly, and the problems they are creating for the future.
So how do we create a food "culture" in America (in the broadest sense) that will emphasize quality over quantity? How do we get people to stop thinking they have to get their money's worth in sheer sizes of servings? Would it not be better to dine on merely adequate portions of the very best for the same price as huge slabs of mediocrity and walk away feeling spiritually fulfilled, instead of being barely able to move and breathe afterwards? To quote zuzu, "...a little fois gras--a LITTLE--is maybe good for you once in awhile."
[Skip back one for a description of my jazz diva experience.]
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