Food is Not Political

We need food to survive.  (DUH!)  It is also a huge part of our socialization and family lives, not to mention sometimes  just pure enjoyment.  So why are we so lax in knowing about what it is that we are eating?

In a conversation this evening, I posed the opinion that there is political middle ground on some things.  Namely, what we eat.  I don’t care if you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party, Vulcan, whatever, I don’t want anyone to be eating things that are not harmful to them.  Silly me, I would think that would be a universal opinion, but the more I learn about what we eat, the less I see that it is.  I don’t believe the government should tell us what we eat.  But I do think that the information about what we are eating, and it’s possible effects, should be readily accessible.  And how is that any kind of political issue?  Isn’t caring about one’s health something everyone cares about?

 My son is sensitive to food dyes (aka artificial colors, yellow #5, red #20, blue #1,000,987, blah, blah, blah).  I went through his Halloween candy to weed the stuff out that could cause a reaction.  Skittles, could have told you just looking, fruit snacks surprised me a little (just a little) with absolutely no mention of fruit. Googled “Butterfinger ingredients”.  Um, hmmm.  That candy bar is now the scariest thing to me about Halloween, as no one seems to want you to know what is in it.  Finally found a seller at Amazon who actually listed the ingredients.  (Butterfingers are a big no-go in this family now, there is a reason they don’t want you to know.)

Hostess has declared bankruptcy and is going out of business.  I’m sure the economy and the demands of a union who seem oblivious to the economy are part of it.  But I’ve also seen some posts on Facebook today on how Twinkies don’t taste like they used to.  I’d really love to see what the ingredient list 40 years ago compares to what are in them now are.  I bet 40 years ago we had most of those ingredients in our kitchen.  I think I’d be shocked to find any of those ingredients used now in my kitchen.  They don’t taste good because they’re not REAL!  And maybe that had some impact on sales.  Maybe.  As bad as that may sound, I'm hopeful people are realizing that natural ingredients are better.

 The information is out there, but you have to look for it.  95% of the food in the average American grocery store is not meant for human consumption.  Look for organic, non-processed, non-GMO, hormone-, antibiotic-, and pesticide-free.  Gluten-free too, but the discussion on that demands its own future blog post.  Don’t feed your family and friends anything you don’t know what the ingredient is. 

And if you are like me and spend hours doing a weeks grocery shopping because  you get overwhelmed reading food labels, that’s why they have wine.