I am concerned with about how people are treating food nowadays. I see people on the television, raving about 80% store-bought, 20% fresh food; so you can take 100% of the credit . But let’s face it; this is essentially bullshit. I ask people to get back to their roots. Processed cheese and white bread? Ragu and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese? This is not how we were supposed to eat. I know I am not the only one who thinks that food should taste good and actually be healthy for you. So I implore anyone who knows their way around a kitchen and is tired of sub par excuses for food, or anyone who wants to learn a little bit about cooking to post in response to this thread. Don’t worry. I will give the first topic: Butter or margarine? I will give another hint: Butter. Flies won’t even lay their eggs on margarine.
Colophon, you just made me snort coffee through my nose! Ah, at least my sinuses are now clear, though everything smells of coffee now.
To the OP, I agree with you for the most part; however, Kraft dinner does have it’s place. Particularly in a society where people are driven to work insane hours, sleep very little and have even less time for other things like food prep and down time or hell, even time with each other and our kids. Would giving people more time result in less Kraft dinner? Maybe. Although I’m guessing that TV watching would go up even more, which is somewhat depressing to think about.
To your question, I agree - butter all the way. Splenda or sugar? Sugar every time. And whenever possible, I make my food from scratch and use the herbs and vegetables I grow outside myself.
But still - I think there’s a larger problem than just our perception of what passes for food. Are our food choices bad? Frequently, yes. However, not everyone can afford to go to the grocery a couple times a week to stock up on fresh fruits & veggies, which go bad rather quickly. And the expense for those fresh foods is rising drastically - for example, last summer, I could buy a watermelon this time of year for $2.99. I went to the market Tuesday and it was $4.99. If I had a very limited income, I’d probably get something cheaper to stretch my dollar. Plus, some of the fake foods out there are good choices for people who can’t have certain things for health reasons. Splenda is a good example of this.
Um…okay. While you’re leaching acorns in salt water and grinding them between two stones, I think I’ll use some Bisquick to make some biscuits.
“supposed to eat?” That’d be berries and starvation for 4 months out of the year. Our current civilization just isn’t set up to support our numbers in our locations for the way humans are “supposed to eat” in nature. And if we’re accepting the convenience of coffee in the northern US, I think we can get off our high horses and accept that boxed Mac and Cheese is a perfectly life-sustaining food source.
You may get some sort of martyred energy buzz out of making everything from scratch, but even Alton Brown admits that some things (cake mix, in particular) *are *superior from a box.
Butter and coffee and sugar and nothing at all are plausible consumption options. However, I never did get the point of margarine and decaf and artificial sweeteners. They taste weird and unappealing, which is not as good as the “nothing at all” option tastes.
Now, how about Napier’s Human Biscuits? This is a still-hypothetical food source I’ve been mulling over recently, because it takes 45 minutes of driving to get alternatives to the Lance peanut butter crackers and Baked! Lays potato chips in the vending machines at work. And because all those nutrition bars have for some reason morphed into chocolate candybars.
I want to start with a base of oatmeal and V8 Vegetable Juice Cocktail, and then try adding other things like mashed olives, hummis, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, whatever else. They’d be baked into wads of 100 calories apiece, in whatever way makes them easiest to store and consume without a mess. I want calories and fiber and some range of other nutrients, not too much fat, not too much protein either (this is for lunch and I think it’s better to consume more carbohydrates at lunch and more protein at dinner). I don’t want sweet, I don’t want chocolate. And I don’t want entertainment. Well, actually, that’s kinda the problem - I DO want entertainment, I’m just trying to steer myself away from it. I want lunch on the basis of how pleasureable it is 30 minutes or 6 hours after I’ve eaten it. If I wanted lunch on the basis of how pleasureable it is going down, I already have too many attractive options.
I essentially agree with you. I’m reading a really cool book right now called Omnivore’s Dilemma which is quite an eye-opener regarding the food industry. Reading that book, I’m not sure I’ll ever look at corn in the same way again. This year I’ve made some diet changes I can only describe as profound–I used to be a soda-swilling, boxed dinner and fast-food-eating machine–I grew up cooking that stuff for myself as a kid, and never once questioned it. Fortunately I can afford, with some sacrifice, to stock my fridge full of fresh fruits and vegetables. And that is mostly what I now consume on a daily basis, with a lot of fiber and a little protein (sporadic servings of 1-2 oz of cheese/meat) thrown in for good measure. I am really happy with the way this diet change has worked. I feel much better physically, am losing weight, have all but cured my problems with severe IBS and really regret not realizing sooner what an impact food can have on the way you feel.
The most interesting thing is how significantly my desire for unhealthier foods have decreased. I used to drink 3-4 sodas a day on the weekends. Now, in the event that I decide to treat myself to one, I usually can drink half a bottle. My system tolerance for refined sugars is definitely not what it was even 3 months ago.
I am not a good cook, but in eating fewer processed and pre-prepared foods I have been forced to improve. So I’m afraid I can’t share any recipes–chicken stir-fry is about as creative as I can get.
Good for you, though. Not everybody has the choice to eat healthy, and those who do often don’t have lifestyles that easily accommodate it. Today’s society is pretty much set up to make you fail at eating, whether it’s something deceitfully marketed as ‘‘healthy’’ in a restaurant, crazy portion sizes, or the relative cheapness of processed calories vs. calories found in natural foods. It has taken some major lifestyle changes on my part and often–such as when traveling–it’s still very hard work. Definitely worth it to me, though.
ETA: butter. I prefer the whipped variety, though I rarely use it anymore.
No kidding. I doubt that many people are deliberately seeking out food they think tastes bad and makes them sick.
For what? Taste? Most people would agree that butter tastes better. That’s why margarines are advertised as tasting like butter, not the other way around. Health? That’sdebatable. Affordability? Margarine wins, hands down, and that is the deciding factor for many people. I myself am a butter consumer because of the superior taste and mouth feel, but often I think I should have the self control to do with less or to use less-expensive substitutes. I’m not going to look down my nose at anyone who is simply trying to live within their means.
I for one am not going to emulate maggots in my choice of foodstuffs.
Just a point Id like to state - I only add the cheese sauce to mac n cheese! Ive never tried it with butter or marg! Even healthier eh? I enjoy it so I dont feel Im losing out on its wonderful taste!
Have you all not seen or tasted the new awesome organic Kraft mac-n-cheese? There are two different kinds: the classic straight noodle with the orange cheese and the most awesomest food ever created which is the shells and white cheddar flavor. And at my grocery store, the organic versions only cost about 10 cents more than the classic.
I have gotten more and more strict with what I will eat or let my kids eat. We buy everything organic or all natural. I know it’s more expensive but I do think I can tell a difference in the taste and I think the cost is worth the benefits of not consuming so much processed, artificial, hydrogenated crap. Once I read what the average milk cow eats, I threw out all the non-organic milk we had and haven’t looked back since. I don’t worry about the cost of the food because I feel that supporting organic products is important and I do feel my family’s health is at issue (and of course, you cannot put a cost on that).
If you cannot afford to buy everything organic, there are a lot of websites that weed through all the hype and tell you what things you should always buy organic and which organic foods aren’t much different than their non-organic versions.
And of course, real butter, real sugar, full-on caffeinated (organic) coffee every time (but not together).
