Ending World Hunger - Tomorrow's Table

Excerpt from an article published on 5/15/10 in ScienceBlogs.com

I get email almost every day asking if our produce is GMO'd.  Our produce isn't but I still wonder why the emphatic dislike of GMO product.  This article sheds some light, both pros and cons.

A REPORT by the National Research Council last month gave ammunition to both sides in the debate over the cultivation of genetically engineered crops. More than 80 percent of the corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the United States is genetically engineered, and the report details the "long and impressive list of benefits" that has come from these crops, including improved soil quality, reduced erosion and reduced insecticide use...

The article is by Pamela C. Ronald, a professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis, wjp is the co-author of "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food" and James E. McWilliams, a history professor at Texas State University at San Marcos, who is the author of "Just Food."

Why look to the traditional diets of native cultures for eating?

Because people knew how to eat long before they knew what a nutrient was.

Human beings are incredible eating machines.  Seemingly odd items as the Intuit's seal blubber, the African Masai's cows' blood, Mayans' corn, beans with very little meat, make for healthy eating habits with the cultures being known for no heart disease or type 2 diabetes to speak of.

So why can't potato chips, cookies, coleslaw and a thick filet mignon be considered odd items for a healthy diet? One look at the average American will tell you why not.

There is no one ideal diet.  But there is one diet that will get you in trouble, the diet that eats lots of processed food, lots of calories, few vegetables, fruits or whole grains. It's the diet that reliably develops heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.

Remember, not everything in a grocery store should be considered food. Rules to live by:

1. Don't eat something your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.  She might not recognize a papaya, forgive her and buy.  She wouldn't recognize the new Splenda with Fiber.
2. Avoid products with ingredients you'd need a chemistry set to duplicate.  Ethoxylated triglycerides?
3. Pay more for food, less for healthcare. Processed food made with soy and corn ingredients are going to be cheaper because the government subsidizes their growth. Go figure but don't eat'em. In 1960 we spent 18% of our income on food, now 9.5%.  Meanwhile healthcare costs have tripled.  Eat healthier, eat less (a lot less) processed foods.
4. Don't eat mindlessly.  Eating in the car, in front of a screen (computer or tv, no matter) is eating mindlessly.  Do that and you'll eat more.