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Re: Gussow on Nutrition/Food Systems
At 11:43 AM 12/8/96 -0500, you wrote:
> SNIP.. Joan Gussow has written a thought provoking commentary
>entitled "Is Organic Food More Nutritious? And Is That the Right Question?"
>in the latest issue of the OFRF bulletin (Fall, 1996, Number 3). Joan will
>also be speaking on this subject at EcoFarm about January 24th, so I suspect
>she might enjoy some commentary on her piece, and the issue in general.
SNIP...
Charles,
Joan Gussow also wrote another excellent article, "Are we really fixing up
the food supply?", in the Nov. '93 issue of the J. of the Am. Dietetic
Assoc. in which she states that nutrition educators seem to have forsaken
their responsibility to promote healthy eating through the use of minimally
processed, "whole" foods based on traditional ethnic, plant-centered eating
patterns such as the Asian and Mediterrean pyramids developed by the Harvard
School of Public Health, Cornell, and the Oldways Preservation Trust &
Exchange Trust. Instead, most have sold out to the food industry's
profit-motivated version of healthy eating: a drastically redesigned (and
highly value-added) food supply based increasingly on "techno-foods" that
have nutrients and ingredients subtracted (fat, calories) and/or added
(vitamins/mineral fortification well beyond recognized needs, non-nutritive
sweeteners, fiber-fortified breakfast cereals) in an attempt to redress food
processing's nutritional damage.
Too often, however, good nutrition suffers from this high tech approach, as
when sugar-laden, fiber-depleted breakfast cereals can be labelled
"nutritious" after adding a penny's worth of vitamins and minerals, or when
non-fat cookies and ice-cream are promoted as "healthy" because they have
zero fat. Another result is high prices and exorbitant profit margins (in
'93, the actual food value per $1 of cost for highly processed foods was
just 8 cents). Even more worrisome is the fact that the array and balance of
the numerous nutrients and phytochemicals found in "whole" foods is far more
sophisticated than our ability to recreate this marvelous blend through
designer foods.
In my view, the food industry, itself, bears much responsibility for today's
unhealthy eating habits which it now attempts to redress with techno-foods
(there's little profit in promoting "whole", natural foods on a macro
scale). Indeed, food processing adds fat (usually unhealthy hydrogenated
oils), sugar, and salt to many products and often markedly reduces the
fiber, vitamin, and mineral content of most grain products (fortification
with 3 B vitamins and iron doesn't come close to replacing these
micronutrient losses).
It seems that organic agriculture is taking too narrow a view of its role
and overall benefits in focusing mainly on its environmental advantages and
the provision of pesticide-free food. Pesticide contamination has far less
to do with our deplorably high rate of cancer and other chronic degenerative
diseases than the negative dietary factors of our modern food supply like
1) Excessive cholesterol, harmful fats (saturated and trans), sugar, and
salt; 2) Lack of fiber and certain vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals;
3) Deficiencies and imbalances in essential fatty acids. (NOTE: In no way
do I mean to minimize the importance of the pesticide issue).
The fact that the USDA managed to get its plant-centered Food Pyramid Guide
approved over the intense opposition of the food industry and certain
commodity groups is certainly good news (despite some its nutritional
flaws). In fact, even school lunch programs will have to abide by the new
Dietary Guidelines by early 1997, entailing some major modifications. It
seems like this is an ideal time for the organic agriculture movement to
broaden its appeal by getting involved in nutrition education and putting it
back on the right track by promoting minimally processed, whole foods
through the various plant-centered dietary pyramids, especially those based
on healthy, traditional ethnic eating models. Given the tremendous impact
that food has on health, it's surprising how little communication there
appears to be between those who know *what* to eat (nutritionists) and those
who know how to grow it sustainably. It's time to start fixing up our food
supply the right way.
Regards
David Leonard, Consultant in agro-nutrition
Tucson, AZ
Tel. 520-318-4799, Fax 520-318-4809
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