Since When Is Whole Food Not Real Food?

We might have to adjust the poster to Great Grandparents, but for many of us, our grandparents had a lot of things right. Mainly they knew what Real Food was even if they didn’t necessarily have the knowledge we have today like the high cholesterol in a slab of butter or a dozen eggs used in preparing one recipe. But they did know how to cook and prepare real food. An almost lost and forgotten art in today’s world of quick and processed foods.

The first question we all are faced with today is when is whole food not real food? A whole platter of fresh vegetables and fruits simply cannot be real food when everything on it is grown by artificial means with things like hormones, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and genetically modified organisms. A jar of honey cannot be real when the hives are fed with sugar water. It cannot be real when 90% of commercial bee keepers have chemicals contained in each individual hive and then in turn truck them around to countryside to pollinate commercially grown crops that are saturated with even more chemicals. Even in one loaf of bread there is an overwhelming amount of preservatives and artificial colors and fillers. It’s a crazy world we live in today, much different than our grandparents. Quite naturally the answer to this first question would be for whole food to be real it must be organic.

I recently read a poll taken on the costs and demands of organic food. As I much expected about 10% of our population simply don’t care. But what surprised me a bit was how many elderly and poor people shy away from whole food because they simply don’t see how to afford it. I began to explore this problem myself several years ago when the prices for whole grain breads began to rise nearly double in price. It started to become harder to fit the rising costs into my budget. I was concerned about the lack of beneficial grains in my diet. I found that I could buy organic flours and grains to make my own bread cheaper than the cheapest loaf of bread on the shelf.

When I first learned of the process used in making commercial bleached flours, I quit using it immediately. There is an endless use of chemicals in commercial wheat production that begins with the seeds being treated with a fungicide, then the growing wheat is sprayed with hormones to influence production. Next, more pesticides are sprayed in the field during the growing process. After harvesting the wheat grain or “berries” are stored in bins coated with insecticides. If any bugs are still hanging around the farmer will then fumigate the grain. Then the grain is moved for processing. The next treatments are Chlorine and Alloxan. The high speed mills remove the bran and the germ from the wheat (which by the way are the healthy parts) and leave us the starch. They then give the starch a lovely chlorine gas bath. This in turns becomes a toxin called Alloxan, which is exactly what  gives you diabetes. Oh wait! The word “enriched” is on the bag. What does that mean? Well we do get some synthetic vitamins tossed in the mix that are made from petroleum, elemental ores, bacteria, fungi, and ferrous iron, which is created from sulfate that is refined out of high sulfur crude oil.

It is a fact that most Americans no longer have health insurance nor can they afford it. The most affordable solution to lack of health care is turning to preventative medicine. All the vitamins and nutrients your body requires are found in a well balanced diet of whole foods.  For the investment of a rolling pin and a bread pan I was well on my way to feeding my family real whole food well within most budgets. You can bet that the manufacturer’s of processed foods are literally banking on you being to busy not to fit cooking into your schedules and the pharmaceutical companies are as well.

We must change our mind sets from processed foods and learn how to shop seasonally when prices are their lowest. Things like pumpkins and winter squash are very good keepers and go a long ways. Most all fruits and vegetables can be put up in the freezer very easily. The next time tomatoes are in season check with your local farmers market or a local farmer and invest in whole bunch of them. They can be cooked into sauces and stews and frozen for later use. You might even consider joining a CSA (community supported agriculture), where in many cases the food can be delivered right to your door. They can fill a basket with the prettiest seasonal produce you’ve ever set your eyes on and many have fresh farm eggs as well.There are many options to consider, but the key is buying in season and cooking the old fashion way with real whole food just like your grandparents did. Blah Blah Blah..Yadda Yadda Yadda!