Earlier this week, I discovered a series being presented on the National Geographic website called The Future of Food...
Whew! Some of the subjects that involve food are quite intricate and complicated... Very far beyond just sitting down at your table (here in Canada) to have dinner and as my Dad often said "shoveling it in".
One subject area when it comes to food that is looked into is The Gap in Diet Quality between Rich and Poor
This article (click on the highlighted text to read it ) takes on the question of obesity because of the poor quality of food that lower income households are forced to consume. Poor food quality or lack of access to quality food means that if you have a limited income the meats that you buy are poorer quality, more fat content and raised in such a way as to contain the things that make the animal grow or produce faster... In Canada growth hormones are not legal in animals destined for human consumption, but it is allowed in the USA. So is the quality of the meat okay in the LONG run for us to eat?
I surely am no scientist and cannot answer that question, but I have come to realize that from being on the low end of the income scale for a number of years that it is often quite difficult to buy the healthy product. Things often left out of a low income menu plan in any given month is FISH and often Chicken or other Poultry. Hamburger prevails on a low income diet, and really what is in GROUND MEAT?. Fresh Vegetables often are lacking simply because access to a garden or Farmer's Markets may be out of the area. Vegetables in a low income diet are often frozen or canned, I think, mainly because if fresh vegetables go bad in the fridge, it is waste that a low income household just cannot afford...
I noticed just the other day that two shows NEW (to us) are now on the Food Network Canada, that would be good for those with lower incomes to learn about making good choices -- yesterday was all about using pork shoulder even to making dim sum steamed buns with left over meat! --- Jamie's Money Saving Meals (check out the web site info) In my area the show is on daily at 2 pm (Shaw Vancouver listing -- the time may differ in other areas) And on at 1 pm daily is Gordon Ramsey's Cookery Course (no SWEARING! hahaha) but you pretty much have to watch the episode because Mr. Ramsey charges real money to access his recipes on his website, so if you watch his show, have pen and paper in hand to write down any hints or tips that you might want to try out.
This week my trip to one of the thrift shops resulted in buying a Company's Coming Meatless Cooking recipe book (by Jean Pare`) for two bucks... In a way these cookbooks are an easy format to use because of their smaller size and ring binding that allows the pages to lay flat, but I often find miss prints or ingredients that seem to be out of place in many of the recipes. An often occurring ingredient in many of these recipes is canned soups, so you should note that there is probably more salt than is needed in many of these recipes. I also wonder if you need canned soups for a recipe, is it economical, or could you use perhaps some milk, chopped mushroom, a bit of nutmeg instead of canned mushroom soup? Perhaps that would be more economical and more healthy too! Though of course it might take an extra minute or two to chop or mix those things in...
Are you following my Friday is for Food project? I hope you are finding some of the info and the links that I mention of interest and adds more depth to make the subject useful. Let me know if you are looking for something about food that I might post here, or if you have an idea for me...
... next week I am planning and looking for some breakfast ideas...
