Simple compromises

My vegetarian quest failed - it lasted less than 7 days. We had a windfall of dinner invitations that all involved meat.  I have adjusted my expectations - no land animals - just sea creatures; this will be more manageable until I get the courage to go all of the way.

I've also had to adjust my principles for the kids. Bread has been an ongoing struggle; they want white, but I promote grains, fiber, and no hfcs...I compromised with TJs white wheat but the texture and taste were not very pleasant; it quickly became evident that soft bread can only be obtained via chemicals.  Needless to say, I have fallen prey and purchased Stroehmann Family Grains.  Wonder is running a scam - the sweetener is listed as "high fructose corn syrup or sugar" - bogus; Family Grains prominently displays no high fructose corn syrup.

I started thinking about this labeling and wondered if it's a way to market to people who are grasping at straws for healthy eating, or is a wake up call for people who never read labels.  Speaking of which, I noticed two phenomena throughout the market. There is a subset of national brand food prominently marked simple, no hfcs, natual, etc. These products generally have fewer ingredients and stark packaging; they straddle the border of processed foods.  Some of these products raise the same red-flags as low-fat products; all kinds of maneuvering to meet the standards of the processed food connoisseur.  Enter a new term - fully hydrogenated oil (accompanied by mono & di glycerides)...


Then there's the intentional additives, ie Omega-3.  Everyday products are now bursting with this essential fatty acid.  Olive oil, fish oil, etc have been added to everything...there's peanut butter containing all kinds of fish - anchovy, tilapia gelatin, etc.  This is precisely what Michael Pollan writes about - looking at components of food/nutrition instead of approaching it holistically puts foodstuffs in the hands of technicians.  Conversely, if you eat actual food - the stuff that comes out of the ground - then there's no need to worry about hfcs, partially hydrogenated oil, a full day's supply of vitamin c, omega-3, low-carb, or any of the other pseudo-food hype.