Monday, March 22, 2010
Do you know what eating healthy is? I want to know...
What does nutritious mean? What average person understands what it means to eat a balanced diet, healthy food, food that has nutritious value? The number of such individuals is probably much less than I would like there to be, but today's society is at fault for that. In our fast moving society, the percent of people that have an understanding of nutrition or at least some knowledge about what it means to eat healthy is scars. Nutrition means nothing unless you understand and care about what its value is.
Food and eat. Those are the two main terms that people use and understand to talk about nutrition. Food is something we eat to satisfy our hunger, it is something we enjoy, for its taste, for its texture, for the way it makes us feel once we eat it, for the way it looks and attracts us to itself. Food is something we share with our family, with our friends and neighbors, something we share with the world. Even though we all eat different things, we all share the fact that we eat food and we need it to function properly, but that's where the similarities end.
In order to share food with others, we gather together. We have parties with family, lunch dates with co workers and friends, get togethers with our loved ones. Why do we eat together and not alone? We eat together because we enjoy it. We enjoy other peoples company, we enjoy the experience of eating more when we are around other people. Eating food is an experience of fun and enjoyment until it becomes work. If we don't have grand ma to cook us our favorite meal, we have to turn to plan B. When people eat alone, they form habits, usually unhealthy habits. We rush, we become passive and tend to give ourselves to engineered food. Food that is fast to prepare, easy to eat on the go and easy to carry around. There is no time to cook or wait for a meal, so we eat what we can get. When grand ma isn't there to shove the veggies and fruits into our mouth, we go eat junk food instead.
From my experience and understanding, in order to eat healthy, an individual needs to have specific goals, a task in mind. It is people that have goals and needs for eating healthy that understand and care about the value of nutrition. Athletes for example have the need for a good diet, in order to perform at their best. They need to be lean, muscle building. They want and need to be fast, always energetic, strong and good looking.
When it comes to the average person, very few stride for goals like athletes do. Some want to look thin, others what to loose weight, yet others want to have a muscular, lean and strong looking body. In other cases, sick people need to eat right because it helps them rebuild their body back to normal. In most cases however, people tend to not think about what is right or wrong for them. When they eat, they want to enjoy it. Its very passive and easy to go for that donut, for the ice cream, the pizza and the chocolate. These are foods that have been engineered to taste good, foods that have been designed to be eaten on the go, made fast and easy to get used to. Unless u have a task in mind, why eat healthy?
However, from observations and experience, I can understand why it is so hard to eat healthy. Take me for example. Even as a healthy eating individual, one that eats his veggies and fruits, eats lean meats and whole wheat products, I still tend to go for the easy and be passive whenever I can. Sometimes it takes someone to peel an orange and start eating it in front of me, for me to have that desire to want to eat one too. Why is it so hard for someone that knows about nutrition and eats healthy to peel and orange and eat it, knowing it is good for them?
Very simple. Our minds are build to think about what tastes good first, before we think if its good for our bodies or not. When that orange gets peeled by someone else, my desire to want to eat one too grows, however I would have not done it myself. Why does it take someone else to eat an orange before I think about eating one? Because to peel one and eat it takes work! Our fast moving society has turned us away from a healthy diet, because we have become lazier, we work too much for the money, there are too many choices of food, too many choices of good tasting food, and a lot to be desired.
In order to eat healthy, no matter whether or not you know anything about nutrition, there needs to be a goal, and you need to make eating food an experience rather than a task. When we eat with others, especially with family (and grandma who knows how to cook healthy food), we eat more healthy unconsciously. When mom is there to peel the orange for you, or wash the apple and slice it for you, you will eat more healthy. We need to understand that nutrition is something that does not require your knowledge of scientific terms like carbs, protein, fat, but rather an experience of enjoying food, of course the right kind of food.
When we don't have a goal to stride for, when we have no reason to eat healthy, when we don't want to eat with others or have no understanding of nutrition, we fail at eating healthy. In other words, living a life to the fullest rather than a passive life alone, will bring nutrition to you. Not necessarily without your own input, but its a good starting point. Enjoy!
Food and eat. Those are the two main terms that people use and understand to talk about nutrition. Food is something we eat to satisfy our hunger, it is something we enjoy, for its taste, for its texture, for the way it makes us feel once we eat it, for the way it looks and attracts us to itself. Food is something we share with our family, with our friends and neighbors, something we share with the world. Even though we all eat different things, we all share the fact that we eat food and we need it to function properly, but that's where the similarities end.
In order to share food with others, we gather together. We have parties with family, lunch dates with co workers and friends, get togethers with our loved ones. Why do we eat together and not alone? We eat together because we enjoy it. We enjoy other peoples company, we enjoy the experience of eating more when we are around other people. Eating food is an experience of fun and enjoyment until it becomes work. If we don't have grand ma to cook us our favorite meal, we have to turn to plan B. When people eat alone, they form habits, usually unhealthy habits. We rush, we become passive and tend to give ourselves to engineered food. Food that is fast to prepare, easy to eat on the go and easy to carry around. There is no time to cook or wait for a meal, so we eat what we can get. When grand ma isn't there to shove the veggies and fruits into our mouth, we go eat junk food instead.
From my experience and understanding, in order to eat healthy, an individual needs to have specific goals, a task in mind. It is people that have goals and needs for eating healthy that understand and care about the value of nutrition. Athletes for example have the need for a good diet, in order to perform at their best. They need to be lean, muscle building. They want and need to be fast, always energetic, strong and good looking.
When it comes to the average person, very few stride for goals like athletes do. Some want to look thin, others what to loose weight, yet others want to have a muscular, lean and strong looking body. In other cases, sick people need to eat right because it helps them rebuild their body back to normal. In most cases however, people tend to not think about what is right or wrong for them. When they eat, they want to enjoy it. Its very passive and easy to go for that donut, for the ice cream, the pizza and the chocolate. These are foods that have been engineered to taste good, foods that have been designed to be eaten on the go, made fast and easy to get used to. Unless u have a task in mind, why eat healthy?
However, from observations and experience, I can understand why it is so hard to eat healthy. Take me for example. Even as a healthy eating individual, one that eats his veggies and fruits, eats lean meats and whole wheat products, I still tend to go for the easy and be passive whenever I can. Sometimes it takes someone to peel an orange and start eating it in front of me, for me to have that desire to want to eat one too. Why is it so hard for someone that knows about nutrition and eats healthy to peel and orange and eat it, knowing it is good for them?
Very simple. Our minds are build to think about what tastes good first, before we think if its good for our bodies or not. When that orange gets peeled by someone else, my desire to want to eat one too grows, however I would have not done it myself. Why does it take someone else to eat an orange before I think about eating one? Because to peel one and eat it takes work! Our fast moving society has turned us away from a healthy diet, because we have become lazier, we work too much for the money, there are too many choices of food, too many choices of good tasting food, and a lot to be desired.
In order to eat healthy, no matter whether or not you know anything about nutrition, there needs to be a goal, and you need to make eating food an experience rather than a task. When we eat with others, especially with family (and grandma who knows how to cook healthy food), we eat more healthy unconsciously. When mom is there to peel the orange for you, or wash the apple and slice it for you, you will eat more healthy. We need to understand that nutrition is something that does not require your knowledge of scientific terms like carbs, protein, fat, but rather an experience of enjoying food, of course the right kind of food.
When we don't have a goal to stride for, when we have no reason to eat healthy, when we don't want to eat with others or have no understanding of nutrition, we fail at eating healthy. In other words, living a life to the fullest rather than a passive life alone, will bring nutrition to you. Not necessarily without your own input, but its a good starting point. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Move Aside, Apple. Make Way for That Burger!
The Informed, the Uniformed, and Those with Closed Ears:
Evolution has a lot more to do with what we choose to eat than we realize. My roommate shared this with me: "Psychologist Says Evolution Isn’t Always Good For Us" http://www.hereandnow.org/2010/03/rundown-317-2/#5
It reminded me of something that I learned in Anthropology. During our caveman-hunting and gathering days, our bodies have gone through thousands of years of evolution to become what we are today, to like certain tastes, to crave certain flavors. While hunting and gathering, Homo Sapiens were mostly foragers because fruits, plants, nuts were the most easy to come by and meats were not, merely because it was more difficult to catch running food. Though these grains and plants offered some energy, they could not compare to the energy store that meats had to offer. Meat has more fat and more protein and therefore more energy sustenance than do carbohydrates.
Based on Harvard evolutionary psychologist Deidre Barrett stated, everything has been engineered to how we feel towards food. This reminds me of the first class that we had with Professor Brandt- about how crackers have been designed to touch each one of our taste buds in a way to make us want it, even though it is not good for us, and we know it is not good. This is based on evolution- we have come to seek out these fatty foods because there was always a lack, so we evolved that these foods taste good to us. As stated before, there was more gathering than hunting because food with more energy, ran away from us. There was not enough meat- and there was always a craving for these tastes. Therefore, current industries prey upon these bodily needs to have us eat processed Doritos and sausages. These fatty, good tasting items are psychologically and palette fulfilling, but with the amount there is, how does one know when to stop? We have evolved to crave these foods, but in reality, the average person does not need as much as we think.
For decades, nutrition has been taught in classrooms, posted on walls, shoved into nooks and crannies of packaging in size 8 font, but the message has not been received nor processed. There is a disconnect between information and receiver. Why is it that children think that healthy foods taste bad and scrunch their nose at the thought of salads? Why is it that juicy, fresh apples are tossed to the curb and salty, grease laden burgers are embraced? Also, "Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac? Part of the reason is that a huge proportion of our food subsidies go to meat while only 0.37 percent go to fruits and vegetables. That makes meat and dairy artificially cheap, so we end up consuming more of it than we should, and getting fatter."
Perhaps people believe that they know all, that they've heard it all, and just don't want to hear that what they are eating could eventually shorten their lifespan. Is it the fear? Lack of information? Or it may be that people haven't been presented with information in such a way that it is easy to understand. We have a wealth of information to share and eager people to listen. What is it that we can do that will make someone understand that we should not eat with the eyes, but with the mind?
Evolution has a lot more to do with what we choose to eat than we realize. My roommate shared this with me: "Psychologist Says Evolution Isn’t Always Good For Us" http://www.hereandnow.org/2010/03/rundown-317-2/#5
It reminded me of something that I learned in Anthropology. During our caveman-hunting and gathering days, our bodies have gone through thousands of years of evolution to become what we are today, to like certain tastes, to crave certain flavors. While hunting and gathering, Homo Sapiens were mostly foragers because fruits, plants, nuts were the most easy to come by and meats were not, merely because it was more difficult to catch running food. Though these grains and plants offered some energy, they could not compare to the energy store that meats had to offer. Meat has more fat and more protein and therefore more energy sustenance than do carbohydrates.
Based on Harvard evolutionary psychologist Deidre Barrett stated, everything has been engineered to how we feel towards food. This reminds me of the first class that we had with Professor Brandt- about how crackers have been designed to touch each one of our taste buds in a way to make us want it, even though it is not good for us, and we know it is not good. This is based on evolution- we have come to seek out these fatty foods because there was always a lack, so we evolved that these foods taste good to us. As stated before, there was more gathering than hunting because food with more energy, ran away from us. There was not enough meat- and there was always a craving for these tastes. Therefore, current industries prey upon these bodily needs to have us eat processed Doritos and sausages. These fatty, good tasting items are psychologically and palette fulfilling, but with the amount there is, how does one know when to stop? We have evolved to crave these foods, but in reality, the average person does not need as much as we think.
For decades, nutrition has been taught in classrooms, posted on walls, shoved into nooks and crannies of packaging in size 8 font, but the message has not been received nor processed. There is a disconnect between information and receiver. Why is it that children think that healthy foods taste bad and scrunch their nose at the thought of salads? Why is it that juicy, fresh apples are tossed to the curb and salty, grease laden burgers are embraced? Also, "Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac? Part of the reason is that a huge proportion of our food subsidies go to meat while only 0.37 percent go to fruits and vegetables. That makes meat and dairy artificially cheap, so we end up consuming more of it than we should, and getting fatter."
Perhaps people believe that they know all, that they've heard it all, and just don't want to hear that what they are eating could eventually shorten their lifespan. Is it the fear? Lack of information? Or it may be that people haven't been presented with information in such a way that it is easy to understand. We have a wealth of information to share and eager people to listen. What is it that we can do that will make someone understand that we should not eat with the eyes, but with the mind?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
At the market on February 26th
So i went to the market yesterday, and I have to admit it was really helpful!
I saw the kids from the NEPA organization, saw what they do, and also spoke to a few farmers and one really nice lady that was interested in nutrition. They all really helped me approach nutrition in a different way, a way that I think can really help the market out in the long run. I also took some pictures and have a few notes.
Here is what I found out:
- For the most part, farmers at the market are knowledgeable about nutrition. When asked by customers about nutrition, they know how to answer back.
- The number one question a customer would ask (no matter the produce)...Is it local? There seems to be a tendency for people to ask that question, because they feel the obligation to support their community.
- Second most asked question, and this one is very important...How do you cook your produce? Some customers at the market have knowledge about nutrition, others don't, but no matter who it is, a lot of people want to know how to cook certain things, especially the ones they are not familiar with.
- People do form relationships with the farmers at the market, but the relationship they form is not necessarily between the farmer and the customer, but rather between the customer and the farmer's produce. When people go to the market, they go to the same stand and same farmer every time. They feel safe with buying from the same farmer and they know that every time they go back, that person will be there to sell their produce. That relationship is important to people at the market. Being able to buy from the same farmers and sellers.
- For most people, food has to taste good first, then comes the nutritious factor. For regular customers like Jane Stela, she wants to learn about nutrition and its important to her than the food she buys tastes good but is also nutritious too. That makes it worth while for her.
- The NEPA kids from SU are trying to do just that, is to inform people about nutrition and teach them how to make the right choices, but the interest at the market is lacking. For one thing, all these kids had was a table with one presentation board and some information. They did have a game made that forces people to guess which basket of products was the most nutritious and the cheapest at the same time. I found it helpful and interesting, but unless you know some nutrition, its hard to know anything about the nutrition value of food. I felt like they could use some support from the Market, as to better promote their stand. At this point, it is bare and lacking the X factor needed to attract people. In that aspect Mu Mu Muesli guy (at C shed he sells grain like cereal) surprised me, because he knows exactly how to attract attention. He gives away samples! So many people buy after tasting his product that you don't have to assume his business is successful, you just know it is. And his whole table stands out too. His wife, a graphic designer, designed the banner than hangs above his table. It just pops out.
- So to kind of conclude, I feel like helping the NEPA organization might be one way to start promoting nutrition. They are doing the right things, but their approach to people is lacking, they don't attract any customers.
Also, I feel like the help of a professional Registered Dietitian is something that both I and the NEPA organization need to make this work. The formula is this - - -
NEPA's man power + RD Maria Mahar + My design input = success
I saw the kids from the NEPA organization, saw what they do, and also spoke to a few farmers and one really nice lady that was interested in nutrition. They all really helped me approach nutrition in a different way, a way that I think can really help the market out in the long run. I also took some pictures and have a few notes.
Here is what I found out:
- For the most part, farmers at the market are knowledgeable about nutrition. When asked by customers about nutrition, they know how to answer back.
- The number one question a customer would ask (no matter the produce)...Is it local? There seems to be a tendency for people to ask that question, because they feel the obligation to support their community.
- Second most asked question, and this one is very important...How do you cook your produce? Some customers at the market have knowledge about nutrition, others don't, but no matter who it is, a lot of people want to know how to cook certain things, especially the ones they are not familiar with.
- People do form relationships with the farmers at the market, but the relationship they form is not necessarily between the farmer and the customer, but rather between the customer and the farmer's produce. When people go to the market, they go to the same stand and same farmer every time. They feel safe with buying from the same farmer and they know that every time they go back, that person will be there to sell their produce. That relationship is important to people at the market. Being able to buy from the same farmers and sellers.
- For most people, food has to taste good first, then comes the nutritious factor. For regular customers like Jane Stela, she wants to learn about nutrition and its important to her than the food she buys tastes good but is also nutritious too. That makes it worth while for her.
- The NEPA kids from SU are trying to do just that, is to inform people about nutrition and teach them how to make the right choices, but the interest at the market is lacking. For one thing, all these kids had was a table with one presentation board and some information. They did have a game made that forces people to guess which basket of products was the most nutritious and the cheapest at the same time. I found it helpful and interesting, but unless you know some nutrition, its hard to know anything about the nutrition value of food. I felt like they could use some support from the Market, as to better promote their stand. At this point, it is bare and lacking the X factor needed to attract people. In that aspect Mu Mu Muesli guy (at C shed he sells grain like cereal) surprised me, because he knows exactly how to attract attention. He gives away samples! So many people buy after tasting his product that you don't have to assume his business is successful, you just know it is. And his whole table stands out too. His wife, a graphic designer, designed the banner than hangs above his table. It just pops out.
- So to kind of conclude, I feel like helping the NEPA organization might be one way to start promoting nutrition. They are doing the right things, but their approach to people is lacking, they don't attract any customers.
Also, I feel like the help of a professional Registered Dietitian is something that both I and the NEPA organization need to make this work. The formula is this - - -
NEPA's man power + RD Maria Mahar + My design input = success
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