Let's talk food

I follow Alton Brown on twitter and I often learn a lot from the man. Learning about the science behind food is something I find interesting, and he knows his stuff, so his comments are something I pay attention to.

He posted a link to an article in the New York Times about the science behind junk food. I read it a couple of times, finding it fascinating. I love marketing as well, so marketing food is something I could read about for hours.

If you haven't read the article, you really must. It has me thinking about what is in my fridge and cupboards.

We are not the healthiest people on the planet, but we do believe in moderation. Scott is a little bit over weight, but not significantly. His weight issue is more from his inability to do physical activity than from his eating habits, although I'm certain that does nothing to slow things down. I'm underweight, and despite what doctors tell me, I'm certain I have thyroid issues that cause that. My eating habits are not fantastic, and I don't watch what I eat as well as I should. I do eat moderately well, simply because we do so as a family.

As I'm a homemaker, it is part of my responsibilities to prepare meals for the family. I'm a bit of a naturalist when it comes to being mom, and try to make as much from scratch as possible. It's not easy on a limited budget, as some times those cans of tomato sauce they claim is great for pasta is cheaper than making a big batch ourselves, nor do I always have the time. But since I recognize that most things processed includes ingredients that are not always the best for us, I do like to make real food when I can.

There are things that set me off about food. While I'm fascinated with this article about junk food, it is obvious most people just don't get it.

Case and point: This is something I saw one of my friends post on Pinterest today. 

Now. Let's look beyond the obvious fact that this information has nothing to do with weddings and that this website is very obviously just a home for links stupid people find interesting. It's an obvious money maker for someone in this social networking society. But. This is a page that is being repinned all over the place, because people BELIEVE it. 

Well, a cake mix plus a can of blueberry pie filling must be healthy. It has blueberries. We all know of the fantastic anti-oxidants blueberries have.

If you were to point out the absurdity to the normally reasonable person who thought to try this themselves, they would likely admit that of course it isn't healthy. The amount of sugar and preservatives in both the pie filling and cake mix negate any benefit the fruit might otherwise give. (FYI, a proper blueberry pie filling consists of blueberries. That's it.) But the then reasonable person would then say, well, we all have our vices.

And we do. I admit, I like my Doritos and Coke every once and a while. I am fully aware I should stay away from that shit. But to pass it off as healthy, no. No, no, NO.

Anyway. I don't know what point I'm making here. Emptying my brain, I guess. And knowing now, from the first article, about the link between salt in junk food and salt in our  regular food (addictive properties whaaaattt?), I'll make a better effort to stay away. I have noticed in our own family, when there are alternative snack options like fruit and veggies, salt is less used at the dinner table. Why I didn't make that connection before, I don't know.