It’s a Jungle out There
When making food choices for our families it is like trying to navigate through a jungle. There is so much information, so many choices, so many consequences it is hard to know which is the right choice. For our family I have to factor in not only what would be best nutritionally, but also best for our overall budget.
I have come to certain conclusions, based on my own beliefs and a lot of reading. I try to buy local. I firmly believe that it is better for my family to eat an apple grown here than in South America (although I am sure it is lovely down there, I live up here). Now since bananas are not locally grown and we adore them in this household, there are times I break my “rules”. Sadly price can override local, but rarely since local is often not much more if ever more expensive.
I have started to go to the Farmer’s Market regularly with a friend, and J & I both really watch what we are buying. We are meatless during the week, returning to our carnivore selves on weekends. That is a lot to do with budget, food prices in Nova Scotia are intense and much more than we have been accustom to.
I seriously have a crush on Harper Collins, always sending me the coolest books to read and share with you. I received the Jungle Effect eons ago, and I have been gobbling it up all summer. The Jungle Effect is a cool read, Daphne Miller is a doctor that has traveled the world exploring indigenous diets to unlock the secrets to a healthier lifestyle. She mixes in cool travel stories with hard facts on nutrition. Her style of writing reminds me of Oliver Sacks, a neurologist that narrates the funniest, wittiest stories based on his practice and experiences. I loved reading his works when I was studying psychology in university.
The Jungle Effect, really focuses on what foods, combination and approaches we can work towards to ensure a healthier life. It is not a diet book, which was refreshing. Miller however does include some recipes in the latter part of the book, that I was determined to try a few before my review. Sadly I have yet to do so, but when I do I will share it with you. The book is definitely a great read if you are seeking answers to what to feed your family or if you have specific health/family history that you would like to avoid through your diet. Her focuses in this book include diabetes, heart disease, depression, bowel troubles, breast and prostate cancers. It was amazing to read that there are areas of the world referred to as “cold spots” that those diseases are rare, mostly due to the diet the people consume there.
It has forced me to further reduce the amount of processed foods in the house (although we are far from perfection!) and ensure the foods we are consuming are the best that they can be. For example, I am going to share with you a list of ingredients, can you tell me what it is?
water, gluclose-fructose, sel, caramel, hydrolyzed soy protein, corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate.
Have you changed your approach to buying foods? Have any tips?
The whole food debate really hurts my head and there is so much contradictory evidence out there. What do you believe? I’m having a few issues about dairy at the moment, never mind anything else.
With rocketing food prices, cheaper food isn’t always the best but a lot of families have no choice at the moment. What’s the biggest food seller in the UK just now? Tins of baked beans. Says a lot.
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I don’t really have any buying tips, but AM trying to cut down on convenience foods. Not so easy now that my oven doesn’t work anymore, but…that’s life. I haven’t tried buying locally (shame on me!), but I would like to eventually get us eating as organic as possible. It would be easier to do that if organic, healthy foods weren’t considerably more expensive than the other choices.
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You are right. I should change my approach. I have not idea what some of that stuff is - then why am I consuming it?
I hope it’s not a chai latte, because that would make you sad. Not enough spices I would guess. Hmm, soda?
We’ve started going to the farmer’s market weekly. We didn’t re-up the CSA to save money. I’m able to buy at the farmer’s market for 1/2 the cost a week - and get fruit. How we missed fruit! I’ve promised myself if I can get it under $20 I can get flowers but not this week because we’re out of cheese and honey. It’s going to be an expensive one. And, I’ve *finally* started putting in my vegetable beds, although no one would recognize it as such. The season doesn’t start until mid-Oct, so I’ve got awhile.
I’ve been cooking a lot of meals on the weekend and freezing them since we’ve been so busy during the week. It doesn’t seem related to the post, but it saves on the “What’s for dinner?” “Pick something up on the way home,” after soccer practice nights. We have 3 (!!!!) nights a week when we get home at dinner time. It also saves me some money because I have been buying meat in bulk on sale and cooking in bulk. But, let’s face it, cooking all day sucks.
I’ll have to look into that book.
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I’m thinking we should try going meatless during the week. My hubby might mutiny or he might not even notice if I don’t tell him.
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We have a farmer’s market every saturday here and we are a part of a farm share where we get a weeks worth of produce every week. It’s all organic, all withing the town/area and all a part of keeping the cycle going…We love it.
Yay you.
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Yep, i have definitely changed. We are almost processed food free. A big part of that reason is that my daughter has reactions to a lot of additives and so i have to make food from scratch - which also works out cheaper, so great!
I think the less artificial stuff we put in the better!
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I try to be concious of what we eat, but I also try not to be obsessive, you know?
(and is that pop? I think that sounds like coke - the water, sugar, caramel, salt…)
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I love the idea of eating local, but there aren’t any local farmer’s markets here that I’m aware of. I could drive an hour south or an hour north to one, probably, but then that kind of defeats the purpose, eh?
Is that the recipe for a “juice” drink?
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We are always very careful with what we eat because we have food allergies. I try to stay with only whole foods or foods that have only a few basic ingredients. Even with Max’s snacks-I stick to healthy ones and not the crap. Great looking out for your family.
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Now that is a position I would envy = free books! Now how does one acquire such a position?
We’re trying hard to eliminate as much process food as possible, with the exception of Goldfish of course.
Best wishes
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I’d guess it’s Coke–
And I’ve been trying to eat more whole grains, less processed foods myself though I’m no saint in this department. We are good about not eating much red meat and I never buy stuff like chips or cookies but we do have our own vices. EVery time the guys go shopping with me they’re begging for beef jerky or fruit snacks or other nasty stuff.
Our climate is so much like yours we struggle with local grown as well. If I only ate locally grown produce I’d be relegated to potatoes, carrots, berries and broccoli which is unhealthy in it’s own right. WIsh there was more.
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Wow good for you! Meatless all week, did you find it difficult? What resources are you using for recipes and ideas?
I’ve been an on-again-off-again veg for years, but we are almost nearly vegan since January. It was easier at first but then I started to slip back into the processed world again. Sigh. Whole food preparation takes time, effort, and a lot of thought and planning. There is another great book out there that is not a cookbook, it’s called “In the defense of food”. He basically says, “If your great grandmother would not recognize it as food, then don’t eat it”. A simple idea that makes real sense to me.
One thing that really helped me, that a lot of people are afraid of is my pressure cooker. I can make brown rice in 20 minutes versus 1 hour the conventional way. It’s also great for beans especially if you have forgotton to soak them overnight. Great post Chelle!
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It sad to know that eating healthy actually cost more than eating junk. Fresh fruit cost much more than fruit roll-ups. I definitely have tried to teach my son healthy eating habits, he only knows whole wheat bread,pasta,brown rice; he has only ever drank milk or water; he’s never had fruit snacks/ juice or other severely proceeded food. Let just hope I can keep this up as he evolves into the picky eating toddler.
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Moderation and healthier choice is the way to go indeed. We have fish most of the week and lots of vegetables too. Not easy for the children I must say but we try
I have been on a watching what we’re eating (for content reasons) for awhile now. The book sounds very interesting. I would love to shop local and I have tried but around here it is almost impossible.
My main concern is knowing what is in the food. We try not to do processed and because of this when my son tries something processed 3 out of 4 times he has not liked it.
I bake a lot, then I know what’s in everything.
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