This very astute diagram of what should be a full and balanced meal (which comes to us from the aptly named Nutrition Education) is something that much of the world has lost track of.
A balanced diet in today’s society which is rife with highly unhealthy and heavily processed foods is something that is quite amiss. I know I’m no exception, fast food and the frozen food section of a super market is something that I am certainly not unfamiliar with. And why is it that we subject ourselves to these very unhealthy dietary habits? I’d say it comes down to something very simple: money. Socio-economics are pretty complicated, from city to city, let alone state to state or country to country, but one thing translates over across all borders. Cheap and easy food is much easier for us to get a hold of, and allows us to obtain or sustain a better quality of life in other areas. However, if our quality of life is decent, but our health isn’t good enough to live long enough to enjoy that quality, then is it really that good anyway? When you consider how many medical reports and journals link highly processed foods and additives to diabetes, strokes and a myriad of cancer types, I think that more should be done on the part of the food manufacturing companies to offer healthier food, or even take all of these cheap and unhealthy foods off the market entirely just so we won’t have a serious health epidemic in the future.
This photo of an in-flight meal on a Japanese flight which comes to us from Hideyuki Kamon is probably evidence enough to those of us in the western nations which are more accustomed to less organic and less healthy food.
I suppose it comes as no surprise that the Japanese have a better handle on offering healthier food to their patrons. Organic food is often a more common place dish in many countries east of Europe, and the Japanese have been proponents of healthy eating for a long time. If you’ve ever had sushi or at least know that it is comprised of raw fish then you’re likely to understand it doesn’t get much more organic than that! Although it’s important to remember that this is not a blanket statement as many dishes originating in Asia do require the usage of MSG, which is certainly unhealthy and has been linked to causing heart attacks. I know what you’re thinking, and I’m in the same boat with you. How am I supposed to eat healthy then? Organic foods are much less easy to come by and you’ll have to be much more deliberate and thoughtful about what you decide to purchase and eat.
Daniel Orth gets credit for this photo of the mundane sight of a frozen food section in a super market. I know I’m getting a little hungry just looking at all that unhealthy mess but we have to resist temptation!