In his Parasites, Killing Their Host – The Food Industry’s Solution to Obesity article yesterday, New York Time’s op-ed writer, Mark Bittman describes how food corporations are killing their customers by producing highly processed food that is causing the obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Aware that finding solutions to this epidemic is important, some of these food corporations want to re-engineer their food and work with communities to solve the epidemic. Of course, much of this new food is highly processed and as far from real food as the many of the products that line supermarket shelves today.
A more long term solution is to enable everyone to have easy access to real food, fresh out of the garden like I have every day. When you have real food this sumptuous, settling for something that comes out of can or box doesn’t cross your mind. Even picking up produce picked a day or two or a week ago loses it’s appeal. Nothing compares to eating raspberries off the vine or munching on peas that you’ve just picked. Everyone should be able to do this.
Organizations like Seattle Urban Farm Company and Urban Harvest show that this is possible. You can grow a lot of food in the city. And the more people eat real food, fresh out of the garden, the more they will demand it.