Every Day Is Special: October 24 – Food Day in the U.S.A.

October 24 – Food Day in the U.S.A.

Posted October 24, 2017

There are a lot of food days. There's a special day for everything from nuts to candy to candy corn and from mustard to peanut butter and jelly! There are even special days for specific dishes such as eggs Benedict!

But today is about all food. Food in general! Oh, and the systems that produce and deliver food to our tables.

Since this is an American holiday, I'm going to talk a bit about the systems in the U.S. that produce and deliver food. We're talking about agriculture, ranching, fishing, and food processing industries.

In the U.S., there are several problems with these systems, and they have some bad effects. We Americans often have weight problems and/or health problems that are partly caused by food problems. And we have some environmental problems caused by our industrialized farming and food production. We can do better!

Here are a few things you can do to learn about food system problems in the United States:

PBS - POV documentary Food, Inc., and lesson plan

Union of Concerned Scientists - School Lunch

Food for Teachers - games and activities

Here are some important things to remember about food as you look into problems with processed foods and food production systems:

1) Don't be fooled into being scared of chemicals. ALL foods are made of chemicals, and we ourselves are made of chemicals. An ingredient with a scary chemical-ish sounding name can be a very safe and even a very healthy thing. For example, what would you think about the chemical called dihydrogen oxide? .....It's water!

2) Don't be fooled by the word "natural" or the term "all natural." Since all food is natural in the sense that it is made up of ordinary matter and has no supernatural abilities, "natural" means nothing. Since pretty much all food has been messed with by humans, often for thousands of years (for example, humans have intentionally been breeding cows and corn for many, many, many generations, neither is "natural" in the sense of "not changed in any way by humans." Since some things are completely natural but deadly, "natural" does not necessarily equal good.

Basically, the word "natural" is an advertising word. But it means pretty much nothing, when it comes to food.

3) Don't be fooled by the word "organic." Some of the agricultural practices that allow fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products to be called "organic" are better practices, but some are not. And studies show that there isn't much difference, health-wise, between organic and non-organic foods.

The main difference seems to be the price - organic foods are often much more expensive.

So, if you see the word "organic" on a food label, check into it a bit more to see if that is valuable info or basically just another advertising tactic.

4) GMOs are not bad. As I said above, all foods have been messed with - including genetically - for years. And I'm basically talking centuries and centuries. When people cross breed tomatoes and carefully breed sheep - that's genetic modification.

There can be problems with people "messing with" plants and animals. But calling some practices GMO and other practices "traditional breeding" doesn't tell you whether or not that particular practice is unethical or unhealthy or ... whatever negative word you want to use. Modern gene-splicing and other "GMO" techniques can be safer and better than traditional breeding practices.