Eating Well: Quality Not Quantity

America is the wealthiest country in the world and on top of that we are the world's leading food producer. Yet Americans tend to look at food in a strange way. Other countries criticize our "junk food" industry and many people all over the United States have been found to be obese because of poor eating habits. So what is it about the way people eat that causes these problems?

Quantity

In part, the problem boils down to the very nature of the country that produces so much food: we have a lot of it. America produced 13 billion bushels of corn in the last year alone and much of that corn is going into American mouths. Writers and scientists have been aggressive against products containing corn syrup for years now and people are starting to be more wary about products that contain it. But it begs the questions: "Why is there so much corn syrup in our food anyway?" The obvious answer is that it is cheap, cheaper than sugar actually. And the same principal applies to every inexpensive food on the market.

American food producers have worked hard on the delicate art of making food that not only tastes good, but is also ridiculously cheap to produce. The result is "junk food" and mass produced food products that Americans buy everyday in order to have something in their pantries every time they feel hungry. What is the consequences of eating food that is cheap and easy to get a lot of? The answer is you are always eating the same thing (which is bad for you) and that same thing is one of the worst things as far as effort and nutrients that have gone in to it (thus it being so cheap).

Quality

It may seem like there is no remedy to this situation. Let's face reality; many people can't afford to buy organic milk and fresh fish and vegetables for their family. Is this really true? Americans, even those less financially secure, spend a much smaller percent of their income on food when compared to people from other countries. The result, as we have seen, is that Americans have generally unhealthy diets. And despite spending so little, they are getting a lot, so what would happen if we reversed things a little?

Imagine this situation. You have seventy dollars to spend on food. You could very easily fill your cart with ramen noodles, grape flavored soft drinks, some canned soups, chips, and a number of other tasty things. You could spend your seventy dollars, or even a good deal less and feel like you are really very well stocked for a while. Of course, you now realize that all of the foods that you've gotten are unhealthy for you or at least not particularly great. Now imagine the same scenario, but you pick out the foods that you always feel like you would get if you were rich. This time you choose some organic spring salad, a fancy dressing, fancy homemade style lemonade, some fish, fresh meat, and pasta with a nice sauce. Imagine, of course, that you won't get too much and go over your seventy dollar limit. Now as you are walking to your car you see that you have a great deal less food than in the first scenario, but everything that you have is much better for you. How did this happen? Well it's really very simple: the more expensive and "fancy" a food is, the more time and nutrients go into preparing it, so the more you are getting from eating it.

Result

If you were to try this new way of shopping, you would find it has some excellent benefits. Enjoying fancy salads for lunch instead of a microwavable meal may be more expensive, but it is also much better for you and much better for maintaining fitness. Likewise, eating a well prepared salmon for dinner with vegetables will set you back a good bit more than a fast food hamburger and some chips, but the quality of the food cannot be compared. As you begin to experience food in this way, eating becomes one of the best parts of your day. This is the way that people should be living. We should enjoy the quality food produced in our country, not the "junk food." And as you eat nicer and nicer foods, you will naturally eat less at each meal because these foods rich in nutrients will fill you up in ways that cheaper foods can't.