Lecture 3: Food Movements Flashcards
Food preservation in the 1950s vs. now
- 1950s: largely carried out by the “traditional housewife”
- Now: almost entirely industrialized using more additives (more convenient and safer from microbes)
Cooking before the 1950s vs. now
- Then: almost all meals made from scratch and cooked at home
- 1950s innovations = canned soup, minute rice, frozen foods, TV dinners (C.A. Swanson)
- Now = almost exclusively convenience and manufactured foods (more chemicals)
Why are food additives used?
- Improve taste, texture, consistency and color of foods
- Help keep food wholesome and appealing while en route to markets
Where food comes from then vs. now
- Then = people often grew their own food or knew those who did
- Limited variety because of local farming and seasonal eating
- Now = food often travels thousands of miles (crossing international borders) before it is purchased or manufactured into food products
Family farm
- Owned and operated by a family and passed down through generations
- Grew multiple crops usually mixed with animals
- Grew seasonal crops
- Local distribution chain
Agribusiness
- Move toward larger scale farming
- Operations rely on pesticides, fertilizers, biotech, breeding programs, monoculture
Organic food movement
- Began in the 1960s
- Resurgence of vegetarianism largely due to animal rights issues
- First seen largely as a “hippie movement”
- Was helped along by a growing anti-pesticide movement
- Late 1980s: many small local farms and food companies drafted a set of proposed organic food standards designed to become law at the state level (prohibited use of pesticides)
Rachel Carson
- “Silent Spring” alleged that DDT caused cancer and harmed bird reproduction by thinning egg shells
- As a result, DDT was banned in the 1970s
- Book gave birth to the environmental movement
Organic Standards
- 1990: Organic Foods Production Act = creation of National Organic Program (NOP) and the passage of uniform organic standards
- 2002: USDA began enforcing a national standards governing use of the term “organic” on food levels
- USDA Organic Food Seal was created
- Organic farms and foods had to be certified by a govt-approved inspector
What does “organic” mean?
Organic refers only to agricultural production methods that meet certain criteria
-not a nutritional, health or food safety claim
Organic production methods
Sustainable, ecological-based management practices
- promote biodiversity
- reduce dependence on off-farm inputs
- emphasize soil and water conservation
What are the requirements for organic grower certification?
- Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones
- Organic produce is grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, GMO seeds, use of sewage sludge
- Foods cannot be irradiated
How does the USDA label organic food?
USDA approved 4 categories of organic labels based on the percent of organic content
- 100% organic (all ingredients)
- Organic (at least 95% of content is organic by weight)
- Made with organic ingredients (at 70% of content is organic)
- Less than 70% of content is organic (can’t use “organic” anywhere on the display)
What does “all natural” mean?
Product doesn’t contain artificial or synthetic ingredients
Food miles
The distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer
-environmental impacts and sustainability
Slow food movement
- Founded in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini
- Believed that the industrialization of food was standardizing taste and leading to the loss of thousands of food varieties and flavors
- Seeks to catalyze a cultural shift away from an industrial food system and fast life and toward a culture of sustainable food systems, regional food traditions, and a slower more harmonious rhythm of life
Functional foods
Foods with benefits beyond basic nutrition
-specialized for athletes, children, certain diets, diabetics, etc.
Components of food
- Water
- Macronutrients = present in large quantities (protein, carbohydrates, fats)
- Micronutrients = present in low quantities (vitamins, minerals)
Protein
- Macronutrient
- Broken down into amino acids, absorbed and rearranged to make new peptides, proteins and enzymes
- Animal protein = meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk
- Veggie protein = nuts, beans, tofu
Carbohydrates
- Macronutrient
- Primary energy source (accounts for over 70% of the caloric value of the human diet)
Fat
- Most compact form of chemical energy
- Belong to a subgroup of lipids called triglycerides
- Critical component of flavor and texture of food
- Essential fats = must eat these (in moderation) to survive
Kosher foods
- Food prepared in accordance with Jewish law
- Kahrut = body of Jewish law dealing with what foods can and can’t be eated and how those foods must be prepared and eaten
Halal foods
- Foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines
- Prohibited foods are called “haram” (alcohol, blood, carnivorous and omnivorous meat, bread containing yeast)
Hinduism and food
- Hindus don’t eat meat
- Avoid foods that may have caused pain to animals during manufacture because violence/pain inflicted on another living thing rebounds on you as Karma
