Lecture 3: Food Movements

Question 1

Food preservation in the 1950s vs. now

Answer 1

• 1950s: largely carried out by the “traditional housewife”

- Now: almost entirely industrialized using more additives (more convenient and safer from microbes)

Question 2

Cooking before the 1950s vs. now

Answer 2

• 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)

Question 3

Why are food additives used?

Answer 3

• Improve taste, texture, consistency and color of foods

- Help keep food wholesome and appealing while en route to markets

Question 4

Where food comes from then vs. now

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

Family farm

Answer 5

• Owned and operated by a family and passed down through generations
• Grew multiple crops usually mixed with animals
• Grew seasonal crops
• Local distribution chain

Question 6

Agribusiness

Answer 6

• Move toward larger scale farming

- Operations rely on pesticides, fertilizers, biotech, breeding programs, monoculture

Question 7

Organic food movement

Answer 7

• 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)

Question 8

Rachel Carson

Answer 8

• “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

Question 9

Organic Standards

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

What does “organic” mean?

Answer 10

Organic refers only to agricultural production methods that meet certain criteria
-not a nutritional, health or food safety claim

Question 11

Organic production methods

Answer 11

Sustainable, ecological-based management practices

• promote biodiversity
• reduce dependence on off-farm inputs
• emphasize soil and water conservation

Question 12

What are the requirements for organic grower certification?

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

How does the USDA label organic food?

Answer 13

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)

Question 14

What does “all natural” mean?

Answer 14

Product doesn’t contain artificial or synthetic ingredients

Question 15

Food miles

Answer 15

The distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer
-environmental impacts and sustainability

Question 16

Slow food movement

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Functional foods

Answer 17

Foods with benefits beyond basic nutrition

-specialized for athletes, children, certain diets, diabetics, etc.

Question 18

Components of food

Answer 18

• Water
• Macronutrients = present in large quantities (protein, carbohydrates, fats)
• Micronutrients = present in low quantities (vitamins, minerals)

Question 19

Protein

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Carbohydrates

Answer 20

• Macronutrient

- Primary energy source (accounts for over 70% of the caloric value of the human diet)

Question 21

Fat

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Kosher foods

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

Halal foods

Answer 23

• Foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines

- Prohibited foods are called “haram” (alcohol, blood, carnivorous and omnivorous meat, bread containing yeast)

Question 24

Hinduism and food

Answer 24

• 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