I'm a compulsive label reader and it may not be good for my health. Let me explain. The other day I received an email from my sister, Kathy, expressing her frustration at shopping in the supermarkets. We share the same frustration and it's this: it is getting more difficult to find real food in the aisles of most markets. There is an increasing preponderance of food products on the store shelves these days, but less and less real food. I read labels, not to figure calories, carbohydrates, protein or fiber content, but to see what the product is made of. My supermarket reading selection usually annoys the hell out of me which can't be good for my blood pressure. I must appear a lunatic, my glasses sitting atop my head(don't need them to read), expletives bursting spontaneously from my mouth as I toss the offending item back onto its shelf and go grumbling down the aisles in search of the next likely offender.
Try to find real ice cream, for example, and by that I mean the product made from milk, eggs, sugar (sucrose) and perhaps a flavoring or fruit. My forays into the store to find this simple, basic product have proved to be a fools errand. The first problem is corn syrup. Now if you believe the ads paid for by the corn industry, who try to convince us that sugar is sugar - then as the old saying goes, I have some swamp land I'd like to sell you. Scientific studies have shown that high fructose corn syrup increases weight gain, even when compared to taking the same amounts of table sugar(sucrose). If you look at the rise in childhood diabetes in the last twenty years and the rise of the ubiquitous corn syrup in our processed food during the same period you have to at least ponder the possibility of a connection. But that's just the front end of my ice cream anxiety. Corn syrup as a sweetener is certainly a terrible choice compared to table sugar as far as I'm concerned, but it's long list of other additives beyond the milk, eggs, and salt also leave me shaking my head in wonder and disgust. Xantham gum? Used as a thickening and stabilizing agent it's also used in medicines to lower total cholesterol and blood sugar, but it may also cause bloating and flatulence and you may not want to have your blood sugar lowered (could be a problem for those recovering after a surgery). Add to that list other ingredients such as dyes and artificial flavorings...my cart has been mostly devoid of this treat for several years. The same is true of jams and jellies which I never buy from the store anymore.
Breads often produce the same problem - riddled with additives you can't pronounce and that leave you guessing as to their purpose. While I can find good breads from local bakeries, I've taken to baking my own. An investment in a quality stand mixer has made my bread making almost embarrassingly simple and easy. The smell of baking bread filling the house is alone worth the effort. And tortillas...we're talking flour, salt, a little lard... shouldn't have a list of more than three or four ingredients. See if you can find that short of a list on your grocer's shelf. Fortunately tortillas are about as simple an item to make as there is. If you're spending the time to cook up a good chili verde, why wouldn't you spend the few extra minutes to have freshly made, warm tortillas to go with it?
While time can be a limiting factor for many working families, making the effort to cook a meal with high quality, local ingredients is time well spent. Cooking does require physical effort which may be difficult to muster at the end of a hard day's labor, but the process is often more calming and restive that sitting in front of the television. And good cooking does not have to be complicated. The crock pot is a wonderful invention, allowing you to put together a great meal with a little prep time in the morning before your energy has been spent, and come home to a waiting meal. Your taste buds, your body, and your soul will appreciate the outcome.
I find the more I farm the more I want to do justice to the quality ingredients that I've worked to produce and so I enhance my cooking skills; and the more I expand my abilities in the kitchen the more I want to work with quality ingredients. One feeds the other in a continuous loop.
It all starts with one act - buying a cookbook, or growing tomatoes in a pot on your deck, or reading a label in a supermarket. It's not important how you get there, it just matters that you start the journey of appreciating real food. And whether you are a family of ten or one, don't you deserve the real deal?
