It's obvious our food system is always changing, but sometimes the changes are more radical and happen in shorter periods of time. Not long ago, we became aware of some of the biggest problems that affect our food system. I'm not saying the problem wasn't there or that no one knew or tried to bring attention to it before, but there was this sudden almost globalized awareness. I think we could call this sudden awareness and the changes it provoked a “food revolution”.
New diets appeared, foods some of us had never heard about can now be found in every supermarket, etc. Being healthy has turned into one of our biggest concerns. And that's good news.
The way food sold in supermarkets is produced has brought many health problems and we need to do something about it. Not only that, we also need to change the way we're eating. Part of the world population is eating too much and wasting too much, the other part is in the opposite situation. And I write in the present tense because not much has changed.
In fact, food production in the developed world was adapted throughout the years in order to meet the demands of an increasing population who consumes in excess. That means the way what we eat is being produced doesn’t respect the natural process of food growth and food making and that has an impact in our health we may not notice. However, there are many more issues.
What's the impact of our food habits on the planet? How much of our food system has to change if the world's population keeps growing and our climate changing? Are GMO's an option we’ll easily accept if needed? It's our responsibility to keep this "food revolution" going and extend it to all the problems that somehow are related to food.
Addressing the diets’ issue
I'm not going to make a list of all the diets that emerged. Truth is our sudden concern with how we eat led us to change our diet to a different one, most of the times with no knowledge of how to do it. If we really care about our bodies then why do we follow trends made popular by social media? We have to admit that the globalized world we live in is in part to blame for this, since technologies allow us to quickly spread the word about these wonderful diets. Maybe we should have explained to people that our bodies are different, have different needs and process food in different ways, before anything else. We should have taught them about this, instead of only sharing the benefits of these diets.
If you want to adopt one of these diets search about it, learn what your body needs, look for professional help. Most important of all, don’t make radical changes in your diet just because everyone is doing that. Don’t stop eating certain foods simply because someone tells you they’re bad for you. Don’t turn your diet into an obsession. I said this in one of my questions and people criticized me for it, but my word choice is deliberate, search about it and you’ll see. Categorizing food as good or bad, clean or dirty is not healthy.
Only consuming organic food is great, taking it to an extreme level? Maybe we should be more careful. Don’t criticize someone else’s diet choice, unless you’re giving genuine health advice. Following diets which eliminate certain food groups can become a problem. Obsessing over what you eat can become an eating disorder, so be careful with your choices.
P.S.(1) - When using the word diet, I'm referring to a person's food habits and choices, a food regimen. I'm not talking about temporary diets.
P.S.(2) - I know all of us have different diets, so be respectful. Each one of us has free will and chose what and how to eat according to what they want. Trying to get others to adopt our diet because of this or that reason is (using a not so great example) exactly the same has trying to convert everyone to our religion just because it's what we believe in. Don´t do it.
Organic and biologic food
Since this “food revolution” started good things happened, organic and biologic food is present in common supermarkets, these products’ prices have also decreased making them accessible to more people.
Organic food has always been sold at local markets and smaller specific stores, when demand for it grew supermarket started selling it. But can we trust the “organic” food in our supermarkets is really organic? Maybe they’re not as organic as we think.
What about genetically modified foods/organisms?
This is a subject I think is related in some way to the topic. We have been trying to change and consume less processed (as in artificial) foods, but the path our world is on is leading us (climate change, bigger world population, excessive food consumption) to a situation where GMO and GM foods will be necessary to everyone. What do you feel about this? Do you consider them unprocessed food?
A few notes
My question “Are we harming ourselves by trying to eat better?” was a bit vague and generated distinct responses according to the way people interpreted it. This myTake is probably going to answer some of those opinions, I did it with that aspect in mind too, but also to develop my point of view.
I would like to have your opinion on this but be respectful about it, English is not my first language, which means sometimes you’ll understand something completely different from what I’m trying to say.
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