Ask me how much processed food I eat and I’ll undoubtedly respond: Not much.
For the most part, that’s true. My diet is primarily made up of whole foods like eggs, beans, veggies (especially spinach and baby romaine, but also whatever’s in season), handfuls of almonds and Fuji apples (which are my idea of fast food). When I eat meat, it’s minimally processed–think a chicken breast or a slab of steak rather than sausage or a pot pie–and I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a Cheeto, microwave dinner or anything from a vending machine.
But while reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle–a more palatable companion to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which documents Kingsolver and her family’s attempt to eat real food, in season, mostly from their own farm–it occurred to me that maybe I do pile my plate with more processed food than I realize.
There’s the Stonyfield Farm fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt I snack on almost daily. The orange juice that I gulp down when my coffee’s taking too long to brew. The Think Thin chunky peanut butter bars that act as a makeshift lunch on days when I’m too busy to have a proper meal. The, ahem, “whole grain” goldfish crackers I buy as much for myself as for my toddler. The Edy’s ice cream that I practically consider a food group.
It’s not that I think processed food is evil. Trust me, I have neither the time nor the desire to attempt to make low-fat French silk ice cream, and fully recognize that the Smart Ones and Slim Fasts of the world have helped thousands of time-crunched people keep their weight in check.
At the same time, the odds are that something with one or two ingredients is healthier than one with 27. And it’s likely to taste a lot more like–you guessed it–real food.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to devote one week to eating food that’s unprocessed or very minimally processed (think cheese or plain yogurt; I can’t go too monastic just yet), preferably fare that contains just one ingredient. I’m thinking of it as a health-boost-slash-science-experiment: just how hard is it for a busy mom with a full-time job to stick to food that’s close to its original form?
I’ll check in on Thursday and next Monday to share my progress. In the meantime, care to join me? Share your thoughts below, or send me your observations via Twitter.
–Camille
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Camille
