Coming to Italy has been the greatest gastronomical decision
I’ve made. I’ve always valued and respected real food but Italy has elevated my
passion to an infinitive level. The love Italians have for their land and the food they grow on it is
addictive and has put into perspective the lack of love Americans have. This may
seem like a bold statement but our values have shifted to unhealthy levels in
what I still believe to be the greatest country in the world- America. Every
Italian owns a piece of land, similar to Americans, however every square meter
of Italy is covered by farms growing life expanding vegetation; vegetables,
fruit, olives, nuts, etc. Americans have shifted their lifestyles to value
owning cars, pools, hot tubs, or whatever as-seen-on-tv consumer products we
are putting in our backyards.
You start to wonder why Italy is dominated by beautiful
landscapes full of lush vegetation while the iconic pictures of America contain
corn and wheat fields. It’s true that Italy has different micro-climates than
America but the true difference is choice. Instead of growing the most exquisite
super foods, vegetables, and fruit, our government subsidizes corn, wheat,
soybeans, sweeteners, starches, and animal feed, the majority of which are
genetically modified.
This upside-down food hierarchy our government supports has
created a deficiency that starts at the field and ends in the grave- the consumer’s
grave. Next time you walk into the supermarket be mindful and observe what the
industry offers to its customers. 95% of the store is occupied by canned,
boxed, frozen and artificially preserved and flavored foods. If you are putting
something into your body which has been harvested, shipped, processed, packaged, shipped,
and able to sit on the grocery store shelf for weeks or months, ask yourself
how nutritious can this possibly be? By the time you put this modern, high-tech
convenience food into your body it has lost most, if not all, of its
nutritional value. That is assuming it had any to begin with.
I will end this post with an excerpt from the book "Food
and Philosophy" by Fritz Allhoff:
“We want cheap, plentiful food and we certainly have it in
the U.S. but we are not taking into account the indirect cost to get the food
or the cost we incur by eating that food. More importantly we are using public
monies and public policy to create an environment that facilitates poor eating
habits. We use public money to ensure that high-fructose corn syrup, animal
feeds, oils, and grains are cheap and plentiful. Food manufacturers use these
low-cost ingredients to produce and sell us foods that we eat too much of. We
then use mostly private money to try to lose weight, and a combination of
public and private money to cover the cost of health care that are a consequence
of our unhealthy eating habits. From a public health prospective the system we
have created makes no sense”.
There is one vote that always counts in America and that is
how you spend your money. Making smart food choices is the first action you can
take for a healthier and longer life. Don’t be afraid to spend more than 15% of
your income on food. Food is the primary mean of nourishing, preserving, and healing your
body. I haven’t seen a shirt, pant or shoe item that has such powers.
