Friday 20 August 2010

food revolution

tonight i watched the final in the series "jamie oliver's food revolution" . i've watched it avidly for the length of the series (six weeks?)
the voyeur factor is good, the compulsion to watch fat americans eat rubbish and slowly kill themselves has the same kind of weird appeal as a car smash.
jamie is kind of annoyingly cute and idealistic and engaging all at once but mostly i love what he is doing. i love that jamie oliver is trying, and succeeding, in helping a city change it's eating habits. i love that he is approaching the problem from so many angles: changing school food, teaching people to cook, educating people about what they are eating now and what they should be eating and how their health is being affected.
after six years of home economics in high school i can draw the healthy diet pyramid in my sleep, even 20 odd years down the track. i have read food magazines, family magazines and health magazines, i have seen tv shows on healthy eating and i have read newspaper supplements. i have the information but i still find it hard sometimes to make sure there is always good, nutritious food on the table.
i would like to think i am a long way from needing a food revolution but i still need to work at making good choices and one of the ways i try to do that is not by aiming for perfection but to aim for small, achievable goals. they might not give us the ideal diet but they get us closer
  • i only buy good bread. sourdough, multigrain or premium type whitebread, free of additives and heavier than the average white fluff
  • i have veggies delivered, taking the drama out of the shopping leaves more energy for the cooking
  • i try to add herbs to food. a handful of parsley or coriander ( or what have you) on a risotto, a soup, a pasta or a sandwich ramps up the nutrients for a teeny bit of effort
  • i don't keep soda in the house (i will buy a bottle or two as a treat) if it's not there nobody can drink it. same goes for biscuits, chocolate and chips
  • chocolate breakfast cereals are only for holidays
  • i keep a box of porridge sachets in my locker at work. it costs about 5 times what regular oats do but it's sooo easy and all too often ease is the name of the game. they keep well and there's always something hot and comforting just a couple of minutes away

do you have any nutrition rules or handy hints?

27 comments:

  1. i only buy good bread. sourdough, multigrain or premium type whitebread, free of additives and heavier than the average white fluff
    I buy bread only when there is a 1/2 pound of broiled ground beef between the buns
    i have veggies delivered, taking the drama out of the shopping leaves more energy for the cooking
    You couldn't find a vegetable in my place with a search light and microscope
    i try to add herbs to food. a handful of parsley or coriander ( or what have you) on a risotto, a soup, a pasta or a sandwich ramps up the nutrients for a teeny bit of effort
    I put salt on my popcorn
    i don't keep soda in the house (i will buy a bottle or two as a treat) if it's not there nobody can drink it.
    I replaced the water service to the sinks with chilled Coke Zero
    same goes for biscuits, chocolate and chips
    I have recipes that call for two different types of potato chips
    chocolate breakfast cereals are only for holidays
    I don't eat the most important meal of the dayt
    i keep a box of porridge sachets in my locker at work. it costs about 5 times what regular oats do but it's sooo easy and all too often ease is the name of the game. they keep well and there's always something hot and comforting just a couple of minutes away
    I keep Cheeze-Its in my desk.

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  2. That's a good list of dietary to-dos, except that I can't resist the odd chocolate biscuit or chocolate bar. Especially as chocolate contains flavonols which lower my blood pressure.

    I would also recommend a range of supplementary foods which are very nutritious and which you can nibble at when hungry - dried fruit, nuts, dates, Bombay Mix etc.

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  3. bob!
    i think that is your longest ever comment here!

    i'm flattered :)

    i was gonna ask what kind of a job coke zero does with the washing up but that would be a redundant question, right?

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  4. hey nick,
    i love my chocolate, too!
    i just dont keep a permanent supply, it's not a staple like bread or coffee :)

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  5. If you don't eat you must lose weight. Are the obese or semi obese suffering deep spiritual hunger or a psychological malaise that is sidelined or deadened as an issue in their minds by the consumption of some cheap, very available fattening fast foods. Do the big corporations marketing fast food for example have a responsibility to change their products for the good of the societies where they market stuff?

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  6. dad,
    i'm not really sure that there is any obligation on the big corporations to make their product healthier, i tend to think that healthy eating is a personal responsibility. maybe there is a case for requiring a certain minimum standard......

    it's an accepted fact that people eat for emotional reasons and i think the antidote for that is to teach people different ways to handle stress/pain rather than try to regulate their food.

    my other comment is that a body fed only junk will be continually hungry because of the craving for real nutritive value. that is, if a person isnt getting any nutrients they will eat to excess because of the body's desperate hope of getting something useful. you can simultaneously eat yourself to death and starve!

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  7. bob,
    the real cheese has to be a bonus :)

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  8. you the man """""kilie"""""" great choice, yep you the man as they say here in ephraim to anyone who excells

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  9. Kia ora Kylie,
    Your dad makes a good point, it is interesting too that our more wealthy classes can be so harsh and critical of the poor or those on benefits about obeisity, drinking and smoking, ect. They are chastized for their food choices, or the fact they drink and smoke. The reality is the fast food, the processed foods, the sugar filled foods, are often the cheapest, and therefore the easiest way to eat. Then the giant booze outlets put out 15 cans of alcohol fueled lolly water and we blame people for drinking too much. Caught in that sort of vicious cycle it can be pretty hard to change.
    Sorry to rant, but got in a "discussion" yesterday with an idiot about this sort of thing and my dander was up.
    We keep heaps of fresh carrots and yummy apples for snacks rather than chips, cookies, crackers, ect. And when that type of snack is wanted, pretzels are a good alternative. Hope your weekend was a good one.
    Aroha,
    Robb

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  10. Soda and beer are the worst problems, here. Those are two things I need to cut down on purchasing. Or cut out all together, except for special occasions.

    Your list is excellent, Kylie and I'm laughing my butt off at your list, Bob!

    You know, Liam has never liked cereal?

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  11. robb,
    i take your point. more than once i have looked at cartons of cheap pop and asked how we can expect people to make good choices when the garbage is so cheap.

    the thing about the big corporations and their product is that in some instances it would have to be just taken off the market and i think we would all lose something if that happened. i like a glass of coke occasionally!

    i agree that demonising the people who make poor choices is easy for those who have an easier life and i'm sure you noticed my comment on education. i believe in education as the answer to so many problems and this is one of them.

    unfortunately education alone probably isnt the answer, lasting change is only effected through personal support, friendships, mentoring etc

    the weekend is going well and keaghan turns 14 today so i'm gonna rush off to clean up for the afternoons coffee and cake "event"

    aroha
    k

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  12. hey megan,
    i guess liam eats a lot of toast?

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  13. putzy!
    sorry i missed you!
    it wasnt intentional

    YOU ARE DA MAAAN!!!!

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  14. Oh, a lot of toast! Happy birthday to Keaghan!

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  15. "...do you have any nutrition rules or handy hints?"

    I'll just list a few off the top of my head.

    Eliminate shortening completely. In processed foods, it is called "hydrogenated _____."
    Only eat whole grain flour or, at the very least, unbleached flour.
    Never buy products containing oils that you can't even find on the cooking oil aisle--things like palm, soybean, and cottonseed.
    Only buy olive oil and canola oil.
    Never drink soft drinks--most of them contain 16 teaspoons of sugar.
    As a general rule, the more processed a food, the worse it is for you.

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  16. hey snow!
    GOOD to see you here

    your rules are right but they are the kind i struggle to follow. you have inspired me to look more carefully at the pack, though.

    along the lines of "the more processed it is the worse for you" is another favourite of mine

    "eat only things that can go off and eat them before they do"

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  17. Just wanted to say hi and that I enjoyed perusing your blog. I'll bookmark you for sure.

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  18. do you know why kylie i thought hat you drank hard liquor>???????you inviting me to the wild onion>>>isn't that a bar>>>what are you doing in bars with all your friends{and their are a bunch of them from what i have read} when you aren't drinking from the bar>>.please answer me cause i really want to know about your association with the wild onion?????

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  19. Sounds like some good habits you got going Kylie. My one weakness is soda. I don't drink the diet stuff because the aspartame scares me and usually my high metabolism has allowed to drink soda with no worries but now I am getting older and I cut back on the pop.

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  20. janet,
    hi & welcome!
    do you have a blog? cos if you do i cant find it

    come back soon
    k

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  21. putzy,
    back in my wilder blogging days, before my blog friends moved on with their lives and got addicted to facebook, cece set up the wild onion as a kind of bulletin board/party spot and it's been there ever since, hosting all the birthdays and my most, um, earthy humour, the stuff that would ruin my reputaton if it was on my blog.

    i'm not sure if the wild onion is the place for you, they only seem to serve lemon drops and there is a mad chick who rides round on a pink tricycle. i'm not sure but i think they are looking for a new bartender (male eye candy) and there is a dungeon out the back. i donated a red couch a long time ago...

    actually, the wild onion has anything you want it to have and because the drinks are virtual i can drink heaps without falling under the table

    *waves to putz*

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  22. shifester!
    i dont drink diet soda, either. whats 12 more spoons of sugar ? fake sweeteners seem suspicious to me.

    it seems that you have lots of unexpected delights and "delights" round your place so you prolly dont miss the pop, eh?

    take care
    k

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  23. Hmmmmm, Spesh and food....

    delish...

    DeSpesh....

    xxx

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  24. hi peej!
    food is my fetish!

    love ya
    xx

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  25. I missed this interesting post! America has a weird, bad relationship with food--we sell the crap then push guilt. Awful conundrum.

    Anyway, nutrition rules...only organic dairy products. Hedgie is never forced to eat when she doesn't want to, or finish a meal to get dessert. Lots of salads. Lots of water.

    I definitely keep treats in the house, though.

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  26. hi leah!
    i missed your comment, too. i forget to check for comments to moderate...
    i think the austra;ian relationship with food is very similar to the american one, if only we could get a bit of balance!

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