Thanks to a decades-long effort by the chocolate industry, chocolate is now being convincingly sold as a health food. But the chocolate-industrial-research complex distracts us from issues like what in our food contributes to the obesity and diabetes epidemics; chocolate certainly isn’t the solution here.
Poor diet is not just about individual choice, but about the systems that make eating poorly the default for most Americans.
Boiled down, there are a few simple rules when it comes to the best way to eat your vegetables. Just as eating a variety of vegetables is a good idea, enjoying them in a variety of ways seems to maximize their health benefits.
According to the findings of the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 12th Annual Food and Health Survey, Americans are consuming food information from more sources than ever before, yet our nutritional literacy is sorely lacking – and our health may be suffering as a result.
In the South, America has identified food-system problems and developed solutions. Today, as Americans agitate for food sovereignty, the bold agricultural ideas conceived in the late 1960s by Fannie Lou Hamer and other radical Southerners suggest paths for us to follow out of our food deserts.
The latest entrant to the superfood contest is Brazilian açaí, a purplish, antioxidant-rich stone fruit — though most call it a berry — foraged from trees in the Amazon River basin.Surprising parties become heroes and scoundrels as the coveted berry changes hands in different ways. Global consumption has further increased demand, but because of the high value of good vibes, some superfood exporters have an incentive to hew to best practices.
In a country with Latin America’s highest death rate from diabetes, peasant communities are at risk thanks in part to Coca Cola addiction.
During the Depression, a loose coalition of Progressives set out to remake the American diet. Milk was regarded as the perfect food. This tension between scientific advice and traditional preferences can be traced back to the Great Depression, suggest Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe in “A Square Meal.”
As a natural vegetarian food, moringa is rich in antioxidants and contains a healthy mix of nutrients, including Vitamin E and Folic acid.
With just three pleasures—nuts, fruit, and dark chocolate—a nutritionist challenges chefs to make dessert more healthful but still a treat.
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