Following food trends – are they healthy or harmful?

August 1st, 2012

Following food trends – are they healthy or harmful?

What is the next hot food trend that promises good health and well-being? Indulging in the next food trend may not be the next best thing for you, your health, your family, your community or your local farmer.

Food trends put a serious stress on farmers around the globe and a stress on your pocket book. All of a sudden everyone wants the “trendy food” because science discovers the benefits that food contains. However, in most cases, the farmer cannot grow or produce it fast enough to fill the immediate need without some sacrifice.

What if  a farmer expands his farm the following year to accommodate this new trend, created by the consumer? It may only be good for the farmer for the short term, until the next big super food comes along, or until science discovers negative side effect that comes with long term, and/or over consumption.

Dr. Oz has a great show that a lot of people refer to when they talk about the latest super food. Click on the link below to see him point out the awesome health benefits that coconut oil contains. Olive oil was once the “be-all and end-all” of healthy super foods, but now it must take a back seat to coconut oil. Now farmers’ who produce mass quantities of olive oil are at a loss.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/coconut-oil-super-powers-pt-1

The following link also contains good information

http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html

Making foods trendy also makes them more expensive the trendier they become, so how is that beneficial to us when the formerly cheap food often triples in price. How can you  justify the extra cost? Maybe too much of a good thing is not such a good thing!

Eating healthy has nothing to do with food trends. It starts with a balanced diet of local and in-season fruits, vegetables and locally raised meats, fish, legumes and poultry. When it comes to more exotic fruits, vegetables, legumes, spices and oils, it is best to mix them in with the local and seasonal foods we have here grown close to home.

The most positive way to teach our kids to eat healthy is to always eat local and in-season foods, making this way of eating their number one priority. Eating healthy foods that are NOT grown or raised close to home should become secondary.

I like the new information available from scientific studies. However, most of the science concerning eating healthy foods is still quite new. This leads me to believe that trying a new product is not bad, but I should keep my healthy lifestyle in line with moderation and sourcing my foods in proximity to my home.

So I do believe that my topics, whether about eating seasonal foods, buying my eggs at a local farm, or choosing local honey made by bees that pollinated my local food, are based on the best way to live a healthy life. Keep the food trends at bay, read and gain knowledge before jumping on the bandwagon, get off the processed foods and avoid all fast foods at all costs.

Take the time to listen to your body, what it likes and what it does not like. Just because “they” say something is good for you, does not mean that it is good for everyone! What may be good for your neighbour may not be good for you at all.

Let’s set the stage for a simple, sustainable healthy lifestyle by getting your copy of freshalicious that teaches you how to connect with your local food sources using delicious seasonal recipes to get you on the right road to good health.

These tomatoes are so tasty, and grown so close to home, straight from my garden. We are enjoying all the local produce, meat, honey and baked goods at  our local farmers market.

Enjoy and get local!

think fresh*live local*eat healthy