03/21/10 08:36
The Daily Yonder posted an article by a Doctor Fine, who's calling for people to drop starches from their diets. He makes an interesting, thought-provoking and generally plausible argument. He says that over the years changes in the USDA's food recommendations have been based more on the needs of agribusiness than American nutritional concerns. Of course, just because some agribusiness oligarchs were pushing processed starches, doesn't mean we should react by eliminating all starchy foods from our diets. The appropriate response might be eliminating highly processed foods, fast foods and junk foods, as one of the commenters says.
Personally, I like the occasional potato with my occasional steak. So I try to get organic, locally grown foods, and cook them myself. I also like potatoes in my curry. I like baking bread. And I like some pasta under my homemade red sauce.
The year-round availability of fresh fruits and veggies has environmental costs as well, as we're all aware. Seems like a self-sufficient family farm (if that's the goal, or even just the ideal) might include some potatoes in the root cellar, even if it doesn't go all the way to growing its own grain for bread-making. Tags: Food
