These two weeks have flown by! I had to double check to be sure it really was day twelve.
Today was a much better day of eating Target food. I woke up and had hot oatmeal with pecans and raisins. I drank milk and ate a banana.
I have begun to realize the draw I feel to eat out. Because I was off of school today, my mom offered to take me out to Noodles and Company for lunch. I was thrilled until I realized I was still on the Target diet. Instead I ate a tuna and cheese melt for lunch. It was good, but I was dying to eat out.
If I had eaten at Noodles, I would have eaten Pesto Cavatappi. This dish has 760 calories, over 50% of your saturated fat, and 30% of your sodium. According to Supersize me, the average American eats out 2 times a week. According to Weight Watchers the average American eats out 6 times a week.
Whichever is true, eating out is unhealthy. By choosing to eat locally, you eliminate almost all eating out. I have decided I was wrong in saying eating locally is mainly for the environment. Eating local is for yourself- your health and well-being. Fresh ingredients, lean meat, and grass fed animals (1), all contribute to a healthier diet.
Eating locally contributes to a healthier environment and a healthier you. Both of which are very important :)
At work I ate five delicious, bright red strawberries. (My favorite part of the Target diet- fruit from all over the world.) For dinner I ate left over Shepard's pie with peas and milk. It was a satisfying dinner without any work besides popping the plate in the microwave.
1. According to King Corn, grass fed beef has about 2 grams of saturated fat whereas corn fed beef has 9 grams.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog. Shopping at a local health food co-op has made me very aware of locally grown foods since the food is clearly marked.
While I greatly appreciate your wonderful comments, I also have some other thoughts.
Who wants to eat "manufactured" food? Any type of processed food is usually awful, once you get used to actual fresh food.
Also, since we have a truly global economy now, I do know that by buying food from less developed countries we SOMETIMES give them much needed cash income. And that CAN be a very good thing for everyone, e.g. I get bananas and they get cash to pay the doctor. Also, the workers who sail the ship to bring the bananas earn cash to send home.
I think there is no way to get around the global economy idea.
Also, Norman Borlaug's (the Nobel Prize winner) works on improved farming are fascinating and his opinions are very thought-provoking and not at all "politically correct". I would encourage you to read about Borlaug and his ideas before you make up your mind about eating locally exclusively.
One last comment: You can eat "fresh" and natural and healthy with eating only local foods. In the long run, it saves lots of money in food and health care bills to eat fresh and avoid all processed foods. There are a number of great restaurants around also like French Meadow, Cafe Brenda, Good Earth, and one I forget that is right across from the new Guthrie.
So fun to read your writing!! Keep it up.