Why should we eat fresh, whole foods?  What difference does it make?  It makes all the difference.  There are so many differences in fresh foods and their overprocessed counterparts that there is no way that they can all be listed in one article.  But let’s look at a few.

First off is cost.  This may not be a concern for a few people, but, for the vast majority of us, it is certainly worth looking at.  One example is the lowly potato.  When dug out of the ground, it is pretty plain, but under that skin is a wealth of nutrition.  If home grown, the cost is minimal.  Even if purchased at the store, a potato is very inexpensive.  Now try comparing the cost of this one potato to the same weight in processed, mashed potatoes.  Does it cost more?  How about when made into frozen french fries?  Potato chips?  Not only that, but as the cost goes up, the nutritional value drops.  More processing, more salt, more fat.  Less potato.

I am concerned about the amount of sugar in the average person’s diet.  Some people have been taught in their school classes that everyone needs sugar to survive.  However, what they are not being told is that the natural sugars in everything from fruit to milk will suffice, and white sugar is really not necessary in a regular diet.  All it really does is cause problems.  When sugar is consumed, it can cause the blood sugar go too high, and then it drops too low, in many people, and then there is a craving for more sugar, usually accompanied by irritability, drowsiness, and other problems.  Perhaps giving an ornery child a snack with protein instead of sugar would help them be more agreeable.  Often we don’t realize what is causing us to feel the way we do, and children really don’t understand either, but if we explain it to them, they may very well be willing to help make some changes so they feel better.

I have my strong opinions about fake foods, such as sour cream made out of oil, cheese made out of oil, margarine made out of oil, and others that have made their way into the grocery stores.  It would be best to read the labels and find out if that package is what it says it is, or an imitation.  I don’t really see a reason to feed my children artificial cheese when they need the nutrition in real cheese.  All it does is replace the real, unadulterated food with something of inferior nutritional value.  Even though it may cost a little more, we aren’t talking a big savings.  And it’s worth it for your family’s health.

Cold cereal is another biggie.  I can feed my family oatmeal or whole wheat pancakes, made from scratch, for just a few cents.  We have it down to a science, too.  It might take us about three minutes to whip up a batch of pancakes, and that’s if we are moving slowly.  I think it takes that long to get all the boxes of cereal out.  Besides, the cost of cold cereals is outrageous.  A pound of wheat, in its natural form, costs about 20 cents.  Made into a box of cereal, that same pound of wheat, with the germ removed and overheated, will usually cost ten times that, or much more.  Not only that, but most of the nutrition has been removed, and, even though it is enriched, it’s just not the same.  Not even close.

That nutritional value is a critical concern.  I have heard many times that many Americans are in a constant state of mild nutritional deficiencies, and notice that it is plural.  We may not see a full-blown case of rickets very often, for example, but there are many people that have slight deficiencies that, over time, can cause serious problems.  In the past few years we have seen so many illnesses and diseases become more commonplace - things that were quite rare in past years.  Now, I know that perhaps some of these are being seen more and more because the average lifespan is longer than it has ever been, but are we healthier, or are we just kept alive, but in a constant state of disease? 

One can make the argument that prepared foods are faster and that their time is very limited.  However, that isn’t entirely true, at least the part about prepared foods being faster.  For example, it takes longer to deal with the shopping, as well as putting away the groceries, when there are a lot of prepared foods.  They take more space.  Not only that, but does it really save time?  Perhaps sometimes, but that is where a little ingenuity can go a long ways.  Microwaving a whole potato takes about a third of the time it takes to bake frozen french fries.  Cover it with leftover chili from the night before and a little grated cheese, and there is dinner, and a healthy, filling one at that.  Two meals can be made at once and one frozen for later, cutting preparation time in half.  What about home canning?  Every summer I can vegetable soup, and also potatoes.  When I am in a hurry, I cook up some hamburger, or use leftover meat from another meal.  I put in the soup and potatoes, boil for ten minutes, and dinner is ready.  It just doesn’t take that long.  And the hands-on time is maybe five or ten minutes.

Another important point, especially to those with a family to feed, is that real food just plain tastes better.  It seems to me that processed foods contain a lot of salt, as well as a lot of other things that aren’t that good for us, just to make them tolerable.  I find that homemade meals don’t need that much added stuff, but we do have fun with the herbs and spices!  A few of my children enjoy experimenting at the grill or soup pot.  My children have been raised on real food, and seem to get little satisfaction from prepackaged things.  I don’t bother with them, really.  They like homemade cookies better anyway, and don’t get full on cold cereal.  They are healthy, active children, and none of them are overweight.  There are things that I can do better in regard to feeding my family, but when I listen them talk about what they will miss when they grow up and move out, the homemade raspberry jam, homemade bread, and homecooked meals are near the top of the list.  Hopefully they will miss their parents and siblings too!

Not very many things are quite as satisfying as watching my children eat heartily at the dinner table when it is full of the garden’s bounty of corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes on their burgers, or a soup pot of minestrone along with a loaf of homemade, fragrant, whole wheat bread.  I feel that one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a healthy body to carry them through life.  It is up to us to train them to eat well, and it is imperative that we teach them basic nutrition so that they can make wise choices through their lives.  Remember, though, that the best way to teach them is to be a good example.