The majority of the population has no idea about the corruption, greed, and arrogance that our food system is based on or how much of an effect these factors have on our health and the welfare of the planet. It can be very difficult to convince others of the severity of this problem, but we fortunately don’t have to because the movie Food, Inc. does a great job of this.

Normally, when I write about a book or movie, I like to share some of the more important and interesting information that I learned. I’m not going to do this with Food, Inc. because I think it’s an extremely important documentary that everyone needs to see!

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Fresh the Movie is a documentary about food quality, sustainable farming, and the major flaws of our food system. Based on the excitement surrounding this film, I had high expectations for it and thought it could potentially have a significant impact on the many people who are making misguided dietary decisions. Without a doubt, it’s an excellent documentary that everyone should see, but it in regard to it’s potential to provoke change, it fell short of what I was hoping for.

The average consumer typically doesn’t understand or care about the health or environmental consequences of eating processed food. If they do happen to choose whole foods, they’re even less likely to realize that the conventionally farmed produce and meat in most grocery stores has health and environmental consequences as well. Fresh the Movie provides a great synopsis of these problems, but I question if it’s message is strong enough to inspire the average consumer to make a change.

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Most people have become so reliant on the convenience of packaged and processed foods that they feel lost and overwhelmed when they consider transitioning to a healthier diet. Fortunately, with a little motivation and the right information, it’s not nearly as difficult as it may seem at first.

The healthiest diet that you can follow is one that’s based on the natural whole foods we evolved on such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables. Despite this, processed forms of grain, dairy, and sugar have become the most prominent foods in the modern diet and this is the reason why so many people are overwhelmed by the thought of limiting themselves to whole foods. Although this is to be expected with the prospect of such a significant change, it’s a change that’s necessary for anyone who’s serious about improving and maximizing their health. Furthermore, there’s a much wider variety of natural whole foods to choose from than most people realize, and as such, a truly healthy diet doesn’t have to be “limiting” at all.

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The politicians are at it again and have drafted another piece of so called food safety legislation that threatens the future of organically and sustainably produced food.

Bill H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, proclaims to “amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes.” Despite the seemingly good intention of this bill, the regulations that it aims to put into place are not the type of measures that would truly improve the safety of our food supply. Unfortunately, they’re much more likely to worsen it.

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Grain based foods such as cereal, bread and pasta have become a staple of the modern diet. Despite their popularity and the common recommendation to make them the most significant part of your diet, grains are at the root of many serious health issues. Between the number of grain based foods that are highly processed and unhealthy for anyone and the number of people who don’t digest grains well, frequent consumption of these foods can easily lead to life compromising conditions, and if left unaddressed, even premature death.

Many government organizations and so called nutrition experts adamantly state that grain based foods are the foundation of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, this dogmatic perspective is misleading many people and encouraging them to harm their health and live a compromised life.

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Meat, poultry and eggs are excellent sources of nutrition that support and promote optimal health. However, most people don’t realize that the selection of these foods typically found in supermarkets is of poor quality and is likely to originate from animals that were raised in horrendous conditions.

The meat, poultry and eggs that come from factory farms are often contaminated with antibiotics, pesticides and hormones and are likely to contain unbalanced and substandard levels of nutrients. Furthermore, when you purchase these foods, you’re contributing to animal cruelty and are supporting an extremely large and influential industry that’s harming the environment and pushing smaller farmers out of business.

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Despite the fact that humans have evolved on red meat, it’s been unduly regarded as an unhealthy food. While some of this is based on misconception, the health benefits of red meat truly depend on the livestock it comes from and how they’re raised.

As the most popular and widely available type of red meat, beef has been targeted with much of the criticism. While the beef from conventionally raised cattle deserves some of this criticism, grass fed beef is an excellent source of nutrition that promotes good health.

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Kentucky Fried Chicken recently announced it’s grilled chicken meal and has started an advertising campaign aimed to promote it as a healthy choice. The ads ask you to “Unthink what you thought about KFC.” If you fall for this clever slogan, the only thing you’ll be unthinking is your health!

KFC Grilled Chicken Ingredients

Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for KFC, the ingredients of their food is available on their website. Here’s what’s in KFC’s Grilled Chicken:

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Question: I would like to take protein powder to help gain muscle mass. I plan to buy organic whey protein powder, but would also like to understand the benefits of eating organic red meat, chicken and fish.

Also, how many grams of protein should be eaten per day? I know that everyone is different, but what would you consider to be average?

Building muscle mass is hard work. In fact, it’s almost as hard as building good health, and I know from personal experience how hard it can be to accomplish either goal.

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Question: What are your thoughts on hydroponically grown produce? I was wondering how it compares to organically grown food.

Hydroponic farming is the process of growing plants inside a greenhouse with the use of a mineral solution instead of soil. With artificial lighting, you can even grow hydroponic produce right in your own home.

While hydroponic farming has several significant advantages, there’s no guarantee that the resulting food will be of equal quality to that which is grown in a more natural environment. The following information will help you evaluate if the advantages of hydroponically grown food justify this uncertainty.

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