When we founded the nonprofit organization "Real Food Gulf Coast" in December, 2009, co-founders Diane Claughton and I never discussed what we each meant by the term "real food." We must have each had our own ideas and I guess we each figured the other agreed. Ordinarily that would be a recipe for disaster, right? But maybe since we have agreed on pretty much everything else regarding farmers markets and local food since we met in 2007 and started working together on local food matters (well everything that was important which means directly involving food and agriculture) it was a reasonable assumption.
But maybe now is the time to talk about what it means to us. Especially now since Diane recently loaned me a book called "Real Food: What to Eat and Why," by Nina Planck. I had never heard of the book before July 15, 2010 when she handed her 2006 autographed copy to me. So I figured she was trying to tell me something and of course what else could I do but start reading it?
But first, what did I personally mean by real food? Well, I meant fresh, local, seasonal produce and food that does not have any chemical preservatives, additives, or "natural or artificial flavors" (and if you read "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser you know that those so-called "natural flavors" are pretty artificial too.)
But what does Nina Planck mean by "real food?" Nina says in her book, firstly, "real food" is "old....foods we have been eating for a long time" which includes "meat, fish, eggs, butter" and NOT margarine which she calls "hydrogenated vegetable oil made solid and dyed yellow." (yuck). Nina also writes "fermented soybeans, miso, tofu" which are about 5,000 years old are "real food" but "isolated soy protein," a "by-product of the industrial soybean oil industry" is NOT.
Secondly, Nina says "real food" refers to food that is "traditional [which] means the way we used to eat them." (when exactly?) "The way we used to eat them" includes produce that is local and seasonal; whole grains; unrefined fats and oils." Nina goes on to say that in "real food" the method of "farming, processing, preparing, and cooking ENHANCES nutrition and flavor, while the industrial method diminishes both."
Hey, I can live with that definition, for now. What does "real food" mean to you?
