Fun with Fooducate

I thought I'd start this post with a little sisterly spilling of the beans. She may be mad at me for ratting her out, but I'm sure she'll forgive me once she reads why I'm doing it. My little sis, C, follows Jessica Alba on twitter. She's always telling me that she could see 'Jess' and I being friends IRL and much to my dismay, when I asked her if it was because of our mutual tight buns and sinfully good looks, she replied, "No, it's because you're both Earth Friendly OCD Moms".  While it may not be our abs of steal that connect us, I am even happier to share these similarities.  I am so inspired by her new green cleaning product line and her desire to want to make the world a better place for her children.

So recently, she (Ms. Alba) asked if anyone out there had heard of 'fooducate' and C, being the curious cat that she is, looked it up. I guess one advantage to possessing celebrity status is your ability to influence large groups of people and I applaud those that use this power for good rather than evil. 

My sister learned that fooducate is this super-cool app designed by "dietitians and concerned parents", which allows you to scan almost any food product, learn about its nutritional information and find out if there are more healthful alternatives. Boy oh boy did we have fun with our new little barcode scanner! We quickly ran to the pantry and started pulling out the contents, scanning everything I thought was healthy. Before long my kitchen counter was littered with peanut butter, various brands of oatmeal, juice, and salad dressings. I found out just because a label says organic, all-natural or vegetarian does not necessarily make it healthy. Nor does buying all your food at Trader Joes. Perhaps I knew that on some level but did not want to believe it, because after all, ignorance is bliss! And for me, knowing better means doing better. I think it is a ploy by the food industry to put misleading labels on products, knowing that most consumers (myself included) will not take the time to dig a little deeper and investigate 'beyond the box'. Take one of my favorite products of all-time, Morningstar veggie sausage. Folks, we eat this stuff almost daily. It's sort of a middle-of-the road meat substitute for us, meaning my ultra-carnivorous husband will eat it too. It only scored a B-. I never really paid too much attention to the ingredients list because it was veggie and I assumed everything in it was straight from the garden with a little processing and sausage flavor thrown in. Not true. Did you know that MSG goes by lots of different names, including yeast extract and hydrolyzed protein?  News to me! We didn't have any real sausage to compare against but sliced pepperoni scored a D, so imagine it is probably rather similar. Even though the faux variety fared better, I still do not think it is an acceptable grade. Why ingest something with MSG when you don't have to? The beauty of fooducate is that it provides healthier alternatives for almost every product, so you can feel at ease knowing you are a wise consumer, choosing the healthiest product for ourselves and our children.

This little lesson has me scouring the shelves at New Seasons for non-processed veggie sausage, peanut butter (Skippy Natural isn't so natural after all) and apple juice. There's just one problem with all of this; it comes at a price! Unfortunately, eating better costs more. As an obesity research coordinator, I see all too often the direct correlation between the obesity epidemic and food choices driven by price. And I do wonder about the real health risks associated with eating genetically engineered and processed foods which often contain synthetic chemicals known to contain carcinogenic properties. Since becoming a mom, I have become much more selective in my grocery purchases but I think we can always do better. There's always improvements that can be made and I believe it's important to be mindful of the things we are consuming. When my sister posted the fooducate link on facebook, someone commented that they would rather not know what's really in the things they are eating--despite this new technology that provides us the ability to easily find out. How many others share this opinion? Is ignorance really bliss?

Assuming you do want to know, I think fooducate can be a great tool for learning the best alternatives to the products you consume the most frequently by scanning what's already in your cupboard. If you can only change a few things, start with the staples. This will also allow you to make up your shopping list before you are at the store. If you grocery shop like I do, you just want to get in and get out and do not want to stand around scanning bar codes while your toddler is pulling everything off the shelves.  I also think there is a fine line between being aware and being obsessed, and it is easy to start to drive yourself crazy worrying about every single thing you eat, especially with so many other worries, fears and guilt-inducing issues we battle on a daily basis as women and mothers. Here's what I have personally decided: Food is a big part of our lives; it sustains us, it fuels us, it keeps us running. The choices we make could, possibly affect our longevity. Wouldn't I rather spend my money here than on this stuff? The beauty of living more simply and cutting back on other petty indulgences is that we can spend more on the things that really matter, and this new tool will allow me the ability to make more informed choices.

So thanks Jessica Alba and sister C for passing the word along!
C, please don't be mad.
Jess, give me a call and we could totally hang out and talk about all the uses for vinegar!