Processed Foods

Let's be honest here. A lot of people nowadays don't know how to cook, and there are many reasons why. For one, those skills are often just not passed down by families anymore. As another, schools don't make home economics and cooking classes mandatory, they're optional. And finally, a lot of junk food is cheap enough for people to subsist on, so they never have a real drive nor need to learn to cook. I've seen firsthand that many poor people consume very low quality meals every day for subsistence, full of preservatives and additives. I mean chips, microwave meals, sodas, fast food, and other processed foods.

When I say processed foods, I mean ultraprocessed foods. There is a nice scale I remember seeing. For example, apples. A whole apple is a whole food, pre-sliced apples are minimally-processed foods, applesauce would be a processed food, and apple snack-cakes would be ultra-processed food. When I say processed foods, I generally will be referring to processed or ultra-processed foods.

Processed foods have a lot of very negative attributes. They are often much more calorie-dense, comprised of many simple sugars, coated in industrially-produced saturated fats, and packed with additives like preservatives, dyes, and flavor-enhancers. Many of these are directly harmful; saturated fats are directly correlated to arterial clogs and heart disease. Many of these additives are allowed in America, while being banned in Europe for carcinogenic properties. Often times, with the FDA and EPA, the companies whose chemicals are being tested for safety are the ones who are providing the laboratories, scientists, and funding for the research. As you can imagine, a company funded study has some inherent bias that may produce less-than-accurate results. Many chemicals are found to be carcinogenic in European studies, while being touted as 'safe' by the FDA, citing studies done by the corporations producing the chemical.

It is very important to note that a lot of flavors, additives, and enhancers are designed and tailored to take advantage of the human brain's chemistry to be physically addictive. Why do you think so many people become addicted to eating, but never to things like apples or whole wheat bread or salads, but to things like chips, cakes, and other highly processed foods? The food is literally designed to be addictive. Processed food is plainly a class of drugs. No wonder America is having an obesity crisis. We're making our foods calorie dense and packed with addictive chemicals.

Now let's take a look at a lot of processed foods, their prices. Potatoes are $0.78/#, while instant mashed potatoes are $3.49/#. Plain rice is $0.67/#, while instant rice is $1.50/#. Pre-cooked and chopped chicken breast is $6.14/#, while raw chicken breast is $2.67/#. This doesn't even count fast food; a McDonald's Quarter-Pounder is $6, while a burger made yourself costs about $1.27. There's quite a difference in price. And perhaps there is a subtle form of class warfare here. You wouldn't see the junk fast food places like McDonald's and KFC open in a wealthy neighborhood, they get the fancy restaurants and local businesses. But the poor neighborhoods tend to get the fast food, the stuff that kills you. Isn't that interesting?

Also another note, there are many people who say you should buy fresh only. I disagree and say that you should buy fresh or frozen, since a lot of fresh foods have been frozen at some point or another during transit. Fresh is preferable, but frozen isn't bad. Canned goods, however, are soaking in plastic liners and preservatives. They're not horrible, but should be avoided due to plastic leaching. Another note on shopping, buy generic brands when you can. Of course check the ingredients first, but some products like pasta and some over-the-counter medications are identical to the name brand products, while only half the cost. Higher price doesn't always mean higher quality. Sometimes just the implication of higher quality by virtue of a brand name is enough to make some people buy more expensive goods.

And there's an argument made that this doesn't include all the costs such as equipment and electricity and such. However, this is negligible and pays for itself over after a month or even a week. Besides, cookware is much cheaper than many people realise. A stainless steel cookware set is $25, a non-stick set is $15. It's not that bad. Speaking of cookware, let's talk about knives. Everyone totes getting a big knife block. I counter that, and I would say you only really need three knives: A chef's knife, which should be your most expensive knife; a paring knife, very useful for trimming and peeling; and a bread knife, for cutting, you know, bread. A filet knife could also be useful if you work with a lot of skin-on fish, but most people don't.