SAD Food vs Real Food

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The Standard American Diet (SAD) grew out of America’s push for shelf stable food needed for

World War II. Ancel Keys, who created the K-Ration (and named it for himself), carried the

novelty of sterile food into the 1950’s for both civil defense (think nuclear bomb shelters) but

also a very lucrative processed food industry. Coming out of the 70’s the Big Food industry (formerly tobacco corporations) scaled up to make highly processed foods even more tasty, available, and addictive.

The Problem with highly processed foods is that other than calories (carbs/sugar), they are nearly

devoid of nutrition. They mainly consist of grains (starch), seed oils, sugar and chemicals. The government has permitted food corporations to add thousands of unregulated and little-known substances to food. Some additives extend shelf life. Many make food more addictive. Try eating just two Oreos or a one ounce “serving” of Fritos someday.

Our gut biome is being harmed by our enironment, our food, and our habits. Each adult carries around 4-5 lbs. of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in and on their body that are essential for life and health. These microorganisms digest our food and deliver nutritional components to our bodies through the gut lining. They also wage constant war against harmful bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Clean food that readily rots or "goes bad" is more compatible with our gut biome.

Almost all chronic diseases begin with inflammation. Americans on the SAD diet are consuming

starches/sugar that create blood sugar (glucose) spikes. Up until recently, doctors believed that

this only happened with diabetics or pre-diabetics, but that has been revised. When cells are

flooded with glucose, they send the only “Help!” signal they can: inflammation. For more information check out the Glucose Goddess, Jesse Inshauspe:  (1227) Glucose Revolution - YouTube 

Bottom line: Our bodies need real food: vegetables, greens, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy from

clean sources and filled with nutrition. (Some fish are problematic due to mercury pollution). The plants

and animals, in turn, create the nutrition we need from what they eat or absorb. The mission of

Clean Food For Georgia is to educate Georgians and work toward the development of more,

nearer (regional), nutrition dense, and affordable food sources without disrupting our food system.

USDA Organic foods are better than non-organics (industrially farmed). They are certified to be free of toxins. However, Organics shipped from California, Canada, or Peru have a massively larger carbon footprint than any crops grown locally. In many fruits and vegetables, the nutrition contained at harvest deteriorates rapidly. This is true even if USDA transportation and handling practices are followed to the letter. The COVID-19 crisis also informed us that local/regional food provides more security than dependence on the national food network.