bite my words

Dispelling nutrition myths, ranting, and occasionally, raving

Tag Archives: environment


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Grocery store lessons: food waste

Not so long ago there were a number of headlines regarding food waste in Canada. Apparently most of this food waste occurs at the household level (about 51%). Despite this, and the statement that 11% of food waste occurs at the retail store level, I have become increasingly aware of food waste whilst working at a grocery store.

Seeing how many (often still perfectly safe and palatable) foods get tossed at the store level has made me acutely aware of the extensive amount of food we waste as a result of our current food system. There are plenty of tips on how to reduce your household food waste. If you’re interested here’s a good list. I also really like how Chatelaine magazine has suggestions for how to use up extra ingredients from recipes in their magazine.

I’d like to propose that you go a step beyond this and help to reduce waste at the store level. Stop trying to find the absolute latest expiration date on the shelf. I know that most of you are guilty of this, I was too. I see people every day digging at the back of the fridge to get the furthest out expiration date. Before you do this, take a moment and ask yourself, “will I be able to finish this product (with the nearest expiration date) before it expires? Even if I won’t, will I completely finish it anyway?” If you’re able to finish it then please, take the product that’s closest to coming to date. If you’re going to use it any not finish it, please, do the same.

As we know, many foods are good past the expiration date. You can continue to safely consume many foods after they’ve reached that date stamp. However, stores are unable to sell them on or after the expiration date and those foods will go to waste. Just like how you’re not doing your health any favours by circling the parking lot for the spot nearest to the door, you’re not doing the environment, or economy, any favours by needlessly seeking out the latest expiration date.


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Teenaged Girls Fail to Lose Weight

Yet another recent study failed to show improvement in diet, physical activity, or weight status in teenaged girls. I, for one, can’t say I’m surprised. This study randomly assigned girls to the intervention group, or a control group. Girls in the intervention group were offered nutrition and physical activity sessions throughout the school day, at lunch hour, and given homework assignments pertaining to these topics. Girls in the control group were given no special nutrition or physical activity sessions.

As well meaning as these types of studies are, they are not addressing the root cause of obesity. Studies like this place the onus on the individual. If you were a teenaged girl (or even in your current situation) would you want to spend your lunch hour learning about nutrition? Or do physical activity “homework”? Why was no difference seen between the two groups? One reason is that, as one researcher put it, “we need to make the programs more appealing and exciting and present information in a way that is meaningful to adolescent girls”. Obviously, if the individual can’t see the incentive for making changes then they’re not going to make those changes. Even when they can see the incentive they often still fail to make changes. That brings me to the second, and more important reason why studies like this one often fail. All of these girls are in the same environment. As long as the environment is obesogenic then it’s extremely unlikely that you will see any meaningful long-term change in weight. We need to make more of an effort to change the environment in which people live so that healthy eating becomes the easy choice and physical activity is supported and encouraged.


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To buy organic or to not buy organic…

Myth 1: Organic foods are the safest and healthiest choice for you.
What Dietitians of Canada says:
“Organic foods may have more, about the same, or less nutrients than non-organic foods. And both organic and non-organic foods are grown and produced under strict regulations to make sure they are safe for you to eat.”
What I say:
It’s been documented that many organic foods are contaminated by pesticides, either during the growing process through contaminated air, rain, and soil, or post-harvest during storage. I think that in that regard, many of the foods we currently produce are not particularly safe to eat as pesticides accumulate in our bodies over time. However, I agree that the nutrient value of foods within each category (i.e. organic and non-organic) is likely to vary more than the nutrient value between the two groups. From a nutrition standpoint there is little benefit to consuming organic foods. However, from a flavour standpoint, and from an environmental standpoint, there are benefits to choosing organic foods.
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