I stepped into Aldi a couple of weeks ago and rounding the corner from the fresh fruits and vegetables and the fridges full of meats, yogurts and cheeses etc, I was met with this view of the next aisle.
This photo was one side ...
... and this the other.
I just said to myself, " Is this actually food?"
I think it's that over the last couple of years my eyes have been opening more and more to the ultra processed stuff that manufacturers are passing off as food, and that a large percentage of youngsters are now growing up thinking that these are their only food choices. At least the garish packaging makes it stand out from 'real food' I guess.
I'm completely honest and I hold my hands up and say that I do buy some things that are most definitely ultra processed, but I do try to keep this to a minimum these days. I definitely prefer something like this that at least contains vegetables and beans rather than fake meat.
But are these food?
Well, just about I would say, but I now tend to let the vegetables on my plate outweigh the processed item. Of course I could have a go at making veggie burgers myself, but I usually have these as a 'I can't be bothered to cook' type of meal, so unless I set to and make a big batch of homemade veggie burgers for the freezer ... which I definitely should do one day when there is a bit of space in there ... these are currently staying on my menu.
Do you find yourself eating less and less ultra processed food items, or did you never eat them to start with?
Sue xx
I've swapped out Pringles and swapped in nuts for when I need a savoury crunch, the trouble is Pringles are eaten one at a time while nuts can be eaten by the handful!
ReplyDeleteIf you an eat one Pringle and put the lid back on, you have an amazing control over temptation!!
DeleteI have some small screw top jars, and decant the big bag of nuts into them when I
ReplyDeleteget home from Lidl. That makes a week's worth of snacking. Also trying to buy 'simpler' crisps. 30 years ago, when both girls were vegetarian and living at home, I used to batch make bean burgers and freeze them. Like you, I prefer a tasty bean recipe to "fake" meat. We ate a lot of quorn pieces back then in pseudo chicken pies!
I bought the book by one of the van Tulliken brothers about upfs. It was an eye opener. We grow a lot of our own veg as we are lucky enough to have had an allotment these last twenty years. I only buy butter now, not the butter spreads and only plain Greek yoghurt. The rest of our diet is good. I think seed oils are the worst culprit. Nairns do a lovely range of sweet and savoury biscuits that , even though slightly processed are pretty good. X
ReplyDeleteI do love a Nairns cracker with cheese and grapes!
DeleteAngie
I rarely go down those aisles in your photo, but it is almost impossible not to buy processed food of one kind or another. I try not to buy anything with more than 3 ingredients listed but we do eat some bread and I buy jars of Mango Chutney to go with the curry we make. We don't eat jam or marmalade now, DH has organic muesli and I have porridge oats with almond milk topped with berries seeds and nuts. My freezer has a pizza on standby and some jamaican veggie pasties in case we are really pushed for time but no other ready meals as we usually cook from scratch. I do have tins of soup also in case we don't get to make our own and baked beans.
ReplyDeleteWe have been vegetarian for so long it is just normal for us to cook with nuts, beans and lentils as all these veggie processed ready meals were not available before.
My daughter has to plan school meals from the government guidelines but on the days when they make shepherd's pie or similar traditional meals many of the children have never eaten it at home so there is a lot of waste, only the days when pizza is on offer do they get cleaner plates. The children don't recognise many of the natural unprocessed foods and are reluctant to try them and all the allergies arising now makes it an absolute nightmare for the school meals service as they have to cook so many different options.
Trying to limit the processed foods and swap to better foods as Sue above has done with her Pringles is a good plan.
We mostly cook from scratch, but I do like baked beans, use the low sugar/low salt ones although they still have quite a few other ingredients. We really try to not snack but if we do it is a few almonds or walnuts. It is hard to completely avoid UPFs. Batch cooking is great and I try to have two or three made from scratch dishes in the freezer which really helps when I don't feel like cooking. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the Yuka app so that I could check how much UPP food we were eating. Norrie got a real shock as he likes a cold meat and salad sandwich for his lunch most days. When we checked the barcode on the meat he was horrified! We only buy the plainest crisps, cook with olive oil and have introduced butter back into our diets. I did better with my hummus as I either make it or buy good stuff with olive oil. We are trying to stick to the 8o/20 where we can and I use the soup maker so that I don’t buy tinned soup as it’s too salty for me. I’m just always grateful that we have the choice-I filled the food bank bag this week and it was just under £20 for a bag of basics and sadly quite a few UPFs on the list. Catriona
ReplyDeleteWe don't eat anything processed, all our meals are cooked from scratch as we're always trying to lose weight.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to understand how governments can allow products like Pringles to be sold. The effects of UPF on us, and particularly on young developing brains, are now understood. People should be able to be confident that what is being sold as food is actually food and not harmful to them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real head-scratcher to try and 'get it all right'. Add in 30g fibre per day, less than 10g sat fat, and whatever it is for sugar, plus 5 fruit/veg a day and 30 different plants per week, and I find myself rebelling and wanting to cook up a full English, with white bread toast and marmalade and big cups of tea!
ReplyDeleteI'm currently wrestling with iron tablets twice a day (take with food avoiding dairy, calcium supplements, whole grains and eggs) and various other meds to be taken with,before,after, or on an empty stomach and in the end I just want to lie down in a darkened room and ignore them all.
I was amused to see a slogan about 'quality ' above all the foods in one photograph; do they mean beat quality white sugar, which flour, emsified fats, flavouring and colouring? Definitely Not food!
I was a teenager in the sixties when ready meals were just starting, they were revolting. In the early 80’s we left the UK due to unemployment so missed the rise in ready meals and low fat products, we would come back and visit parents who were into low fat foods etc which we could not understand as we ate a low fat diet but full fat dairy. Now it is UPF’s, we do eat ice cream and I always have tinned fruit in the cupboard as a standby for breakfast, but I think that is it. I have just had a hip replacement managed this week to make pate , shortbread for visitors, but so far no pies but hopefully chicken ones next week. I think the government and the experts have a lot to answer for for miss information re diet.
ReplyDeleteSorry I thought my name would come up it is Moira
DeleteI usually cook from scratch, but if unwell fall back on a couple of ready meals, or a can of soup. Tonight I am having boughten Spinach and Ricotta egg pasta (Tortellini) with home-made topping of tomatoes/onions/courgettes/mushrooms. Sometimes I will have chips from the chippy but that's if I'm very late back from a Fair or Tam's. Treats are plain crisps (just potatoes, rapeseed/sunflower oil/salt). Choccy bars are my downfall!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen or heard 'boughten' for many, many years. Lovely expression.
Deletejabblog - it's used a lot in Gloucestershire apparently. It hits the spot as a description doesn't it?
DeleteThe way things are going, we shall soon all be exhorted to go out and kill our own food, as well as growing all vegetables and fruit. 😉 Not ideal for those living in high-rise accommodation.😧
ReplyDeleteHaving to manage an unexpected kidney problem (husband's) has made us look very carefully at food now.
I definitely need to work on reducing the UPF even more. I’m a sucker for sweets and treats and salty snacks, do you think those of us that were children in the 60s/70s are worse in that regard to today’s youngsters or about the same……. Don’t know if I’ve explained that very well……😀
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
The Times had an article on Tuesday on a new promotion aimed at children. https://bellybugs.co.uk/why/ A glimmer of hope?
ReplyDeleteIs it food? Most of it is not food. Worse still, it is a combination of chemicals of unknown risk. Are we the last generation who learned to cook real food?
Those things look so tempting until you read the ingredients on the pack, don't they. We're guilty of eating UPF on occasions but we are trying hard to eat 'proper' food instead. We have a ready meal for tonight after a busy day and I've just checked the pack. Surprisingly it's not too bad and I am adding vegetables to the plate too.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder if Nelliegrace has a point. Are we the last generation to learn to cook real food?
Angie
I've been more aware for the last couple years, there is very little at the supermarket that is actual food, even some proper food has additives, bulking agents and the like to give it a longer shelf life. Takes me ages to shop because I read the packaging on everything. People should stop buying these things perhaps then they would realise that we are on to them.
ReplyDeleteWhen the children were young and I was working I resorted to prepackaged meals far more often than I would like to do now. Young families are struggling to make ends meet and working parents are run ragged. Add in poor education regarding food preparation and storage. It all seems so wrong. Our government has a "market dollar" programme giving very low income families coupons for farmers market produce. In our community there is also a subsidized food box programme for getting fresh veg from local farmers but the families still have to pay a portion. These efforts are really a small drop in the bucket and I despair for the children.
ReplyDelete