Silly, but eye-opening info-graphic

[JaneV2.0]

I agree.

But I do think that "whole unadulterated natural foods in some combination" are not always that easy for everyone to obtain.

Aye, there's the rub.

[happystuff]

Not easy, but also not impossible. And it is far more accessible than people think for the vast majority of Americans.

Accessible maybe, but I think cost plays a huge part for a lot of folks. I often find myself choosing the "cheaper" over the "healthier" due to finances.

[NewGig]

One thing i read recently is that if you’re going to shift the kind of food you eat, you need to start small and give your gut flora a chance to adjust. So, changing to a vegan or other diet tomorrow might be guaranteed to give you stomach issues!

[Ultralight]

Accessible maybe, but I think cost plays a huge part for a lot of folks. I often find myself choosing the "cheaper" over the "healthier" due to finances.

I have lived on a fairly healthy diet on $1.50 a day for week. I have done this like five times. And I have done it with other people (friends, girlfriends).

My diet was rice, lentils, cabbage, carrots, bananas, peanut butter, eggs, and bread.

It is called The Live Below The Line Challenge.


But...

Let's say I went with Ohio's Food Stamp allowance. That is a little over $4 a day per person. I could eat very well on this. I think most everyone could in the US.

[JaneV2.0]

One thing i read recently is that if you’re going to shift the kind of food you eat, you need to start small and give your gut flora a chance to adjust. So, changing to a vegan or other diet tomorrow might be guaranteed to give you stomach issues!

That seems like good advice. I see a lot of commentary to that effect on FB; lots of digestive issues. I've pursued practically every dietary plan known to humankind (though not carnivore yet), and I've never had this problem. I segued right from vegetarianism to a double bacon cheeseburger one day--maybe because I'm lucky enough to have avoided antibiotics, which wreak havoc with one's gut biome, for the most part.

[JaneV2.0]

I read the first one but have never heard of the other Blue Zone. I think he weighs pretty heavily on lifestyle, along with diet, like sense of community and staying active. It's not just diet. It's probably no secret that a diet heavy in carbs is not good. I suspect people who are especially physically active burn fat rather than store it and in those cases maybe the mainstream rules don't follow, but I really don't know.

That's a good point, and correlates to Dean Ornish's life style plan--smoking cessation, stress relief, an exercise program, social outlets, etc. (He always gives the credit to his vegan-ish diet, but I agree with you--all those other factors mean as much or more.)

There's the famous Roseto Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseto_effect

Wherein the subjects do everything "wrong," but still live long, healthy lives.

[happystuff]

I have lived on a fairly healthy diet on $1.50 a day for week. I have done this like five times. And I have done it with other people (friends, girlfriends).

My diet was rice, lentils, cabbage, carrots, bananas, peanut butter, eggs, and bread.

It is called The Live Below The Line Challenge.


But...

Let's say I went with Ohio's Food Stamp allowance. That is a little over $4 a day per person. I could eat very well on this. I think most everyone could in the US.

If it was just me, I believe I could do likewise. Not speaking for others, but I think it may not be a matter of "could" so much as "would".

Also, crunching the numbers, $4 per day per person results in a larger per week grocery bill than I normally budget/spend.

It makes me laugh sometimes that people on food stamps get to spend more on groceries than I normally spend. Funny how things work out.

[catherine]

I found this article from The Guardian interesting. I think that people can live healthy lives cheaply. You don't have to spend a fortune on out-of-season blueberries or daily avocados (the article states that avocado sales outdo orange sales in the UK). And I do think our obsession with food trends is fueled by marketing, particularly the latest dietary "expert's" book.

Anyway, this is more to do with perceptions of clean eating than sustainability, but it's still interesting. I do think by paring down the need to go outside our local biome searching for the miracle food that will keep us young and healthy, we can be more sustainable in our eating practices.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...WzYA8U2Rhh6TEM

[ApatheticNoMore]

I found this article from The Guardian interesting. I think that people can live healthy lives cheaply. You don't have to spend a fortune on out-of-season blueberries or daily avocados (the article states that avocado sales outdo orange sales in the UK).

Regardless of season, unless you can harvest them wild somewhere, I'm quite sure you can't have blueberries and a $4 a day diet, if organic, they can near $4 just by themselves .

[JaneV2.0]

I found this article from The Guardian interesting. I think that people can live healthy lives cheaply. You don't have to spend a fortune on out-of-season blueberries or daily avocados (the article states that avocado sales outdo orange sales in the UK). And I do think our obsession with food trends is fueled by marketing, particularly the latest dietary "expert's" book.

Anyway, this is more to do with perceptions of clean eating than sustainability, but it's still interesting. I do think by paring down the need to go outside our local biome searching for the miracle food that will keep us young and healthy, we can be more sustainable in our eating practices.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...WzYA8U2Rhh6TEM

I skimmed the article. and didn't much like its snarky tone (And I'm probably not the target audience for their message, having just spent a few minutes browsing Italian made pastas on Amazon...)The first woman described should have expected her hair to fall out; it's made of protein after all.

I firmly believe people should (if they so desire) do their own research and experimentation (n=1) and use common sense to arrive at an idea of what they want to eat. It's a minefield because all the food manufacturers put out an unending barrage of ads designed to seduce and confuse. (No, HFCS is not "just like sugar," it's metabolized--like all fructose--by the liver, leading to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease if too much is eaten.) I don't buy into "miracle foods" per se, but I do believe there are healthier--and less healthy--ways for each individual to eat.

In a perfect world, that would probably be simple, locally-grown, mostly whole foods. "Sustainable." That sounds deadly dull, but I suppose one could make it work. With enough spices and a few good cookbooks...