Depressed by our modern food system? Me too.

The supremacy of Ultra Processed Foods comes with disease-ridden baggage

The world of food nutrition is needlessly opaque. We, dear humans, like to overcomplicate that which should be readily apparent. Never before has answering the question “is this healthy?” required so many hours of research (and after all that, you’re still likely to end your quest for answers more confused than when you began).

I spend my days sorting through food literature, working at a food company,* thinking about the vulnerabilities of our agriculture system and like most others, eating food. One day recently I thought hey, maybe I should share the golden nuggets of my learnings. So, here we are.

Eating is not a one person fits all activity. There’s nuance when it comes to what we can safely put in our bodies. I’m not a medical professional equipped to speak to the unique needs of those with diseases, but I am deeply passionate about why so many of us eat food that decreases our quality of life and hopefully, doing my part to move us all in the other direction.

I was born in 1997 and, like my peers, have grown up in an era of big food dominance. We’ve witnessed the persistence of food deserts, an expansion in the food additives we consume on a daily basis and growth in the convenience food sector, which is associated with poorer diet outcomes among lower income communities. Look around and you’ll find our cities are rife with fast food joints, our grocery stores are chalk full of packaged products that test the very definition of “food” and there is an ever growing list of diet related disease.

This is not news. We know this. We’ve seen moms up in arms about food additives in cereal on Instagram, the surprising groundswell of support surrounding Robert F. Kennedy’s food politics that demonize big food, and a new generation of independent food brands making gains against the giants of the world (Siete Foods’ recent $1.2 billion acquisition, for example). After all, dollars help define our values.

The fever pitch of my peer group’s lamentations about the state of food in America makes this newsletter incredibly timely. Overwhelmingly, the biggest concerns are that eating healthy food is:

1) Confusing

2) Too expensive in an age of inflation and wage stagnation

It may be hard, but it’s certainly not impossible. In the coming weeks, months, years (?), I’m going to deconstruct the things we think we know about food and then build an informed framework for eating well that works across age groups and environments - no six figure salary necessary. In order to tackle this enormous topic most effectively, I’ll specifically be diving into the insidious topic of Ultra Processed Foods. Not sure what those are? Don’t worry, a deep dive is coming your way soon. :)

I hope you’ll join me.

*I work at Drink Wholesome, a food company that adheres to my values around eating high quality ingredients! Thoughts are my own.