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We all need to eat food - food and water keep us alive. Many of are turning to food to satisfy more than just our hunger, we eat when we are bored, lonely, depressed or miserable. We’ve had a taste of the good stuff and we want more! Problem is, the good tasting stuff is the bad stuff (as usual): bad for our health and bad for our planet!

How did this happen? Well, our bodies are very good at storing fat in the good times to get us through the lean times. We love the taste of anything with fat and sugar in it. It is our body’s way of getting all the energy it needs. The problem is that lean times no longer exist. The clever people who mass-produce food know this and have unlocked the secret to our taste buds – they put fat and sugar in pretty much everything they manufacture. We are slowly eating ourselves to early deaths.

'Food glorious food, hot sausage and mustard, while we're in the mood, cold jelly and custard.' - Lionel Bart, Oliver

MYTH

Food is better for you when it is processed and comes in a colourful wrapper. Having more food than we need is our right: more is good, heaps is best.

FACT

Food is better for you when you know the ingredients
It may sound strange but eat what you recognise. Most processed food (stuff that comes in a wrapper, package or box) contains things that no one can pronounce let alone knows the origins of. Have you tried to read the ingredients lately? If you haven’t heard of it or can’t say it don’t buy it. Why are the makers trying to confuse us? Do they have something to hide? Fresh meats, fish, fruit and vegetables are definitely best. You know what you are eating.

Eating seasonally saves you and reduces pollution
We’ve become so accustomed to having the foods we want when we want them that we’re completely out of wack with what nature’s seasons. Strawberries in winter, pumpkins in summer: it’s all topsy-turvy. The problem is that to have all this food when we want it we often have to ship it long distances, costing us energy and emissions. Tune in to the seasons and stay local.

Having more food than we need is our right: more is good, heaps is best.
The obesity epidemic that has invaded most western countries is slowly killing us early. For the first time in human history our life expectancy is getting lower. The impact on our environment of all this overeating is huge. Of course they have already come up with a name for this - globesity (global obesity). It’s the link between obesity and climate change. We are literally eating ourselves out of good health and out of a planet. Check out the articles below to find out more.

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