There's a lot of information out there pressing us to become healthy eaters. The Friedman Nutrition School is right around the corner, and the news is filled with studies and surveys examining the way we eat each day. It makes me question myself: am I a healthy eater? I'd like to think so, but I have my lapses. Indulgent, tasty lapses usually involving processed cheese or chocolate.
Yesterday I ate a spoonful of sour cream because, well, I could. I give up soda every two weeks only to fall prey to my predilection for Cherry Coke, and, given the chance, I would eat an entire Espresso's pizza in one sitting (extra cheese, hold the pepperoni).
Fried anything ranks among my favorite foods. I've also thought a little too long and hard about the "Simpsons" episode with the Table-Top Carnival, a deep fat fryer/cotton candy maker/caramel dip that Homer uses to fry and caramel-coat a ball of cotton candy.
In general, I'm probably more of a "sweets" person, preferring sugary things over savory treats. So don't worry about my sodium intake. So far, in my college career, I have not consumed a single serving of Ramen noodles. I mention this because I recently read that the inventor of Ramen, Momofuku Ando, passed away last month at the age of 96. He came up with the ultimate packaged convenience food while seeking an inexpensive way to eat quickly and without the mess.
Undoubtedly, his invention was a handy scheme for countless individuals seeking an easy, low-cost snack. It became one of the first convenience foods, if you don't count those giant turkey legs Renaissance people carried around (Disney tells me so).
Since then, countless other foods have joined the ranks of Ramen noodles and now microwavable, prepackaged, shrink-wrapped foods lay strewn about our dorm room floors. I guess they're called convenience foods, but when I think about the concept of "convenience," I don't see how nutrition could benefit from shortcuts.
To me, convenience explains what modern technology has done to free domestic engineers from certain chores, like Mr. Maytag relieving the bane of hand washing and line drying, Mr. Hoover eliminating the necessity of beating our rugs with tennis rackets, and Mr. La-Z-Boy allowing us to sit while simultaneously enjoying the pleasant sensation of reclining. But is it convenient to make a meal out of prepackaged foodstuffs that haven't seen the light of day since they were carted from the parking lot to the shelves of Shaw's?
After I eat Easy Mac or Pop Tarts, I feel like a lead weight has sunk in my stomach (especially when dipping S'Mores Pop Tarts into the Easy Mac cheese). And like that kid on the Breyer's Ice Cream commercial, I can't pronounce half the ingredients on the labels. As a vegetarian, I refuse to drink Red Bull because I just can't condone the horrific treatment of those bulls - the juicing process must be appalling.
Reading labels is enough to deter me from the delicious tastes I might enjoy - even though it's hard to resist the temptation of flavors that cannot be found in nature. I guess I draw the line on foods that are high in calories and low in quality.
So is there a way to avoid over-processed foods that just set you up for a sugar crash while still focusing on convenience and allowing for the occasional indulgence of a sweet tooth? I don't study nutrition and I don't pretend to be an expert, but I think I could put together a meal plan that satisfies these requirements. Let's figure, if most of us can work with a daily intake of about 2000 calories, I could probably get away with eating an entire wheel of Brie and a Godiva bar and call it a day. Not convenient, you say? Melt the ingredients in a crock pot in the morning and pour it in a thermos to carry to work!
Alright, maybe that wouldn't work so well. Brie is too expensive and some poor souls are allergic to chocolate. Not to mention hot meals don't really fit a summertime palate. I guess it's all that focus on convenience that's the problem. You're setting yourself back when you settle for convenience foods - feeling gross and more tired after eating than you felt before, when you were just hungry and tired. Why do snacks and meals have to be fast?
How about another solution: making more time for ourselves when it comes to eating. It doesn't have to be about scheduling our lives around food (although I think I could manage that) but why over-commit yourself to a dozen activities if it means you'll be crabby and dissatisfied with a microwaved meal you mindlessly scarf down at 10 p.m. and overcompensate the next morning in the dining halls with too much fried bacon?
Overly idealistic, I know. Hmm. It appears I've spilled my Starbucks Frappuccino on my Dorito-and-Funyuns hoagie, and the only way to salvage it is to turn it into a dessert dish. Pass the Marshmallow Fluff, please.
Kate Peck is a junior majoring in English. She can be reached at Katherine.Peck@tufts.edu.
