I watched Hugh again the other evening. He is attempting to convert people who eat lots of ready-made meals into people who do not. He grows his own produce - meat and veg. His cohort of ready-made-meal- fantantics help on the small farm and learn to cook from scratch. Each week, we are shown an animal being slaughtered. This tends to convert at least one of his group of half a dozen to vegetarianism.
It seems plain to me that you can not justify eating meat with the argument that an animal does not suffer when being killed - and you can be certain that the programme is showing the most humane methods of slaughter. The process is fairly quick but not instantaneous, and the animal appears distressed.
So I am re-thinking my dietary habits - again.
But away from Hugh now, and onto other celebrity chefs. The message of the celebrity chef tends to be that home-cooked food is the healthy option. It is, of course, when compared with nutrition-leached ready-mades. But what intrigues me is the perpetually high fat content of the foods they prepare. I'll leave Hugh, with his butternut squash laden with feta cheese, and turn my attention to Jamie Oliver, who recently publishd a book called 'jamie's dinners', which I purchased (because I am a fan of his - given all he's done to improve school meals). Again, his book promotes home cooking - it is aimed at the maker of family meals and he adds a twist to staples like bangers and mash, lasagna and the humble multi-million pound business-inspiring sarnie. But he seems to me to turn a blind eye to the saturated fats that each dish contains. With my drive to eradicate saturated fats from my diet (unless they occur with beneficial fats - e.g. in olive oil), there's nothing in his book I can cook.
Given heart disease is the biggest (or second biggest) killer in this country, it's time that the chefs jumped onto a new band-waggon.
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12 comments:
Hello!
I'd like to think that, if you were able to see these meals being made alongside, the fats in chef recipes are still less than in ready meals and are less 'processed' fats, there are less chemicals involved, which is one of my major issues. A natural fat of any kind has got to better than a manufactured one.
Ofcourse, it also comes back to the old 'everything in moderation' maxim too. If you cook your own meal from a celebrity chef recipe book, using what seems like tonnes of animal fat, only have a small portion! I've found if I sacrifice flavour, I go off good food, which is counter-productive.
As to justifying meat eating, it is a difficult one. I take the view that our bodies were designed centuries ago to eat a very varied diet and we need the variation to maintain our bodies in the best condition. If you were to choose not to eat meat for whatever reason, you still have to replace the nutrients with an alternative to maintain that balance.
I agree that the deaths of these animals aren't easy and maybe not painless, but there is the 'nerve' issue, that the apparent distress and movement is involuntary and the animal is (supposedly) unaware of the process. I have examined my conscious and I can live with this, if the animals have had a good, happy life, with farmers who care for each individual animal, rather than the biggest profit from a herd.
Apart from that, I like meat and couldn't give it up!
Anyway, I'm very upset about food programmes today. There's no Saturday Kitchen (and more importantly, James Martin) because of the Lord Mayor's show. I mean, I ask you, I live in Scotland, what do I care.
I want James!
Personally, I view fast-food, and convenience food as the culprit along with lack of exercise. Good old fashioned home cooking, with a little common sense isn't what will kill a person. Provided they actually get off their butts and get exercise.
Diets rich in whole grains, supplemented with fatty acids, and utilizing lean meats and fresh produce is quite healthy. People mostly don't cook that way, though. They do drive through.
Then they get on a kick of blaming mashed potatoes or a high-quality pork roast for causing their cholesterol ills! It's not that!
.. hey - I live in London and what do I care!!
I, too, have found that it is difficult to enjoy food on a 'no fat' diet! (Which is one reason for my repeated failure to stick to this regime!!!)
There are tricks that help; e.g. a small amount of parmesan gives as much flavour as a larger amount of cheddar - yet both are more or less equal in % fat.
What I LOVE to hear are tales of people's grandparents who lived off white bread, dripping and salt, smoked 60 a day and lived to be 105!
My Aunty D. enjoyed her fair share of everything (never smoked though), and lived well into her 90s
RT and I posted at the same time!
I agree - and as for 'drive-through' - if you're going to eat junk food, at least walk up the road to buy it!
At a recent "cooking class" (watch a chef mix up things he already prepared), the discussion was about butter and other fats, and his comment (also quoting a cardiologist who'd recently been at one of his classes) was "Eat smaller portions so you can enjoy the flavors of real fats." (Then, of course, he proceeded to plop a humongous slab of chicken in front of us... interesting...)
As for meat (which I enjoy), I have a vegetarian friend who will eat the meat we process at the living history museum where we both work because she knows that the animal has been raised in a very humane place and lived a "happy" (for an animal, I guess) life and has been treated well and slaughtered kindly.
I myself have never had a hang-up with eating meat, but feel good that my veggie friends can appreciate the lives our critters at work live...
True about walking up, Ruth!
I really believe in balance and moderation. Part of enjoying life is based on cooking and eating for our family, and many others, as well. I work to provide balanced homeade meals, and plenty of exercise for my family, so that an indulgent Thanksgiving meal, a homeade chocolate cake or a cone full of ice cream in the summer can be enjoyed. There is too much enjoyment of these things to eliminate them fully.
As I have talked a lot about before, the convenience food and fast food craze comes from a country who isn't willing to work to prepare food! It's just easier. When our cells are so saturated with artificial ingredients, they no longer function adequately. Studies have shown that people who ingest high amounts of artificial ingredients and chemical food additives have altered chemical structures to their cells!
It begins when they are babies-formula is easiest for many, (and I don't begrudge that choice for mom's, it just isn't the very best)then on to sodas and what people call "juice"...water and sugar in the flavor of cherry. On to fast food for breakfast, school lunches for lunch and take out for dinner! We can only expect fattness!
I don't know about anyone else, but give me a homeade pasta dish with bread and salad and a glass of circulatory boosting red wine over a Whopper any day! (then, the occasional indulgence is fine!)
I never cooked much before we moved last summer. My husband enjoys cooking and I don't, so it worked out just fine for him to cook and me, well, not to cook. Now that I'm staying at home and he's working, I've had to start cooking. I've been amazed at what a difference it makes for me to buy my produce directly from the farmers and their families who worked to grow it, so I can understand why Hugh wants his converts to work on the farm.
My husband and I both stick to a high protein, low carbohydrate diet...he for health reasons, me for weight reasons. Because of this we eat real cheese, real eggs, real butter, and other real dairy products. Despite our fat consumption, Jay is still as thin and toned as he was when we met 12 years ago and I find it much easier to keep off weight. It certainly hasn't adversely affected our cholesterol levels at all. I think there's a big difference between consuming fats in fast food and consuming fats in home-cooked, made from scratch meals.
Are you familiar with the slow food movement? I've been fascinated of late: http://www.slowfood.com/
I used to have a huge crush on Jamie Oliver. I don't think he's on US Food TV anymore :(
Jamie Oliver was quite the dreamboat, MB! LOL!
My chef crushes are on Tyler Florence and Alton Brown...Alton reminds me SO much of Jeff-that's probably why. Same personality, and they look a lot alike..Alton is just a more fair Jeff, LOL!
...I used to have a thing for Graham Kerr!
I agree with MB about the fat consumption-it's all the origination and composition of fats, and how they are prepared. While I couldn't do a low-carb high-protein diet because of my kidneys, moderation and upping raw foods obtains some similar benefits.
Oh, if you don't know who Alton Brown is- www.altonbrown.com
:)
I had to wait half an hour for Jay to take me to the hospital when I was in labor so that he could finish watching "Good Eats." I know all too well who Alton Brown is. :)
LOL! The mucous plug must wait! Alton's explaining that it is a myth that you shouldn't wash mushrooms prior to using, because they are already water-logged!
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