Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Food for Thought Column for the week of Feb 1-7, 2004

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In 1969 CBS launched a popular television show called Hee Haw. One segment would have the countrified audience ask Grandpa Jones, “Hey, Grandpa! What’s for supper?” He’d answer with something like, “Southern fried chicken, black eyed peas, buttery mashed potatoes, creamy milk gravy, collard greens, corn bread and sorghum, with peachy cobbler for dessert.” Then the audience would respond with “Yum! Yum!” Today we gasp at the high cholesterol laden foods, almost guaranteed to clog our arteries and raise our blood pressure. How unhealthy!

Fast forward to 2004. City dwellers might ask, “Dear Grandfather, what would be our cuisine for the evening?” The answer could be, “A delicious salmonella salad, dioxin halibut with a tainted lemon sauce, mad cow steak tartare, or E. coli chicken, pesticide covered broccoli, and a hepatitis A infected strawberry shortcake for dessert.” Yum! Yum! Welcome to the twenty first century.

So far 2004 has not brought good tidings for anyone who needs to eat to stay alive. It’s bad enough that everything we learned in school about eating healthy by using the U.S.D.A. Food Pyramid Guide is being proven wrong. Even with its alterations over the years, cases of diabetes and obesity in the U.S. are out of control. Of course I’m not sure you can blame the Pyramid Guide for that since most people never followed it anyway. Especially since fast food became readily available. But say you did want to eat what nutritionists would term a healthy diet. You could avoid diabetes and obesity but could you avoid being poisoned? Ah, that seems to be the big question.

Nutritionists say, “Eat more fish!” It’s plentiful, affordable, has those good for you omega-3 fatty acids, and easy to prepare. But what kind? And where from? Tuna has mercury. Salmon has polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin, and other cancer-causing contaminants. Similar concerns are being raised about halibut and catfish. At first the concerns were only with fish farms but now contaminants are being found in fish from other areas as well.

Dieticians might say, “Eat more chicken or turkey!” Of course there is the possibility of it having Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, not to mention good old fashioned E. coli. But it’s plentiful, affordable, low in fat, and easy to prepare in hundreds of ways.

Dr. Akins would have asked, “Where’s the beef? Eat more beef.” It’s plentiful, affordable, low in carbs, high in protein, and easy to prepare in hundreds of ways. Of course there is that pesky “mad cow” thingy to keep in mind.

Vegetarians say, “Eat more fruits and vegetables!” A variety of produce and salad bar items wait for our consumption. Fruits and veggies are plentiful, low in fat, have fewer calories, and are HEALTHY! Well not according to a January 27, 2004 article in the San Jose Mercury News entitled Perils of Eating Produce. Fruits and vegetables are now considered the most dangerous food category. Due to poor germ screening and infrequent inspections, it outweighs all others, including beef, poultry, and fish, at least two to one in causing food borne illnesses.

Over 5,000 people die each year and 75 million get sick from something they ate. These are just the reported statistics. Who knows how many fall ill and tough it out with over the counter medications? Alka Seltzer, anyone? Yes, folks, eating could be hazardous to your health.

If one is going to eat, one might consider asking a little blessing before chowing down. (Matthew 15:36, Luke 24:30) One might laugh at such trivialities but as for me, I need all the help I can get. It’s just a little food for thought!

P.S. For you Super Bowl snackers all I can say is pass the nitrates (hot dogs), trans fats (potato chips), aspartame (diet soda), and chemicals (beer). May the best team win and may all Monday morning quarterbacks be alive to rehash the game!

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.