Thinking About Food:

Making Choices for FPC’s

June 17 Food Drive

By Kathy Uphaus and Bob Coon

The members of Fairfax Presbyterian Church have always been most generous in giving to our periodic Food Drives and ensuring that our Food Pantry is well stocked with staples at all times. For this, you have the gratitude of the many people living in our area who benefit from your largesse.

Our next Food Drive is Sunday, June 17. Because recent studies show that poor people suffer disproportionately from nutrition-related illnesses, we would like you to consider taking a a bit more time and thought in your selection of the types of food items you so generously donate to this drive. We provide some helpful, and healthful, suggestions here.

First, a few simple rules.* (Yes, there are some, despite all the confusion and varying opinions regarding diet and nutrition in America these days.) Two that are easy to remember are “Don’t buy anything that your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food,” and “Don’t buy anything with more than five ingredients.” Given the varied fare in American supermarkets today, these rules may not be all that easy to follow, but they still provide good general guidelines. Regarding ingredients, even though you may have to purchase items with more than five, it is widely believed that it is more healthful to avoid trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, and excessive sugar and/or salt.

Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and a little bit of fresh beef, pork, chicken or fish are the best choices for a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, most of these fresh items cannot be accommodated by our Food Drives. The exception to this is bread, which we can accept (for Food Drives only, however, not for the Food Pantry). Please try to look for whole grain varieties, without the corn syrup if possible. Breads made with sprouted grains are good choices, because most of them don’t have corn syrup among their ingredients.

The cereal aisle provides a wealth of good choices: again, look for whole grain cereals, without a lot of added sugar or salt. Since labels list ingredients in the order of most to least, any added sugar or salt should come at the end of the list, not the beginning. If sugar is the first or second ingredient listed, you probably want to avoid that product! For cooked cereals, it is best, nutritionally-speaking, to stick to the old-fashioned, unflavored, longer cooking varieties.

As to where you can shop for nutritionally balanced foods, as well as economically friendly ones, you may wish to check out Trader Joe’s. This store stocks a variety of goods, including canned and boxed soups, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish and healthy bread and cereal choices that are easy on the pocket-book and often nutritionally better than the equivalent fare in other stores. The organic and foreign food aisles of other stores are probably also good places to browse, although the prices there may be higher.

Don’t forget to look for the many varieties of packaged, dried fruit (again, preferably without added sugar or salt) that are good substitutes for fresh fare.

Here’s a list of suggested items you may wish to select from. If, while you shop, you remember to look for items with no or only limited additives and little or no added salt or sugar and select whole grain products, you will be protecting the health of, as well as feeding, our hungry neighbors.

• Canned soup, tuna, salmon and meat

• Peanut butter (again, check the sugar and salt content)

• Canned and dried fruit and nuts

• Canned vegetables, tomato sauce and pasta sauce

• Canned, 100% fruit juice (not “fruit drinks,” which consist largely of water and corn syrup)

• Whole grain boxed cereals, oatmeal and muesli

• Whole wheat pasta

• Brown rice or the mixtures of brown rice, barley, rye and other grains that are becoming more available (at both Giant and Trader Joe’s)

• Canned and dried beans, peas, and lentils

• Dried or boxed milk, soy milk and rice milk (please check expiration dates)

• Diapers for infants and toddlers

*Provided courtesy of Michael Pollen, author of The Omnivores Dilemma.