The Flawed Definition of Value.

Duane Hanson's Shopping Lady Sculpture

Fat shoppers lean against their carts of cardboard and plastic packaging as they fall forward incredibly slowly, scanning the shelves and throwing in the items marked on sale, or those with the words Value or Only preceding the price.  Do they not price compare? No. Because Walmart has marketed its brand smartly. If the little bouncy smily face says something is good value, the shoppers believe and flock to get the deals while they last (as if they would ever stop the rrrrrrrrrollback days!). The transitory yellow sale stickers promote a sense of urgency. It’s better to buy three jugs of Sunny D now because it’s better value, the sign suggests. Big name shops know that their clientele are flocking to their store under the pretense of affordable food. The shop thrives because it earns huge profits by selling high quantities of low quality food, under the guise of value.

Unstable paychecks lead to erratic shopping, especially when it comes to food. Marketing teams exploit the flustered shoppers, encouraging them to stock up while they can. The non-perishables take the cake and are considered part of the budget. Soon, pantries are filled with sugar and salt-filled snacks and the fridge is barren of greenery. When there’s just a little money in the bank, the mentality becomes like that of a squirrel - get busy collecting food now that it’s on sale so that during harder times, one can start digging into the non-perishables.  Historically, cultures with little money also relied on non-perishables like whole grains, and canned and pickled vegetables. These are valuable, and proven to be affordable, nutritionally high foods that have since become lost stapes. Nowadays “value” carries little significance, yet the term has substantial gravity in every aisle other than the fruits and vegetable section. 

Something  of real value is unique (heritage food, for example), hand-crafted ( or nurtured a human, with love), and would be long-lasting in its use. In short, when we ascribe value to food, the definition should be : most nutrition for a low to reasonable price.  An organic apple these days may run you $1  but your body can use 100% of that apple, so you get a $1 return in nutrition (vitamins, fiber, energy).  Please appreciate that the cost also supports the farmers who are relentlessly laboring at less than minimum wage to keep healthy options affordable. Why aren’t there ever ‘value’ sales on whole foods? 2 for 1 apples; Buy one pear, get one free; Perfectly ripe yellow bananas, get them before they blot!, etc. There aren’t because there isn’t much profit for the business. It’s a whole different ballpark when the a box of cookies that took $1 to make is lowered in price from $2.99 to $2.50. Still, there are ways to make fruits and vegetables more attractive to shoppers looking to be told what to buy. Some grocery store flyers are now capturing the market for those who want easy access to healthful suggestions, but more needs to be done to slant the shopping and eating habits of North Americans.  

Instead of the nutrition panel on the side of the box, shoppers search out the “value” stickers to weigh their options. Those chicken strips, although 5 for $2 does seem like a deal are actually FAR more expensive than going to a butcher shop and buying 1 large chicken breast for $4. But Jennifer! you say, That’s double the price plus the work to prepare it!  To which I say, GOOD GRIEF! I feel like I’ve had this discussion a million times in the last 5 years. Using the nutritional percentage again quickly discerns that real chicken is better value. Your body can digest and absorb 100% of the nutrition it has to offer. On the other hand, one frozen chicken finger contains an orgy of meat, diluted with cheap wheat fillers and preservatives. Maybe you’re body will only absorb 40% of it because the rest is “junk” (my dad’s favourite word when relating to processed food). To calculate the value of chicken fingers, simply multiply 40% with $2. You paid 80 cents worth of long term nutrition and $1.20 on fleeting fullness, before flushing your money down the drain.

‘Fullness’, most often caused by bloating, high salt or sugar content is often equated with value, as in the case of parents justifying a kid’s meal at McDonalds. The meal may fill up a child for $3, but his body may only be able to use 20% of the meal. His growing brain suffers this neglect of nutritional value. The other 80% of the meal is so processed that once the child eats it, his body shoots it through to the other end, without absorbing much nutrients at all. Thus, the kid’s meal gets you only 60 cents worth of nutrition and the rest ($2.40) literally goes down the drain.  When you think about it in terms of nutrition, it’s hard not to scoff at the alleged “value” signs. If fruits, vegetables and other whole foods were marketed as valuable nutritional sources as eagerly as zealous competitors slap on claims to otherwise processed garbage, then we would all be wealthier in health. We will look back and think that these value signs are as preposterous as doctors recommending cigarettes. 

The further you get from the original ingredients, the less your body is able to recognize the food as food, and in turn the less nutrients (if any!) you absorb. “Value” has been marketed to those who seek instant, easy gratification. It attracts a personality type that went to Walmart because it’s a one stop shop, because it’s easier and admittedly, a time saver for those juggling two jobs and a gaggle of kids. It’s painful to see these kids, overweight, trailing behind their fat mothers, gathering boxes sugary snacks, packages of packages of Lunchables and frozen dinners - because their parents  send them out like troops to seek out those infamous stickers. Then, at school, depleted of nutrition, these children become hyperactive or comatose and are unable to learn. They grow up and out, and their education is barely absorbed due to a malnourished brain. This leads them into adulthood fat, unhappy and unhealthy. Now does that value sticker look different? 

My dad used to spew rhetoric about junk food to me and my sister long into our teens,  to which we rolled our eyes but did absorb in the end, if not hesitantly. It’s going to be work to convince shoppers that while they feel satisfaction from saving money, in the long term they are putting in money towards an early death. If you want your body to glow with health, vitality and stamina, don’t even go down those middle aisles of packaged food. You can and  will save money eliminating packaged foods. Reject the notion of value, or at least, what it has become. When someone mentions their valuable find, ask them to specify what they mean and correct them if they are following a marketing teams idea of value. When prescribing value to food, there could be a whole list of why the packaged cartons of this and that should not be included. There is a golden rule I follow: The more packaging, the less healthy.  When consumers start favoring whole foods, we will all be wealthier. 

Tips for Healthy Kids

Tips for saving money on whole foods

Make Real Cream Cheese the Norm

I blame my early years spent in the south of England for my gluttonous addiction to all things butter and cream. My visits in recent years have been stark reminders of how far ahead the British are when it comes to food labeling laws and ingredient allowances. Many ingredients we use here in Canada are banned in Britain. Canada needs to catch up, especially when it comes to products high in fat. The thing with fat is, it stays in your body far longer than carbohydrates or protein. If you eat fat with a bunch of chemicals and  artificial ingredients, those too will cling to your organs. I like my fat sources to be pure, so even if I can’t afford a cornucopia of organic groceries, I still choose to pay extra and get organic eggs and milk. It’s in the cream cheese department that I find myself constantly struggling to find an alternative to Philadelphia’s many products, none of which are organic. Cream cheese is an essential in my fridge and so I had to do some research to figure out how I can keep up my mass consumption of the stuff while remaining free of toxins.

I’ve looked at the packaging and noticed that most grocery store brands call their product ‘cream cheese spread’ or ‘cream cheese product’. Imagine a small fraction of cream cheese molecules suspended in an artificial matrix of synthetic ingredients, and voila: cream cheese spread. I’m thankful for the politicians who fight for transparency and who have no tolerance for false or leading labels. Here, we are nearly par with British laws, or at least trailing closely behind. As soon as a company pumps in more than what is necessary to make cream cheese, we start getting into the impostor zone of ‘spreads’ with ten ingredients. These impostors, by law, have to, even in a discreet way, differentiate their product from the real thing. As the consumer, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves about which codes companies use to sell food riddled with so many artificial ingredients they aren’t allowed to use the actual food name (even though we shouldn’t have to carry any background knowledge in order to shop for healthy food!). Among the juice “drinks”, “cocktails” and “buttery spreads” we find “ cream cheese product”. 

It doesn’t take much to make cream cheese; just dairy and a certain few bacteria, heated to the right temperature for the right amount of time. The process starts with  milk and cream and by law needs to contain at least 33% fat. To turn the liquid into a solid, we need to add lactic acid bacteria. It is one of a few bacterium that can withstand the acidic conditions of cheese-making.  When the solution has been heated, the proteins begin to coagulate (read: almost nearly cheese now!) and water (well, whey) is squeezed out of the cheese (officially considered curd at this point). Here, we can stop the process, scoop out the soft curd and package it as cream cheese but for the most part, it’s here in the game that manufacturers make the decision to continue the process, essentially switching from cream cheese to cream cheese spread. 

You know how natural yogurt gets that yellowish liquid on top? That’s  whey, which is totally edible!. The same thing happens to natural cream cheese, but we rarely see it (because we rarely have the opportunity to even choose a natural cream cheese in grocery stores). Because the yellowy liquid grosses some people out, manufacturers add emulsifiers to stop the product from separating, even just a little. It’s step one down the slippery slope to create the ‘perfect’ product. It’s obsessive compulsive the way companies insist upon modifying  a natural product to keep it consistent, but sadly, it’s what they have learned they have to do. It makes a profit. It maintains their status as one of the big boys. The manufacturers are responding to the former reaction of disgust from ignorance. We can’t blame them - they just want us to open their product and be enticed, not afraid of pee-coloured substances. They need their food to be appetizing to their customers. North Americans have learned to ignore the multitude of extra ingredients which create a smooth, thick, glossy, white cream cheese because they know the product. It is consistent and therefore they don’t need to read the ingredients. There is trust in consistency. They see the product as a whole and not the sum of its parts. There is nothing inherently evil by acting on market analysis, it’s the way they do it: by pumping a product with artificial ingredients and selling to the uneducated rather than teaching their buyers that they should expect a layer of whey. It’s cheaper to extend the process and increase the volume by adding extras rather than keeping the product in its simplest form. At the end of the production line, a machine smacks on a graphically appeasing label, a familiar brand name or a frivolous health claim (contains calcium! gluten free!) and the tubs get shipped by the thousands into supermarkets, where they fly off the shelf. 

Cheap food sells, which is a bonus for cream cheese companies who already add a multitude of cheap fillers in order to have a consistently smooth and super white product. The further we get from the real thing, the cheaper the product becomes. The product is diluted as much as possible before it teeters from the government regulated ‘cream cheese spread’ into something that isn’t even allowed to be sold legally as food! And still, cheap food sells. This sends the message that a low price is superior to quality and gives the industry the go-ahead to replace cream with modified milk ingredients, skim milk powder and other byproducts of cows milk, because once you’re this far from the original cream cheese, why bother spending money on anything natural at all?

By selling such large quantities, they push out the small guys who somehow stay motivated to produce the real thing. The healthy, natural alternative becomes the ugly duckling, squeezed to the edge of dairy shelves by the towering, familiar labels. The bigger they display on the shelf, they more trust-worthy they appear, the more they sell, the more they produce. Companies like Philadephia have the resources to stock the dairy section for weeks without their product spoiling and with frequent sales that still earn a profit. Cream cheese spread  has become the norm. Let’s tip the scales and even things out a bit. You don’t have to buy organic, or even local, but try to support the little guys who are doing things right, lest we lose cream cheese altogether! 

Some of the grocers in Toronto who sell natural cream cheese: 

1. The Big Carrot 2. Cheese Magic 3. Leslieville Cheese Market  

The ingredients that are used to stretch the product all affect the cream cheese. They also affect your body. The easiest way to eat well, in my opinion, is to eat food that is modified as little as possible. Here’s a quick list about what Food and Drug Administration of Canada allows in cream cheese products: 

Acetic acid (can be labeled as Ethanoic Acid):  used to alter or control the acidity or alkalinity of a food or to prevent a food from drying out. It also adds ‘flavour’ by making things a little tart.  It is a good selling point! Good for up to 3 weeks! It means when there is a sale, you can stock up and enjoy the product in bulk before it goes bad.

Calcium Carbonate: As a food additive it is designated E170;[22] INS number 170. It is used to alter or control the acidity or alkalinity of a food or to prevent a food from drying out. *excessive consumption can be hazardous* (something to worry about if you take a lot of antacids or calcium supplements). But it does help reduce diarrhea!

Calcium Phosphate (can be labeled as Acid Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Biphosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate,Tricalcium Phosphate )

Carageenan ( can be labeled as A171F , carageen, eucheuman, Irish Moss Gelose)

Carob Bean Gum ( can be labeled as locust bean gum)

Cirtic acid

Lactic Acid (can be labeled D-, L-, DL-2-hydroxypropionic Acids D-, L-, DL- lactic Acid, Racemic Lactic acid (Racemic 2-hydroxypropanoic Acid [for DL-form]): 

Locust Bean Gum

Malic acid ( can be labeled as Hydroxysuccinic Acid)

Phosphoric acid

Potassium bicorbonate ( can also be labeled Potassium Acid Carbonate)

Potassium carbonate

Potassium Sorbate ( can also be labeled as 2,4-hexadienoic Acid Potassium Salt, Sorbic Acid Potassium Salt)

Sodium Aluminium Phosphate (can also be labeled as Aluminum Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminophosphate) : up to 3.5% of the solution can contain it.  Works as an emulsifying agent

sodium bicarbonate (can also be labeled as Baking Soda, Sodium Acid Carbonate, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate)

sodium bisulphate (can also be labeled as Nitre Cake, Sodium Acid Sulphate, 

Sodium Hydrogen Sulphate)

sodium carbonate (can also be labeled as Sal Soda, Soda Ash, Washing Soda):

Sorbic Acid (can also be labeled as 2,4-hexadienoic Acid) 

Tataric acid(can also be labeled as L(+)-tartaric acid)

Xanthum gum

Permitted colour agents: Annatto;Carotene;Chlorophyll;Paprika;Riboflavin;Turmeric, ß-apo- 8′-carotenal;

Ethyl ß-apo- 8′-carotenoate(35 ppm), caramel (1.5%)

Permitted Enzymes: Bovine Rennet (Aqueous extracts from the fourth stomach of adult bovine animals, sheep and goats), Chymosin

(i) Chymosin A ( Escherichia coli K-12, GE81 (pPFZ87A)), Chymosin B (Aspergillus niger var.awamori, GCC0349 (pGAMpR);Kluyveromyces marxianus var. lactis, DS1182 (pKS105)) , Chymosin ( Aspergillus niger var.awamori (pCCEx3)) , Pepsin (Glandular layer of porcine stomach), Renet ( Aqueous extracts from the fourth stomach of calves, kids or lambs), Transglutaminase (Streptoverticillium mobaraense strain S-8112

http://recherche-search.gc.ca/rGs/s_r?st=s&s5bm3ts21rch=x&num=10&st1rt=0&langs=eng&cdn=health&q=cream+cheese+

“only aluminum sulphate (including its potassium and sodium salts) is permitted to be used in Canada as a food additive.” 

CFIA: food additives and permitted synonyms table http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/core-requirements/ingredients/food-additives/synonyms/table/eng/1369857665232/1369857767799#h 

Permitted colour agents:http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/addit/list/3-colour-color-eng.php

Rosewater Yoghurt with Fresh Figs and Granola

This fabulous, low sugar dessert is floral, fresh and satisfying.

For a single serving, combine:

• 1/2 cup Balkan yoghurt (or another full fat, proper yoghurt)
• 1 tbsp rosewater  
• 1/4 cup nuts or granola
• 1 fig, chopped

And that's it! If you wanna play around, try using orange blossom water with almonds and orange segments. 

Speedy Healthy Mac and Cheesy

So I knew I wanted mac and cheese, but I also hadn't had a vegetable in a while.  I compromised and boosted the nutritional value of my boxed dinner and it was fabulous, so here you are:

1. Boil: 1 box macaroni with 4 garlic cloves
2. Meanwhile, finely chop:

• 1 orange pepper
• 1 stalk fennel with fronds
• 2 big tbsp of fresh dill

3. When the macaroni is cooked al dente, drain all but about 1/4 of the liquid and return to the pot to stir in the super-artificial-you-shouldnt-really-eat-it cheese powder, along with

• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 2 tbsp chili oil 
• veg medley (above)

That's it! The veggies stretch out the starch and sauce so you end up eating less crap, and more of the good stuff.

Hemp and Whole Wheat Bread with Sunflower Seeds and Currants

Mix together:
400g wholemeal flour
100g white bread flour
30g hemp flour
7g yeast
400ml warm water

Wait 10 minutes

Add, roughly:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup currants
1tbsp fresh thyme
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp cane sugar

Mix to combine and wait 10 minutes

Form into a ball and put into an oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel, for 45 minutes in a warm spot

Set your oven to 220 C/ 428 F

Turn the dough like in the pictures below

Fold the dough over and seal the seam underneath

Let rise 15 minutes on a tray with cornmeal

 After about 20 minutes, score the bread

 Once oven has reached 220 C/ 428 F, put the bread in the oven, on the centre rack.

After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200 C/ 392 F and bake for 30 more minutes, or until bread sounds hollow when the underside is tapped

Let cool completely before slicing

Hemp and Whole Wheat Bread with Apricot and Thyme

Mix to a wet and sticky dough:
450g wholemeal flour
30g hemp flour
7g yeast
400ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil

Wait 10 minutes

Add:
1 tbsp chopped apricots, lightly coated in flour
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp cane sugar

Mix and slowly knead in:
about 50g of flour or until you are able to form a ball

Let rise in an oiled bowl for 1 hour in a warm spot*

*Unlike my Italian style bread, this bread does not need a long, cool rise because wholemeal flour contains little gluten. For more information, see Understanding Bread is the First Step Towards Bread Without a Recipe

Turn the bread and let rise 1 more hour in a bread tin

Set your oven to 200 C / 392 F

Bake about 45 minutes and let cool.

Trying To Eat Green 40 000 Feet Up

So many Canadians fly across and out of Canada every day that I cannot help but wonder how many meals are served. How many of those meals are comprised of ingredients that were imported to Canada? Is there no opportunity for local farmers to provide food for all those passengers? Air Canada provides 17 “special menus”; you can choose between kosher, gluten free, dairy free, low calorie, fat free and there is even a ‘bland’ menu but there is not one green (i.e, environmentally friendly/sustainable) option.

If choosing the green menu meant an increase in ticket price, would passengers still choose to be sustainable? Suppose you have already bought a ticket and paid the extra 20-something dollars to offset your carbon emissions, do you think about what you are eating or are you happy to swallow what is served? Canadians undoubtedly are aware of sustainability, carbon emissions and the need to eat healthy, but without obvious opportunities to make green decisions, many simply shrug and dip into their pale food.

Opportunities are not always quite so obvious, but remember that you are the one eating and you are the one in charge. There is no harm in asking; in fact, asking is the first step. Eventually the steward(ess) will mention something to his or her superior along the lines of, “ Gee, we ought to offer a green menu; it sure does sound popular”. Sustainability is ‘in’ and although it is conflicting to capitalize on the eagerness of passengers and companies who care more about bragging privileges than the environment, it is still the perfect time to offer a green menu. There are 550 flights (and an average of 80 to 90 thousand people) in and out of Toronto Pearson Airport in just 24 hours! If even a fraction of passengers chose the green meal, other airlines would follow.

Well, after a little bit of searching, I discovered that since November 1st 2009, Air Canada has offered a menu with the name NutriCusine. So far, it is the closest thing to a green menu that is offered. NutriCuisine is the result of the collaboration between Air Canada, Cara foods and consulting company, Food with a Conscience. Food with a Conscience reviews menu items according to their five principals, listed on their website as:

1. Food safety and security - Observe the highest standards of food safety in the production and distribution of food products, take responsibility for consumers’ well-being, and plan for sustainable supply.
2. Nutritional balance - Apply an industry leading knowledge to provide consumers with naturally balanced food choices, sustained by nutritionally balanced cooking methods and the exclusion of unnecessary additives or preservatives.
3. Social and environmental responsibility - The use of regional ingredients to ensure freshness, promotes sustainable economic growth in our communities and reduce our human footprint.
4. Regional taste and sourcing - Use regional ingredients to ensure freshness, promote sustainable economic growth in our communities, and reduce out human footprint.
5. Quality of ingredients - Use quality ingredients, emphasizing naturally grown and produced items, as the foundation for gastronomic products or superior appearance, freshness and taste.

Once the meal complies with all five principles, it is considered “Balanced Assessed” and a company such as Air Canada can proudly declare that they have a new, healthy meal option.

I had a few questions for Air Canada so I emailed media.relations@aircanada.ca. The next day I was forwarded to the Toronto media contact, Peter Fitzpatrick (peter.fitzpatrick@aircanada.ca). Getting answers to questions is not difficult (although sometimes disappointing) as long as you make the effort and have a bit of patience.

Unfortunately, the NutriCuisine menu option is available only to executive class (on outbound international flights only). A special NutriCusine menu has been formulated to match the “specific needs of airline crew”. How those needs differ from any other passenger eludes me. (I asked, and was told the crew get sandwiches and snacks using the same NutriCuisine nutritional guidelines- so why did the website tell me theirs were specifically tailored?) The meal includes an appetizer, main course and dessert; all of which are made from regional ingredients and none of which contain “unnecessary additives or preservatives”, artificial sweeteners, MSG or margarine. The packaging is also environmental friendly.

For economy class, Air Canada’s OnBoard Café menu offers three items that have been “Balanced Assessed”: a vegetarian sandwich, a parfait cup and cheese and crackers- hardly inspired but it is a step. OnBoard Café is offered on most flights between 90 minutes and 2 hours within Canada and between Canada and the United States; Bermuda; the Caribbean and Costa Rica.

Still curious, I contacted the president of Food with a Conscience, Danielle Medina (Danielle@foodwithaconscience.com.), who clarified a few points on the company’s website.

Food safety and security
This means the meals are assembled in a location with a food safety program in place. It also means that they “take responsibility for consumers’ well-being, and plan for sustainable supply”. I had hoped their definition would be the same as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s definition of food security includes the same beliefs as Food with a Conscience but it goes beyond to include agreements on

“International trade and environmental issues, conventions on human rights (including women's and children's rights), social development, education, housing and urban development…it builds on commitments and actions which flow from current domestic programs such as Canada's own Nutrition for Health: An Agenda for Action, Gathering Strength: Canada's Aboriginal Action Plan, revisions to legislation, including the Fisheries Act and Canada's evolving economic, social and environmental programs and policies”.

As part of the joint G-8 pledge on food security, Canada will contribute $1.18 billion over the next three years.

It is important we show our support on all levels. Anyone who is at least trying to help sustain our food supply deserves our time and support. The first step is being aware of what we are eating, every time we eat. If we do not question where our food was sourced and how it got to us, then it will not be long before we are being fed chemical gruel.

Social and environmental responsibility and Regional taste and sourcing
These two categories seem to lack any difference in their definitions, but Food with a Conscience has not connected them either. It is our social responsibility to create awareness that sourcing regional food will not only help sustain our environment and economy, but it will be fresher, healthier and taste better.

Mrs. Medina explains that “regional menus” are comprised of ingredients from Canada. She does not yet deal directly with farmers and food sourcing remains the responsibility of Cara. Across Canada, there are ten Cara kitchens that cater Air Canada flights. Food with a Conscience does its best to work with Cara to guide their hand in selecting products that are regional to each individual kitchen location. To Food with a Conscience, Canada only has two regions: East and West; “On Air Canada flights departing from Western Canada, we try to source food producers in the west and the same for the east, as much as possible.” I am frustrated by how many times trying is an excuse for not doing, but I sympathizes with them a bit too; I know how arduous the process of changing minds is - especially when it comes to food. North Americans have developed an attitude that cheap food is a right - and at the cost of our health.

Nutritional balance
Cara owns Harvey’s, Montana’s, Kelsey’s, Milestone’s, Swiss Chalet and caters to 60 different airlines. On Cara’s website under ‘Nutrition at Cara’, the ways in which the restaurants are nutritious are listed: free salad substitutes instead of fries, no trans-fat in their fryer oils and the use of low-fat, cholesterol-free mayonnaise. It’s a step, but hardly worthy of applause.

Food with a Conscience also monitors and regulates the fat content, the type of fat and the sodium levels before they accept a product. Choosing organic or GMO-free products is currently not a pressing issue when working with the airlines and unfortunately, it will remain ignored until GMO-free and organic products prove to be worth the cost for the airline. That won’t happen until customers start asking, so ask!

Mrs. Medina sounds passionate about making and providing green choices, but before she can approach the farmers, she needs to convince the big spenders (in this case, Air Canada and Cara) that healthy food can generate a profit. She mentions that many of the companies she works with are still thinking profit versus well-being and is sure she can “teach or encourage them to have a balance between profit and caring…” but realizes that, “It is not a simple exercise.”


Quality of ingredients
To me, quality ingredients are good for the Earth and good for my health. Food with a Conscience defines their fifth principle, “Quality of Ingredients” as ingredients that are nutritionally balanced and contribute to the recommended daily intake as prescribed by Health Canada. It also means good taste and consistency of ingredients, fewest possible additives and preservatives and “all at a comparative price”.

I asked about the statement on their website, “The exclusion of unnecessary additives or preservatives”, questioning when additives and preservative are necessary. The response was that additives in cold cuts are necessary for color and preservation. But what are cold cuts doing on a healthy menu? A rubber disk is too far away from what it once was to be healthy. Food with a Conscience is currently working with a company that is trying to formulate natural preservatives. You know what else is natural? Psilocybin mushrooms, poison ivy and rhubarb stems. Claims of natural ingredients overshadow greater issues, such as how the ingredients were grown; how and how far they were transported; how they were processed and with what additional ingredients and finally, how they were then distributed. We need to ask questions about every step.

Food with a Conscience is working with airlines and airline caterers to source healthy foods and design meals. There are many hurdles to jump, but Food with a Conscience is working hard to generate trust from corporations like Cara. Mrs. Medina has successfully worked to reduce the sodium content in some products, and she is continuing, step by step, to gain more trust.

Air Canada is a step ahead but there is so much further to go. Food with a Conscience is a step in the right direction, but they promise nutrition and have failed to realize how closely it is related to sustainability.

We need to praise and support every step in the right direction- however small - until gradually both parties feel equally rewarded. It is ridiculous that not every airplane meal is a nutritious one. Food with a Conscience has highlighted the need for action. If we ask for the NutriCuisine meal onboard Air Canada flights, or for a sustainable meal choice then eventually we will be answered. How can we get what we want if we do not ask?