Are Burssel Sprouts Part of the Answer?

On this road to discovery about nutrition, I recently read The Omnivores Dilema, another book by Michael Pollan. This particular text focuses on the origins of American food and is the precurser to In Defense of Food.

In response to this new information, we are cooking much of our food from scratch. For example we bake our own bread, potatoe chips, and make our own ice cream. We have noticed a change to our taste buds and are more aware of the ingredients all the food we put into our bodies.

Additionally, we are going to start planing a garden for this summer. This step will, hopefully, make us more self-sufficient in terms of food. And, self-sufficiency will take the form of beets and brussel sprouts.

New Year New Food

It is easy for me to get sucked into ideas. For example, vegan eating. I learned much from researching Veganism; their viewpoints on treating all creatures with respect in additon to the health impacts of cutting certain foods from your diet. To add to this bender of nutition obsession, I recieved the book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

This author has also written the books, The Omnivores Dillema and The Botany of Desire. Each of these books focuses on food, where it comes from, and how it affects our bodies. In particular, In Defense of Food researches the products that are put into most foods found on the shelves at our grocery stores and how these foods detract from what was already a good thing or a whole food.

He uses the example of bread, if you were to make a loaf of bread at home it would require yeast, flour, and water. Depending on the type maybe eggs or some sugar. But, you as a person are able to pronounce eat item and know where it comes from. Now, for instance, take a loaf of Sara Lee's Smooth and Soft White Bread:
     "Enriched Bleached Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin 
      Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Water, Whole Grain      
      Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Rice Flour (Rice Flour, Rice Bran)], Wheat Gluten, Skim Milk, 
      High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Yeast, Butter (Cream, Salt), Contains 2% or Less of 
     Each of the Following: Calcium Sulfate, Salt, Dough Conditioners (May Contain One or 
    More of the Following: Mono- and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono- and Diglycerides, 
    Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Peroxide, Datem, Ascorbic Acid, Azodicarbonamide, 
    Enzymes), Guar Gum, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Distilled Vinegar, Yeast 
    Nutrients (Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate and /or Calcium 
    Carbonate), Corn Starch, Vitamin D3, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour."

I can name a few of these ingredients but I have to wonder why bread needs such a list of ingredients.

I understand that food is shipped from the factory to our stores and many of these ingredients help with shelf life, appearance, texture, and smell. But, if we examine how these extra ingrdients are affecting our bodies, we may find it worthwhile to spend more time in our kitchens cooking food from scratch or from food with names that we can pronounce.