Society/Culture Fat City - What can stop obesity?

[pokerspiv]

Getting upset about it is entirely pointless. More expensive food may lead to less consumption and all of the benefits from that.

Benefits like starvation?

In what universe is higher prices leading to less consumption a "benefit"?

People who talk like this are the same who want billions of brown people to starve to death so we can "save the planet".

"Free range" and "Organic" are farming practices that were outdated 100 years ago, when most of the world couldn't afford to eat meat. Thanks to intensive farming, pesticides, roundup and technology, there is less hunger in the world than at any other time in history.

People who think that's a bad thing have something wrong with their brain.

 

[Scotland]

I agree there is a massive amount of food wank around but there is no competition between mass produced s**t and the genuine article.

An 'intensively farmed' chicken for example is better than the alternative of not having a chicken to eat, but a proper free range bird that has grown to adulthood tastes a lot better. Plus you get more meat and it's better for you. Fresh eggs, fruit from an orchard rather than 6 months of cold storage etc. - it's just better. Even stuff like orange juice. Juicing a dozen oranges > 100% juice from the shops > 25% "juice" from the shops which is $1/L.

 

[pokerspiv]

An 'intensively farmed' chicken for example is better than the alternative of not having a chicken to eat, but a proper free range bird that has grown to adulthood tastes a lot better.

I've got $100 that says you couldn't pick which was which in a blind taste test. The placebo effect is powerful, however. I am sure most people who eat "free range" and "organic" food convince themselves that it does taste better, if only to justify what they paid for it.

It's also wrong to classify them as "mass produced" vs otherwise. Do you think organic food is not mass produced? The only difference between organic and non-organic food is what kind of fertilisers and pesticides they are allowed to use. And organic still uses pesticides and fertilisers.

Fresh eggs, fruit from an orchard rather than 6 months of cold storage etc.

Well, this I am not going to argue with. Obviously food that is fresh tastes better than frozen/long stored food. But that's an entirely different thing than "free range" or "organic".

"Free Range", btw, only refers to the amount of chickens per square meter. It doesn't say anything about how old it is or whatever. 10,000* chickens or less per acre? Free Range. More than 10,000? Battery. That's literally the only criteria for being classified "free range". So tell me again how it affects taste?

http://www.smh.com.au/national/freerange-egg-to-get-legal-definition-20140613-zs6l9.html


* not sure of the actual current cut off point. The CSIRO recommends 1500 chickens per hectare.

 

[Scotland]

I've got $100 that says you couldn't pick which was which in a blind taste test. The placebo effect is powerful, however. I am sure most people who eat "free range" and "organic" food convince themselves that it does taste better, if only to justify what they paid for it.

It's also wrong to classify them as "mass produced" vs otherwise. Do you think organic food is not mass produced? The only difference between organic and non-organic food is what kind of fertilisers and pesticides they are allowed to use. And organic still uses pesticides and fertilisers.

I don't buy into food wank. Any almonds in my food cupboard are de-activated. I also don't seek out "organic" produce and convince myself that I'm saving the world. I just don't like s**t quality meat, veges etc.

I know from personal experience there is a noticeable difference between a chicken breast from the Coles deli and a "free range" one from Mt Barker, for example.

Well, this I am not going to argue with. Obviously food that is fresh tastes better than frozen/long stored food. But that's an entirely different thing than "free range" or "organic".

"Free Range", btw, only refers to the amount of chickens per square meter. It doesn't say anything about how old it is or whatever. 10,000* chickens or less per acre? Free Range. More than 10,000? Battery. That's literally the only criteria for being classified "free range". So tell me again how it affects taste?

http://www.smh.com.au/national/freerange-egg-to-get-legal-definition-20140613-zs6l9.html

* not sure of the actual current cut off point. The CSIRO recommends 1500 chickens per hectare.

I agree 100% that food labelling is a farce. I bought "free range" eggs from Woollies. They were about $7 a dozen and pretty small, anemic and tasteless. A family friend gave me a dozen eggs from chooks which scratch around the garden eating snails etc. and they were much better. They always are.

 

[Engimal]

Although I'm not truely religious about it because I eat bread and potatoes from time to time this is the regime I pretty much follow these days.

fairly unrestrictive, and IMO will work for anyone.

Thanks to Bazzar for posting it in another forum.

That's pretty neat. Hard for me to get started without breakfast though.
Do you find it a challenge?

 

[evo]

That's pretty neat. Hard for me to get started without breakfast though.
Do you find it a challenge?

coffee is you friend

 

[pokerspiv]

No calories in Cocaine either!

 

[nicky]

coffee is you friend

I start my mornings with a litre of hot lemon water and then black coffee.

I eat an avo, soft boiled eggs and some type of meat or fish at 11 or midday.
I have more focus and energy eating this way.

 

[clogged]

I don't buy into food wank. Any almonds in my food cupboard are de-activated. I also don't seek out "organic" produce and convince myself that I'm saving the world. I just don't like s**t quality meat, veges etc.

I know from personal experience there is a noticeable difference between a chicken breast from the Coles deli and a "free range" one from Mt Barker, for example.



I agree 100% that food labelling is a farce. I bought "free range" eggs from Woollies. They were about $7 a dozen and pretty small, anemic and tasteless. A family friend gave me a dozen eggs from chooks which scratch around the garden eating snails etc. and they were much better. They always are.

Organic or free range is often signalling for quality IMO, though not always. At times I have bought meat from farmers who have called their meat 'organic' but it is more than that. Their pigs, cows, etc are certain breed types with different fat make up, what they're raised on is different, and the farmer dry ages the beef as well. It's just a word - proxy for something more meaningful

Organic could be seen is the just the fancy modern English word for terroir (or AOC). They mean about as much, but the French still go nuts over bresse chickens.

 

[pokerspiv]

Except organic doesn't mean any of those things, and is simply a buzzword to trick hipsters into paying more for an inferior product. The term is completely meaningless when applied to meat especially.

The best quality meat is grain-finished on feedlots, which is the opposite of "free range" and has nothing to do with "organic".

 

[slicedndiced]

Except organic doesn't mean any of those things, and is simply a buzzword to trick hipsters into paying more for an inferior product. The term is completely meaningless when applied to meat especially.

The best quality meat is grain-finished on feedlots, which is the opposite of "free range" and has nothing to do with "organic".

For a self-proclaimed farm boy, you sure don't know much about it.

Please expand upon how "organic" has no meaning in regards to meat, please.

Also, please explain how grain-fed meat is superior to grass fed.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Most people eat too much. And they don't know they're eating too much either. They'll eat what's on their plate.

 

[nicky]

my friend told me that he put on 10kgs and lost it by buying smaller dinner plates...

 

[Slippery Pete]

One of my mates is a PT (not that most of them know anything) and he tells his clients, "eat less, * more."

Pretty good advice I reckon.

 

[clogged]

Except organic doesn't mean any of those things, and is simply a buzzword to trick hipsters into paying more for an inferior product. The term is completely meaningless when applied to meat especially.

The best quality meat is grain-finished on feedlots, which is the opposite of "free range" and has nothing to do with "organic".

I think you've had a bit too much cocaine.

 

[kanye_best]

my friend told me that he put on 10kgs and lost it by buying smaller dinner plates...

smaller portion sizes are so important.

some people think that just because the food they have is 'healthy' that they can gorge on it as much as they want.

 

[Scotland]

Smaller portion sizes are one of the main reasons I tend to ignore anyone who says 'don't eat fat' or 'don't eat carbs' or 'only eat xxx' and treats their approach as a panacea. All around the world people eat rice, pasta, dairy, pastries, chocolates yet never feature in the 'World's fattest countries' list.

 

[nicky]

Processed carbs are responsible for obesity - not portion sizes. The fact remains that if people ate a diet high in good fat they would be satiated and stop eating when fulll - opposed to processed carbs where the feedback loop doesn't exist and eating wheat makes you want more of it.

 

[Andre]

Except organic doesn't mean any of those things, and is simply a buzzword to trick hipsters into paying more for an inferior product. The term is completely meaningless when applied to meat especially.

The best quality meat is grain-finished on feedlots, which is the opposite of "free range" and has nothing to do with "organic".

WTF?! You're advocating grain finished as better than grass fed. I'm all for poking fun at hipsters, but that's right up there with saying everyone needs to have more white bread in their diet.

 

[pokerspiv]

WTF?! You're advocating grain finished as better than grass fed. I'm all for poking fun at hipsters, but that's right up there with saying everyone needs to have more white bread in their diet.

Grain finished meat tastes better, is cheaper, and is just as healthy. They don't do it just for the fun of it.

You realise a lot of what "personal trainers" and other kind of food hipsters spout is complete nonsense right?

Here's a report from the US Beef industry (their equivalent of our MLA) on the subject.

Again, grass fed is promoted by food hipsters because it's perceived as being more "pleasant" for the animal. The exact same reason as the same hipsters insist on "free range" eggs. (A completely meaningless term).

The strange thing is that you guys naturally assume that promoters of fad diets and exercise regimes have no agenda of their own, and are particularly knowledgable. Personally I find it hard to believe that Liftbro McToughstickers knows more about beef than the beef industry co-operative does. Especially as they get a lot of their "information" from pseudoscience websites like "Natural News" and the like.

Nobody would even bother growing "grass-fed" beef if hipsters didn't want to buy it. Completely ridiculous waste of good beef, but - just like "organic" grains and vegetables - if silly people are dumb enough to pay more for it, people are going to grow it.

 

[pokerspiv]

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2009/07/29/ajcn.2009.28041.short

Peer reviewed study confirming no evidence of any health difference between organic foods and conventional foods.

 

[clogged]

Grain finished meat tastes better, is cheaper, and is just as healthy. They don't do it just for the fun of it.

Pretty sure they just do it for higher yields. Nothing to do with 'fun'. Even less to do with taste.

Don't brick me.

 

[blackcat]

I think you've had a bit too much cocaine.

pleonasm as dichotomy. the only thing that could have too much is a ruptured septum

 

[HappyChappy35]

People are often quick to demonise and attribute particular food groups to the source of rising obesity rates (the favourites are carbs and fat), when in reality no food groups alone have contributed to it. Looking at the eating and exercise habits of our ancestors debunks this common school of thought. People have been eating red meat, bread, and so forth for centuries, yet why is obesity a bigger issue than ever before?

The answer lies in portion sizes and the amount of processed food we eat nowadays - particularly the latter. The meat, starch, dairy, etc. everyone consumed 50+ years ago wasn't highly refined and laden with sugar, chemicals, or preservatives. Portion sizes are often unreasonable now and people often don't know when to stop eating that nice, big, juicy steak smothered in blue cheese sauce. Simple as that.

Further to this, our ancestors didn't sit in front of the TV all day. They also weren't bombarded with a stream of conflicting and often inaccurate nutrition/fitness advice from 'experts', and it's this lack of scientific clarity (and subsequent lack of knowledge amongst the public) which IMO forms part of the problem.

 

[cartwright]

So you don't think its one type of food, but do acknowledge sugar?

When did we start becoming sugar addicts?