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Generalizations can be tricky. The main problem being that they are general. Real life tends to be more specific. According to most of what we read, “processed  food” is full of (take your choice) fat, sugar, salt, preservatives and chemicals.  Yes, I realize that is also a generalization, but in looking for articles that recommended buying processed food for one reason or another, I couldn’t find one.

When I started looking at some of the definitions of “processed food,” I learned that almost everything we buy has been treated in some way before it gets to the store. We think of milk as one of the simplest and healthiest products we buy, yet it has been tested, homogenized, pasteurized, bottled, chilled and transported before we buy it. Another report I read recalled that in the past, people suffered from a lack of processed food. Without modern processes, food spoiled or became infested with bugs. Nutrition suffered because people lacked access to necessary nutrients or adequate supplies. Even then, some foods were processed to preserve them by smoking, salting and canning.

I have a 27-year-old daughter who has developmental disabilities. She has her own apartment and enjoys living independently, but with limited cooking skills. She can use the microwave, oven and loves her George Foreman grill. She is not though comfortable using the stovetop. As any single person will tell you, cooking for one is hard enough. Combined with disabilities, eating a healthy, varied diet becomes a real challenge. Many of the foods she enjoys would require preparation skills she does not have. For example, she loves grapefruit, but does not have the knife skills to section it. Being able to buy jarred grapefruit sections allows her to eat what she likes while maintaining her independence. The same applies to individually packaged servings of frozen, seasoned vegetables and prepared entrees. Carefully reading the package labels allows us to make the most healthful choices.

Because of that, I’m very grateful we have prepared and packaged food available to us. By making the best use of both the fresh and prepared products in the grocery store, my daughter can enjoy living in her own place, while preparing and eating her own meals.  And that’s a great thing.

Posted by Randa.

As this article from Discovery notes, “Pink slime has been getting a lot of publicity recently, none of it good.” But what’s the real story?

Daily, each of us tries to use the very most of the products we purchase. We squeeze the last dab from the tube of toothpaste, click the television remote until the batteries are spent and hold the gallon milk jug upside down until every drop runs out.

So when it comes to ground beef, it’s no surprise we’re not wasteful of it either. But with the food we eat, we each have an added level of scrutiny, wanting to ensure that what we’re putting on our family’s dinner table is safe, healthy and nutritious. That’s just being a smart consumer and a good parent.

Resources like those found at Best Food Facts can help dispel food myths and offer factual information from academic sources about food-related topics as diverse as the real story behind pink slime, fatty foods and brain damage and food safety implications of different hen housing methods. That information can help each of us better understand and make decisions that are right for each of us and our families. 

Posted by Mark.

As I write this, I’m sitting in my parent’s farm home in North Carolina, where I grew up. Every time I come home for a visit, I’m struck by the differences in attitudes between people who have lived and worked on a farm and those whose only exposure to food is largely limited to purchasing it.

The other night, my parents and I were looking at family photos and there was a picture of me as a child, standing in a dirt lot with pigs all around. My mother mentioned that one especially cold winter, an entire litter of pigs that was housed outside, as was the norm at the time, froze to death. She followed up by gratefully saying, “That kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore since sows have their pigs inside climate controlled barns. Pigs are a lot better off today than they were back in 1970.”  Those who might debate that point have never seen baby pigs frozen to death. Having witnessed that makes it difficult to argue that there is a more humane option than being housed indoors. 

My dad, now 76 years old, began to talk about when he was a child, saying he would milk their cow daily so his family would have milk and butter. I mentioned that a lot of people today would like to do that themselves, with many insisting that methods of agriculture in the 1950s were superior. He was stunned. “We did the best we could at the time, but I wouldn’t dream of drinking that milk now! The milk we have today is safe; not like the stuff we drank straight out of the cow. Then, it wasn’t pasteurized. Even if I enjoyed milking a cow, which I don’t, I wouldn’t drink it.” Another suburban legend debunked. 

As we continued to discuss days gone by, we ran across a yellowed newspaper article, dated November 22, 1974. My dad was being recognized for his record corn production. That year, he produced 93 bushels per acre. Notably, the award winner this most recent harvest in this part of the country, produced 201 bushels per acre. With a bit of effort, we could easily calculate how many people would have gone hungry had production remained at the 1974 levels.

Today, I’m much older than I was in the picture with the pigs; I now have a child of my own. The concept of doing what is right for people, animals and the planet took on a new meaning when I became a mother. We all want what is best for our children. I do. My parents did. The benefit I have is knowing, from experience, that the “Good ‘Ol Days,” weren’t nearly as “Good” as some might lead us to believe. But keep in mind, those without this perspective, may never have milked a cow, buried dead piglets and have seldom gone hungry.

Posted by Allyson.

Chocolate milk has always been the official drink of CFI. We’ve done a lot of work in the dairy sector and often serve it at our functions. But did you know that chocolate milk is one of the best sports nutrition drinks?

I have participated in sports my entire life. Growing up, I was a typical Hoosier kid who couldn’t play enough basketball, football or baseball. It seemed like we were playing one of those sports all the time, whether it was suiting up on the grade school team or just gathering in the neighborhood for a pick-up game.

Entering high school as one of the skinniest and shortest kids in the class, I knew my days of playing organized football and basketball were over. So I joined my school’s cross country team and discovered a love for running that continues to this day. Over the years, I’ve completed two marathons and countless half-marathons, 10k’s and 5k’s. I have also logged hundreds of hours in the seat of my road bike.

Intense endurance sports such as running and cycling deplete the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles. Because glycogen is one of the primary sources of fuel for endurance athletes, it is important to replace it as quickly as possible via proper post-exercise nutrition. Over the years, I have experimented with countless sports drinks and supplements to help recover from a run or bike ride. These range from water to the high-tech – and high-cost – powders.

What I have discovered is that chocolate milk may be the best sports drink on the planet.

In 2006, a study published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism compared low-fat chocolate milk to Gatorade and Endurox R4, two of the more established sports nutrition drinks at that time. During the study, nine cyclists rode until they were exhausted, depleting the glycogen stored in their muscles. Afterward, they rested for a period of four hours, during which some were given Gatorade, some Endurox, and the rest chocolate milk.

After the rest period, they rode again and the results showed that the cyclists who drank chocolate milk were able to ride for a significantly longer period of time than those who drank Endurox and for about the same amount of time as those who consumed Gatorade. This is likely because milk contains an ideal ratio of carbohydrates to protein that helps tired muscles recover quickly.

Now let’s look at the cost. A 28-serving container of Endurox costs $35 ($1.25 per serving). An 11.6-ounce bottle of Gatorade costs approximately $1.10. A gallon of low-fat chocolate milk, which has ten 12-ounce servings, costs about $3 in most locations. That equates to 30-cents a serving.

With a daughter heading to college next year and two others coming behind her, I don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on expensive sports drinks. But then again, why would I when chocolate milk delivers the same, if not better, performance benefits?

Plus, to me, there is nothing better than the taste of a cold glass of chocolate milk.

Posted by Jim.

Do you ever hear somebody talk about something you know just can’t be true? Or maybe you’ve received an email forward that just has to be an urban legend. Whether they’re questions about proof of our President’s birth certificate or just an old wives tale, even if you know statements are false, they can still leave you wondering.

Take, for example, the claim I received via email that said bananas will be extinct in ten years. Or the email that said McDonalds used South American beef to make hamburger patties at its American locations. Or the one that said growth hormones injected into chicken wings cause ovarian cysts. (By the way, before you start believing any of these claims, please take note that they are all false.)

How can we build trust in today’s food system with all of these false and misleading claims going around? They spread like wildfire. According to CFI research, consumers are increasingly turning to online sources for information about the food system. They receive information from friends and family, their local television station, newspapers and radio, as well.

So, when you see a claim that diminishes trust in our food system, take a stand. As a producer, use values-based messaging to explain what’s really going on. Direct the rumor-spreaders to websites like Best Food Facts. Did you know, for example, that chicken nuggets aren’t really made of pink slime? And, hormones in milk don’t cause early puberty.

As a consumer, when you are skeptical about a claim, or have a question, ask a knowledgeable person. If you have questions about how your food is raised, talk to a farmer. If you have questions about how food is processed, talk to a food manufacturer. You can even submit your question to Best Food Facts.

Thanks for taking time to research, understand and correct misinformation about our food system. We can be proud of our ability to raise and enjoy safe, affordable and nutritious food.


Posted by Abby.