Thread by @ahhite

Very interesting thread. Is the call to eat less-processed foods elitist?

Let's go back in time a bit. At one time, eating more-processed convenience foods was a sign of an upwardly mobile middle class who didn't have to grow/raise/preserve their own foods.

https://twitter.com/MacroFour/status/1135004037995204608

The folks who did usually lived in more rural areas. Land loss that occurred with increasing large industrial ag & urban/suburban growth coincided with push to see many more-processed foods as "healthy" (DGA) AND increase in income gap.

These more-processed foods (breakfast cereals, packaged meals, juice, etc.) were cheaper substitutes for more expensive sources of nourishment (meat, milk, veggies) & also got crowned with the halo of "health" via DGA & food science that allowed for low-fat, etc. labelling.

Now whole, less-processed foods are the choice of a health-conscious & health-pursuing middle class (whether of meat-centric or plant-centric persuasion). Eating processed foods are a sign of not knowing/caring about "healthy food" - or lacking the agency to do better.

But high-quality protein, our most important macronutrient, is still one of the most expensive items in the store--made more "inaccessible" by prohibitions against eating much of it. Low-income families would like to improve their diets with more fresh fruits ...

because they are inundated by messages that fresh produce is the key to a "healthy" diet. Yet we ignore (& dismiss) the need for adequate essential nutrition (esp. protein), which is tbh hard to get from fresh fruit (mostly sugar, water, fiber).

Low-income families who scrape together the funds to splurge on fresh (maybe even organic) fruit may be likely to even further limit high-quality protein sources in their diets.

So maybe let's drop the processed/unprocessed issue & pushing fresh produce for just a mini minute

And focus on what people actually need to be nourished: adequate essential nutrition from foods that don't require fortification or enrichment to be nutritious - beginning with high-quality sources of protein.

When eating in that manner is unaffordable to many, we should be working on policy that changes that, not on messages to change individual behavior. And while we wait for policy to catch up, we should be helping non-gov programs that provide assistance to low-income families ...

have more sources of high-quality protein (not just fresh produce) to distribute: peanut butter (sugar-free if your own beliefs suggest this), tuna, spam, etc. Or donate money for fresh eggs and meat.

Let's quit pretending food "choices" are 1) freely "chosen" in all cases & 2) the primary exposure in development of chronic disease (a claim for which we have very little evidence).

Let's bring the focus back to adequate essential nutrition & be the change we want to see.