From September we will have to feed the contents of the meals we cook for our local school into a computer which will tot up the nutrients and tell our cook if they are fit to eat. I am sure this initiative is full of good intentions, and may even help to reduce some abuses at the lower end of school catering, but it strikes me as depressingly reductionist, culturally degrading and an intrinsically unhealthy approach to food.
In a recent edition of Radio Four’s excellent Food Program, Michael Pollan author of “In Defence of Food”, gave some simple guidance on how to eat a healthy diet and enjoy it:
1. don’t eat anything your great grandmother would not recognise as food
2. don’t buy anything with more than five ingredients
3. only eat at a table; eat slowly and communally
4. distrust any food claiming health benefits
This all made so much sense that I bought the book, the gist being that your granny is a better source of dietary guidance than science and nutrition experts. Having spent five years studying natural sciences I am wary of unquestioning adulation of native wisdom but when it comes to nutrition, science has earned a bad name. Our relationship with food is far more complex than simply summing up the known nutrients and multiplying by their known effects on our bodies - there is just too much that we do not know. Judging from a recent article in the New Scientist we are still far from understanding the relationship of appetite, diet and weight gain but this has not prevented the proliferation of highly processed functional foods marketed on their ability to fight coronary heart disease and help weight loss.
Science will not solve a cultural problem; namely a collapse in the willingness, confidence and skills needed to cook and enjoy real food. There is no one healthy diet, no silver bullet that can better the knowledge, accumulated over generations, of how to use predominantly locally sourced ingredients to sustain us through happy and healthy lives. Pollan’s advice is, that unless you suffer from a specific illness like diabetes, the best thing to do with a nutritionist’s advice is to ignore it.
Guy Watson
18 responses so far ↓
Alan Brooks // April 2, 2008 at 9:04 am
I have been a RiverNene customer for quite a while now and can remember eating only seasonal veg grown by my father and grandfather. Unfortunalaty I lack the touch but still try to grow summer crops on my very small garden plot. All this rubbish about nutrients et al; I liked the quote from Radio 4’s Food Program. Agree absolutely totally. Take the science away and eat a balanced diet from known food sources. Cook your own recipes when you can too.
Max Cordell // April 2, 2008 at 10:33 am
Seeing a woman laden down with supermarket bags full of packets, I was thinking how it now seems perfectly natural that we should buy food that has been prepared in a factory, with nothing for us to do but heat it through. You can even buy “Heat ‘n’ Serve” jacket potatoes.
On the other hand we are quite prepared to bring home furniture in a hundred pieces and put it all together with no skill and an old screwdriver from the junk drawer. It seems our priorities have got a bit skewed.
Nutrition isn’t my profession, but I am in healthcare and I have strong circumstantial evidence that pre-prepared food is responsible both for obesity and for those chronic, low-level illnesses that won’t go away. The chemicals, both in factory food and in non-organic soil, may be slowly killing us. (Avoid aspartame and MSG like your life depends on it – it does).
As for feeding data into a computer, only a bureaucrat could come up with such nonsense. If this is another EU directive I bet the French ignore it – as should we.
Jane // April 3, 2008 at 8:44 am
My granny always said that one should eat a little of everything and you wouldn’t go far wrong!
Margaret // April 3, 2008 at 9:01 am
Having sent this to Guy it was suggested I should add my comments to the blog, so here they are, in defence of us nutritionists everywhere:
PLEASE - I generally agree with Guy’s rants but this weeks takes the biscuit, or is that the artichoke? It was a fairly minor rant by Guy’s standards but I have to object at his comment about nutritionist’s. Yes, some will immediately try to sell you the latest whacky diet or supplement and they have no interest or idea of the various social, economic and emotional issues surrounding food. Just as you cannot tar all farmers with the same brush please do not make the mistake of doing this with nutritionists. The trouble is most of us are not famous and messages like eating at a communal table and eating slowly and all that stuff aren’t sexy. Because it is just what your granny used to say it is DEAD BORING, it doesn’t generally sell lots of books, it doesn’t make good TV and it doesn’t fit in with people’s lifestyles and heaven forbid they should consider changing those.
I feel so much better for that!
Dawn Waldron // April 3, 2008 at 11:09 am
As I unpacked my Riverford boxes this morning and read through the newsletter ‘digging up Granny’ I found myself agreeing with Guy all the way - until the last sentence. How dare you advise people to ‘ignore nutritionists’ unless they’re specifically ill?
Your 4-point advice is very sound. (I often find myself thinking that Nutritionists could all do a lot more gardening if people would pick up the message about basic, whole food, not mucked about with.) There’s one major flaw. Most people haven’t a clue what great granny would have eaten. It would include lentils, split peas, sardines, mackerel, herrings, mutton, linseed oil etc in great quantity and veg with much higher nutrient density than even Riverford can provide. If you can persuade them of the benefits of eating from this food list they don’t know how to recognise it let alone cook it; I was in a supermarket the other day (sic) and the girl on the checkout had to ask me what a swede was. Many people need guidance and help to return to real food. Most of them need to be feeling ill before they’re motivated to do anything about it. Part of our job us to help people find palatable alternatives to the staples that granny would have eaten without complaint but which their kids won’t touch.
I particularly take exception to the advice that it’s only people with specific illness who need our help. One of the areas where we do most to help is with people with non-specific illnesses - chronic fatigue, IBS, skin problems, pre-diabetes, untreatable depression - who have been written off as too difficult to help by their GPs. Most people who come and see me get spectacularly better and reclaim their energy and with it their lives. It’s wonderful to watch. Much watching a tomato plant flower and then fruit.
I’m the first to admit that ‘nutritionists’ still have a lot to learn about the relationship of food and science. But that’s not new: medical science is struggling with the same problems. The whole point of science is that it tries to give meaning to things that are not fully understood. Guy must know better than most how it feels to have your life purpose dismissed in print. Just this weekend there were newspaper articles whose headlines said “Organic vegetables offer no benefit”. Unfortunately we now live in an age where if you can’t explain it scientifically you can’t claim it either. It’s nonsense. Diseases were cured long before we knew what the therapeutic mechanisms were. It’s not lost on me that you may have been referring to the science-based boffins in their ivory towers but, unfortunately, the whole profession is so low profile that the distinction will be lost on the general public. So you have dismissed me just as much as them.
I’ve been a loyal follower of Guy’s ideas and then organisation for more than 10 years. Our local Riverford franchise went from zero to 2000 just as I started my clinic. Jan Copsey gives me much of the credit for this. I’m not looking for any thanks - I get the reward I want when I see people getting well. But I don’t expect to be trashed in the weekly newsletter. I have no doubt that I have lost potential clients today. People whose health is suffering and who were considering seeing a ‘nutritionist’.
One of your customer services representatives has just phoned me to ‘inform’ me that you’re too busy to deal with the issue this week but you will get round to replying ‘eventually’. She expressed no regret and gave no apology. When I challenged her on this, she distanced herself from the debate and told me that she was ‘just customer services’ and thus not responsible for what marketing writes and what you think! These are the problems of big business and they’re coming home to roost. You get customer non-service like that when people don’t own the values of the company. It has really opened my eyes that Riverford is no longer the small caring company that I have envisaged but a political, departmental, usual old disappointing organisation where the people who face the public won’t be held accountable for the opinions of the ‘owners’.
What makes me really sad is that I’ve always seen Riverford as a ‘friend’. An organisation which is on the same side as me in a crazy world. Even when the produce has been below par and boring, I’ve continued to recommend you to clients, defend you to my family and kept plodding on towards a better world.
So, Guy, before you use your position and influence to provide such ill-informed advice just remember who is out here in suburbia pointing people towards organic produce and encouraging them to eat vegetables they’ve never heard of and promoting the joys of seasonal eating. Then think twice before you dismiss us in your newsletter. If we are to make a difference in this crazy world we need to support not trash each other.
I was tempted to say ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’ but that implies a sort of complicit you scratch my back… relationship. We don’t need any favours. Nutritional therapy works. It makes people better in body mind and spirit and it’s a holistic, sustainable method of health care. It’s a wonderful, rewarding way to (almost) make a living.
Andrea // April 3, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I didn’t know computers ate vegetables…well you did start this blog on April Fool’s day! But seriously though, I can’t believe the amount of processed rubbish that is marketed these days under the guise of healthy food when healthy food is already available from people like yourselves and Farm shops & Farmer’s markets. I don’t buy into this no time to cook from scratch thing either. I hold down a full time job working for the NHS and cook properly without spending hours doing it most evenings. Steaming a few veg does not take hours, neither does tossing a salad or assembling a stir fry. My husband loves home made veg soup made start to finish in less than an hour - the ultimate easy meal in our house and home made cakes go down well with the staff at work. And let me tell you chopping veg after a busy day checking & dispensing prescriptions is a great stress buster. I also make jam and swap the results with my elderly neighbour who grows his own veg so we know what we’re eating and where it has come from. When people ask how I have the time it comes down to basic planning - what’s in the box? Well then that’s what the meal planning will revolve around. I spend very little time in supermarkets either - I’ve better things to do, again planning and doing a main shop for bulk so saving time in the long run.
We had Home Economic classes when I was at school and my Nan taught me to cook and when I wasn’t helping her, Grandad was trying to keep me from scoffing all his tomatoes, raspberries & plums and Dad despaired of trying to harvest the peas before I got them. I see so many children who have health issues and poor diets even with all the advice & evidence available that eating junk food is bad for health. There is too much conflicting information and sadly not enough focus on teaching early on about basic food groups and cooking. Enough ranting I’m off to cook!
Debbie // April 3, 2008 at 7:05 pm
What could be better than untainted, unspoiled fresh food, prepared when needed and served lovingly? Strangely humans have survived for generations rather well without having to count the nutritional value of everything. Common sense is most of what is needed. My question is… What’s in it for the Nutritionists? Bottom line is, after all the ‘Bottom Line’ - ie. it’s a job and it’s profit into the pockets of science-based business. I’ve started looking very carefully at underlying motives recently.
Would that more energy were spent on supporting families to live well together, teaching them to relate well to each other and to sit down together and eat one of those lovingly prepared meals… Much of society’s ills are caused by the knock-on effect of social and emotional problems. Serving up processed foods is symptomatic of the underlying ills.
No-one is advocating obsessiveness regarding what food we eat, but if 90 per cent of what we eat is grown and prepared well, we’ve got room for the odd ‘treat’ now and again.
I’m just so grateful to Guy and his crew - to Guy who studied his craft to a high level of academic integrity and obtained a Double First at Oxford I believe and to everyone who grows and harvests our lovely Riverford vegetables. We are blessed indeed!
riverford // April 4, 2008 at 1:36 pm
A week ago I took a very broad side swipe at nutritionalism; the reductionist approach to food whereby its affects on our bodies and minds is judged to be no more than the sum of the known effects of the known nutrients. I made the mistake of equating this approach to the recommendations of nutritionists in general and have been rightfully chastised by those who have devoted a lifetime to promoting home cooking of real food, predominantly from seasonal fruit and vegetables. Contrary to my cheap and broad swipe these nutritionists should be listened to. I remain sceptical of silver bullet solutions, wonder-foods, supplements and manufactured functional foods claiming health benefits but it seems that this is a view shared by many nutritionists. I hope I have learnt my lesson and will be more specific and/or qualified in the future.
Guy Watson
Gill // April 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm
All I want to do is eat decent food which will not make me ill because of the chemicals with which it has been sprayed. I want it to taste as it should and I want most of all to feel safe with what I eat. I can’t help seeing all the £ signs flashing in the ether with the latest fads - why on earth is frozen mashed potato being produced and however did we get to this state?
Fiona // April 4, 2008 at 8:48 pm
As a Registered Dietitian with a BSc (hons) Nutrition I am heartened to see your retraction of your comment on ignoring nutritionists’ advice and agree completely with Margaret. I applaud your common sense approach to healthy eating, which incidentally, is suitable (and probably even more important) for those with diabetes. I spend my working life in the NHS promoting the consumption of fruit and veg (especially seasonal ones) and encouraging people to cook.
The public should be aware that the term Nutritionist (unlike Dietitian) is not legally protected ie anyone can call themselves a Nutritionist (and they frequently do!). For accurate, unbiased, evidence based nutrition information which is tailored to the individual the public should seek the services of a Dietitian registered with the Health Professions Council so guaranteeing that she/he works within standards governing performance, conduct and ethics.
rebecca ross // April 4, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Generally I agree we should eat local fresh produce, like MY granny did. But I come from a family renowned for having’a good table’ meaning they were good cooks and well fed. However, I am aware that my granny lived in a time when children were still starving in this country and rickets and malnourishment was rife. So I suppose it depends on how well your granny managed.
Heather // April 5, 2008 at 11:05 am
I agree, but one thing that never seems to mentioned about organic food is it’s relation to fat in the body. Fat has 4 fucntions in the body and one of these is to act as a buffer against poisons, so I would argue that the less poisons ingested , the less fat the body has need for - organic food is slimming. Not that I’m personally bothered about fat, but sadly not everyone is persuaded by ethics.
It also seems to me that the approach to food by bureacrats and scientists can be very left brain and compartmentalised, wheras intuition, the love put into growing & cooking food & nurturing through food all have their effect but aren’t necessarily measurable scientifically. As Guy said thereis so much science does not know - or want to know it often seems.
Kate // April 5, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Doing something professionally - that is for money and fitting into a commercial world - rather than purely amateurly - for love (and fun) sometimes requires a bit of what you call that ‘reductionist approach’ - in this case an analysis of nutrients.. That is not to say that this is only how food is to be judged and to remember this is only part of the bigger and richer picture. This research can provide useful information, but it is difficult sometimes not to get bogged down with something and lose that enjoyable point of balance.
melanie reinhart // April 6, 2008 at 10:05 am
Really interesting discussion, thanks! I’m a happy Rivernene customer since a while, and when I cook simple things with these splendid veg, visitors always remark on how filling and satisfying is the food.
There’s another aspect which I’d like to mention, which will hopefully not be too controversial … that is the spiritual benefit. Meaning that the common factor in the degradation of food (prepacked, contaminated with chemicals, grown on toxic and depleted soil and harvested with virtual slave labour etc) is a lack of reverence for Creation. This cannot be health-producing on any level. Conversely, to be participating with gratitude in the natural cycles of seasonal growing and harvesting is itself a healing experience, and one which is sadly lacking in many peoples lives. Eating disorders and obesity must surely indicate a lack of true nourishment, physically and spiritually (in addition to whatever other causes)?
melanie reinhart // April 6, 2008 at 10:14 am
Another comment - a mischievous one! This computer into which Guy has to feed the ingredients of what goes into the school meals ….. why not experiment with a list of the noxious chemicals found in much ‘ordinary’ food. The preservatives, additives, colourings, etc… and see what the computer does with that information! Then you’ll know how brain-washed is the computer … will it say ‘Yum, yum, just what we like’ or will it bleep out some danger signals’?
Julie // April 8, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Just wanted to add my support to Margaret and Fiona’s notes in defence of people who work in the nutrition / dietician field and who are doing our utmost to ensure people do get back to basics and simply eat good, nutritious, seasonal food. I am a nutritional therapist and hope we will soon be fully regulated by the Health Professions Council. Guy mentioned that ‘unless you suffer from a specific illness like diabetes, the best thing to do with a nutritionist’s advice is to ignore it’. I was very disappointed by this remark as I have an organic box every week, am a huge supporter of Riverford, and many of the clients I see are people who just need help and motivational support to sit down and think for a moment in their busy lives how they can improve their eating habits. One of the practical tips I often give is ‘have an organic box delivered from Riverford’ as it is one less thing to think about. It is also cost effective and allows you to experiment with mainly local, seasonal food and offers recipes for free! I am delighted to see that Guy has retracted his remarks but only via this blog as far as I can see. He is highly respected in his field and a more public retraction would do wonders to restore the public’s confidence in nutritionists. Surely we are all working towards the same aim - to inform, empower and encourage simple, healthy eating?
Tracey Garreffa // April 9, 2008 at 9:00 am
As a mother of 2 healthy boys all i have ever wanted to do is feed them well !!! I am a foody !!!They eat 2 cooked meals a day , and do not understand why people eat sandwiches , let alone meals in packets !!! I am a full time working Mum , running a family business and although demands are high we cook everything and grow our own in the summer.
I too heard this radio 4 programme , i could not have agreed more with the statements made - who knows what ingrediants are put into ready meals - or for that matter where they come from.
I would say that upbringing and schools have alot to answer for - when do children learn to cook ? if they do not have the knowledge or confidence to experiment and learn to cook , why would they not go and buy one made earlier.
So far our eldest ( 11 ) has made casseroles and cooks pancakes , and of course cakes - but his passion for good food comes from home - and organic rules !!!!
Nadine Hengen // May 3, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I think the nutritionists need to chill out and note Guy’s last sentence starts with “Pollan’s advice is..” and that as a layman as far as medicine is concerned, for him a specific illness includes some of those you feel were excluded. In fact I read ‘any illness’ for ’specific illness’.
I agree with the 4 points quoted although cheekily would add to no 1: these days my granny eats worse than me, so either swap to great-granny or add a used to.
And as far as 4 is concerned: “distrust any food claiming health benefits” unless your granny praised them. Some of the superfoods are super, and have been praised as such for a long time, they can be trusted provided they come from an organic source.
PS: missing your veg boxes, my german ones are not as good, even if better than what the supermarket provides. In particularly miss unwashed carrots - they keep 3 times as long as washed ones.
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