FoodMatters (2008)

Rower2

Watched Foodmatters (2008) on Netflix the other day.

If you're interested in health then it's definitely one to watch. There's a lot of talk about how the general population values spending on cars and houses instead of spending money on good organic food that will support your health.

There's a lot of talk about how the medical industry doesn't promote health or nutrition as there's no money in it.

Never been one to even think organic but this film really got me thinking!

tmc86

That came out just as the recession hit in Ireland and if you look at the general trends now it would be the opposite.

More and more people are taking a greater interest in their food, where it comes from and managing their health via diet.

This is also highlighted in the number of Artisinal producers and farmers markets as people are moving back to local foods and seasonal produce and taking an interest in the producers and craftsmanship behind these products.

"Organic" never really fully took off in my opinion, it's a way to command a higher price premium and I don't think there's as much value to organic. As long as its fresh and natural then you can't go far wrong.

There's a couple of good food documentaries on Netflix though.

Zombienosh

I must check this out, I do like a good documentary especially food or nutrition related ones.

re.mark.able

tmc86 wrote: »

That came out just as the recession hit in Ireland and if you look at the general trends now it would be the opposite.

More and more people are taking a greater interest in their food, where it comes from and managing their health via diet.

This is also highlighted in the number of Artisinal producers and farmers markets as people are moving back to local foods and seasonal produce and taking an interest in the producers and craftsmanship behind these products.

"Organic" never really fully took off in my opinion, it's a way to command a higher price premium and I don't think there's as much value to organic. As long as its fresh and natural then you can't go far wrong.

There's a couple of good food documentaries on Netflix though.

I'd strongly disagree with you that 'organic never took off' - go organic and you'll see that it's very much the opposite - Places in america have entire organic supermarkets, Europe has huge amounts of organic farms and associations (Demeter take it step further)
and at home we dozens of farmers' markets across the country, the co-op in newmarket is packed out all day saturday, there's a number of established organic food stores and more and more supermarkets have their own organis ranges - tesco, superquinn, dunnes, lidl.

I haven't watched Foodmatters (2008) yet, but i did watch the more recent and relevant (-taking the recession into account) 'sequel' - Hungry for Change (2012) - fantastic film: all the basic instructions you need to clean up your diet, all the topics that would affect everyone when making the transition and great transition between topics.
I would strongly recommend watching this film, it's on Netflix too, and give Food Inc. a look too

Blatter

I didn't watch it yet so can't really comment but 2008 sounds a fair bit outdated, especially for this science.

tmc86

re.mark.able wrote: »

I'd strongly disagree with you that 'organic never took off' - go organic and you'll see that it's very much the opposite - Places in america have entire organic supermarkets, Europe has huge amounts of organic farms and associations (Demeter take it step further)
and at home we dozens of farmers' markets across the country, the co-op in newmarket is packed out all day saturday, there's a number of established organic food stores and more and more supermarkets have their own organis ranges - tesco, superquinn, dunnes, lidl.

I should have clarified that my post references the general UK&Irish shopper many of whom simply don't have the budget to be purchasing organic.

If you look at the mainstream retailers that you have mentioned, the organic section although it exists, it is very small and a minority would purchase from here.

In the meat industry today you'll see more food labelling around ethically reared and animal welfare rather than a greater focus on organic.

I don't disagree that organic is well reflected in the presence and growth of farmers markets and co-ops, however it is again the minority who visit these rather than the majority of consumers.

Hanley

People will spend the minimum to maintain they're health, and absolutely anything to regain it. Tis funny.

I do think there's a trend of improvement tho. But perhaps given the nature of my work I just see more of it now.

tmc86

Hanley wrote: »

People will spend the minimum to maintain they're health, and absolutely anything to regain it. Tis funny.

I do think there's a trend of improvement tho. But perhaps given the nature of my work I just see more of it now.

You're right there Hanley, there is a trend of improvement, something I see in the nature of my work too.

People are paying more attention to their diet and using food to manage their current and future health. There is also more awareness and education as to the benefits of healthy eating and the benefits of certain foods. More and more parents are trying to set their kids up for a good start in life with their diet and educating them about food - rather than giving them convenient dinners/ready meals which would have been more common a few years back.

I think that there's a comparitive stat/quote that looks back to the food spending of older generations compared with today's average consumer in proportion to their income.

Just look at the horsemeat issues of late, there was more of an issue with the retailer/manufacturer trust as consumers felt lied to - rather than a main concern that there was actually traces of horsemeat in the products. If you're paying €1.50 for 10 burgers you can't expect them to be good quality, people aren't stupid they know this but they still buy them because they're cheap!

Rower2

I don't know if I could watch the sequel- I watched a couple of the food shows on Netflix and I'm half way to being a vegetarian

Rower2

Hungry for change doesn't seem to be on Netflix???

re.mark.able

Oh sorry, it must have been taken down, they had a internet screening of it a week or two ago so they probably only had it on netflix for a short time to spread the word. You should try your best to track down a copy of it though, very very good film.

Don't let those films turn you vegetarian, let them put you off branded meat and eating too much meat - yes; but let that influence you to eat more consciously and take an interest into what your food is made of and where it comes from.

rocky

Is it proven that organic food is better for health?

re.mark.able

rocky wrote: »

Is it proven that organic food is better for health?

It is hard to get funding for such studies, without them being biased as well.

I agree that organic food isn't outright more nutritious than conventional food products - the basic make of the food can be more or less the same as it's the organisms genes that dictate how it is made up.
What eating organic is aimed towards is avoiding the possible extra things the non-organic food is carrying.

When a food is non-organic it is possible that it has been subject to some or all of these processes -
Genetic Engineering: some plants are genetically altered to contain more lectins to make them inherently insect repellant. However, we has organisms too are not immune to the harmful effect of lectins.
They can also be engineered to be immune to particularly powerful pesticides and herbicides meaning they can be sprayed with them and not suffer. The problem lies in the fact that these poisonous sprays are then covering the surface of the plants and soaking into the ground which is then in turn absorbed by the plant.

Hormone treatment and medication - Livestock are fed stock feed which can contain things such as hormones and antibiotics to make them grow faster and fatter and (hopefully) resist disease. Similarly, these are then in turn in the meat product when butchered.

Added preservatives - various coatings and gases can be added to the packaging of foods or applied to the food in the factory process to increase their shelf life. These products are designed purely for unnaturally preserving the food product, these preservatives then act upon our bodies when consumed coating cells and the likes : http://www.dailyrandomfacts.com/wtf-facts/decomposing-fact/

There's more to it than just this. It is also far better for the enviroment to eat organic and I say with confidence that you can indeed taste the difference, apes can taste it too. http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/bananas022403.cfm

colman1212

I'm living in autrailia for two years now and I'm amazed how much more interested people are in health, fitness and diet over here.
It's probably because of the climate but there is a gym on every corner in the cities and its much easier to eat out and have healthy low carb meals than it is at home.

re.mark.able

totally, it is very much down to the weather - over here it gets so much colder so we stock up on food and build our fat stores to make the winter warmer for ourselves. and also the shorter days and colder climate keeps us indoors more with less natural sun-induced happiness making us comfort eat more. On top of that, the climate limits what we can grow so we have lots of meat, dairy and grains.
Ireland isn't exactly perfectly designed for human inhabitation.

gowley

re.mark.able wrote: »

I'd strongly disagree with you that 'organic never took off' - go organic and you'll see that it's very much the opposite - Places in america have entire organic supermarkets, Europe has huge amounts of organic farms and associations (Demeter take it step further)
and at home we dozens of farmers' markets across the country, the co-op in newmarket is packed out all day saturday, there's a number of established organic food stores and more and more supermarkets have their own organis ranges - tesco, superquinn, dunnes, lidl.

I haven't watched Foodmatters (2008) yet, but i did watch the more recent and relevant (-taking the recession into account) 'sequel' - Hungry for Change (2012) - fantastic film: all the basic instructions you need to clean up your diet, all the topics that would affect everyone when making the transition and great transition between topics.
I would strongly recommend watching this film, it's on Netflix too, and give Food Inc. a look too

organic has not taken off in ireland or the uk. just because people sell produce at farmers markets doesnt make it organic. supermarkets will give shelf space to what is selling. organic doesnt sell thats why less than 5% off their shelf space is given to organic produce. im not debating the rights and wrongs off it just stating the facts. all supermarkets sell a small range of organic to cater for that customer but to say it has taken off is inaccurate. look in the retailers you mentioned and see how much shelf space they have for organic and other and then tell me it has taken off

re.mark.able

I wasn't saying that it's this huge trend like it is in America.
Again i stress - you need look at it from the inside, not the outside.
When I mentioned farmers' markets I was talking specifically about the organic ones - when you go organic, you get a little tired of writing the word 'organic' infront of everything - which there are still dozens of.
Their are multiple independent organic food stores as well as online stores and delivery services.
The shelf space given to organic foods is growing on an almost monthly basis as is the product range available. However it is not appropriate to compare shelf space to conventional products - with the variety that is possible in non-organic and hence non-restricted food products it will naturally require more shelf space than organic foods. It's like comparing shelf space devoted to dairy with non-dairy products - dairy products only get a small percentage of the over shelf space because they only NEED a small percentage. What would be the point in have rows upon rows of the same organic vegetables when it is more economical to display a smaller amount and keep more in storage?

Again - it's not an incredibly big movement but it is very much on rise. It may not seem it because it is not being shoved into your face with TV and public advertisements but when you look for it specifically, it is in a lot more places than you realise.

gowley

re.mark.able wrote: »

I wasn't saying that it's this huge trend like it is in America.
Again i stress - you need look at it from the inside, not the outside.
When I mentioned farmers' markets I was talking specifically about the organic ones - when you go organic, you get a little tired of writing the word 'organic' infront of everything - which there are still dozens of.
Their are multiple independent organic food stores as well as online stores and delivery services.
The shelf space given to organic foods is growing on an almost monthly basis as is the product range available. However it is not appropriate to compare shelf space to conventional products - with the variety that is possible in non-organic and hence non-restricted food products it will naturally require more shelf space than organic foods. It's like comparing shelf space devoted to dairy with non-dairy products - dairy products only get a small percentage of the over shelf space because they only NEED a small percentage. What would be the point in have rows upon rows of the same organic vegetables when it is more economical to display a smaller amount and keep more in storage?

Again - it's not an incredibly big movement but it is very much on rise. It may not seem it because it is not being shoved into your face with TV and public advertisements but when you look for it specifically, it is in a lot more places than you realise.

http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/arable/organic-food-sales-continue-decline/54286.article check this out. organic sales have fallen fot the 4th year running so i cant see how it is "very much on the rise"

re.mark.able

End of the article you posted:

Another key trend is the ‘Jamie Generation’ of ethically aware consumers. Under 35s significantly increased their average spending on organic products in 2012.

2012 saw Ocado increase organic sales by 6.4 per cent, overtaking Asda and Morrisons to become the UK’s fourth-largest organic retailer

Sainsbury’s saw its online organic sales increase by 48 per cent

And besides, that is a British article talking about the British organic market, I'm just talking about what I can see around me.

Housing sales are continuing to fall
Sales of Mac products are falling
Sales on the highstreet have dipped for the 3rd time inplying a possible 'triple dip' recession, meaning reduced spending across the board.
Pointing out a market's sales have been dropping for 3 years in a recession that started not long over 3 years ago isn't exactly surprising.

gowley

i was only replying to yuor quote that organic sales are on the rise. clearly not the case.

Rower2

i was trying to spread the word of a great documentary and it's turned into this!
:eek:

gowley

lol. sorry rower

re.mark.able

Food Matters has another online 'event' going on at the moment. If you sign up you get to listen to some of the experts from the foodmatters films and other experts on eating and living healthier. http://www.foodrevolution.org/summit