People have forgotten what good food tastes like.
A common modern-day breakfast is a cloying, crimson paste surrounded by a dry crust, adorned with sprinkles of various neon colors that pops, steamy and gooey from a toaster. We scarf it down without a second thought and enjoy every sweet, sticky bit.
Consider the alternative to this processed, nutrient-lacking nightmare. Two farm-fresh eggs, over-easy, their plump golden yolks oozing a thick, nutritious blend of essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals; their glistening whites packing sustainable energy in the form of protein. A handful of plump tomatoes accompany the eggs, adorned with pungent basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of sea salt. A blood orange sits opposite the tomatoes, its four perfect quadrants displaying countless perfect little pouches, each holding a precious cargo of rich juice.
The former was painstakingly synthesized from wheat and corn plants to produce a product virtually void of nutrients. It was carefully engineered to satiate our instinctual human appetites for fat and sugar, decorated with unique colors not found in nature and conveniently packaged in a cute little box adorned with eye-catching shapes and colors.
The latter had a simple, pure start. It began with the ground, which grew the plants that fed the chicken who laid the eggs the morning prior to our feast and grew the tomato plant that produced bright red nutrient-rich orbs, bursting with juicy seeds. The steps from ground to plate are minimal: the eggs were gathered from the chicken, cleaned and cooked; the fruits were plucked from the vine, rinsed and sliced.
Presented with this alternative, this cacophony of aroma, flavor and visual allure, I am willing to bet that anyone would prefer the latter.
To many, food comes in cardboard boxes and plastic packages, not in recycled cartons or baskets filled from the garden.
What a sad thought, to know that we have become so far removed from our food that we no longer know what real food is.
This tale of two breakfasts is not meant to discourage but to inspire. Despite enormously influential food companies who utilize clever advertising and “science” to further the deception that food should be engineered rather than grown and meals designed rather than assembled; despite the way these products appeal to our senses and despite the length of time this has been allowed to continue, there is something innate that tells us this is not the way it should be.
When we look at a Pop Tart versus a pair of free-range eggs, we can immediately sense which is better. Our eyes see the diversity in color—-real colors-—on the second plate, our mouths taste a deeply layered, wholesome flavor that cannot be manufactured in a lab and our bodies welcome a flood of nutrients that feed our cells and give us lasting energy for the day ahead. The Pop Tart meets its demise the minute it enters the mouth. The few nutrients it does contain will cause a sugar spike and eventually a crash and its eater will soon be asleep at his desk.
If we stop to examine our food, we realize what we are doing and we will immediately see our error. Food was originally derived from the soil and we now know, through decades of painful and costly mistakes, that we cause a chain reaction of problems when we take it too far from its source.
As the whole food movement continues to take hold, we are discovering food all over again. Slowly but surely, we are transitioning from synthetic to simple food. Once we experience the taste of real food, we will never go back.
