Obesity has replaced smoking as the biggest health issue in the United States.
In the past, when overweight adults were the only ones contributing to the fat epidemic, few people noticed. But once the press started reporting on obese children and how their numbers have tripled since 1980, and how they were becoming more likely to develop obesity-related diabetes, the focus was on food – especially the wrong kind.
We as Americans consume one-third of our daily caloric intake away from home. Two-thirds of us are overweight, and about one-third are obese. The Agriculture Department says that the average person took in 300 more calories a day in 2000 then in 1985.
Targeting obesity and searching for the right diet has been a goal of our government as well as certain segments of the food industry. But our inability to lose weight without joining a diet club or buying into a television infomercial is connected to our national perception of food.
We really don’t understand how our taste buds function and how they are connected with our brain.
We know and recognize, for instance, salt, sugar, spicy and bitter tastes on our tongue. But we find it difficult to connect with the many other interesting flavorful surprises available. After years of consuming food with sugar, salt, stabilizers, fillers, hydrogenated fats, hormones, steroids and whatever else injected by food manufacturers, our bad habits have caught up with us.
Several studies done last year show that many adults and children still belong to the “vacuum cleaner club” and will eat what is put before them, regardless of how much food is there, and the poor quality it offers. In addition to issues of caloric intake, this behavior has increased the visibility of many new allergies, specifically the gluten intolerance commonly known as celiac disease.
However, the future is promising. We are, as a nation, making an effort to eat and drink better. The baby boomers are driving the effort, with ample disposable income, as they make concerted efforts to conduct research on good wines, sustainable local produce, local seafood and other healthy choices.
The “discovery” of organic and natural ingredients which started 23 years ago has finally blossomed from an intriguing niche to a bona fide, significant market segment. It matters then, that we live in one of the better food regions in the nation. Rhode Island has some of the best locally grown food for quality and diversity.
Many of the immigrants who settled here brought with them the food culture of their land, and have shared with us immeasurable flavors and complex recipe structures.
Rhode Island comfortably belongs in the second-tier of national hospitality centers, behind New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston. However, I believe that with just a little effort, we could elevate our reputation even higher.
I propose a civic commitment to be entitled “The clean plate project.” Those who sell food and spirits would offer nutritionally sound, safe and tasteful food.
The project would require that every food business owner provide consumers a list of ingredients, and their origin, with special emphasis on food for children.
Our restaurant patrons should know which oils we are using, where our meats come from, the growth location of our vegetables and our seafood status. We chefs and restaurateurs have a moral commitment toward the well-being of their patrons. We control their diets away from home, and so we really can make a difference in helping them lead a healthier lifestyle.
The clean-plate project will protect consumers from ingredients that could generate unwanted allergies, artery-clogging preservatives, chemical fillers, genetic-modified organisms and possibly serious birth defects, and offer them an opportunity to understand the choice they make and their benefits.
New York City is removing trans fat from its 24,600 eateries, and that alone could have a ripple affect in the country. Researchers found that the near elimination of trans fat produced through hydrogenation would prevent between 72,000 and 228,000 heart attacks and deaths from coronary heart disease in the U.S. each year.
Earlier this year a bill was introduced in the New Jersey legislature that would require restaurants with 20-plus locations to post on their menus the total number of calories, saturated and trans fats, carbohydrates, and sodium per serving. Restaurants, while they are not the sole source of sustenance and do not force-feed their patrons, have been to blame in part for some unhealthy menu offerings through the years.
They are not alone. The national and local media also play an important role in educating consumers on healthier choices. Lately we notice articles and reviews in our newspapers in which oversized piles of greasy foods achieve glorification with a strange euphoria by food writers. These are also the same writers who know very well of the danger of obesity, diabetes and our fragile health care system.
A normal body cannot consume more than 40 ounces of food and beverage at once without discomfort, and the media ought to understand that good food is not cheap and that cheap food is not good. The clean-plate project welcomes establishments that feel that it is time to protect the health of our children and adults by listing the ingredients used and allow the consumers to make the healthy choice. If we live in a state where food is our pride and joy, providing truthful and honest information to the consumer should not be much of a hardship. •
Chef Walter Potenza is the owner of Walter’s Ristorante d’Italia on Providence’s Federal Hill. It is a recipient of the “Ignignia” award from the Italian Ministry of Agriculture as ranked as of the best 100 Italian restaurants in the world.
