Supporting Better Nutrition for Wellness Month

August is Wellness Month. It is a great time of year to get some sunshine, enjoy a hike, and stop by your local farmers’ market. Getting to know the local food ecosystem is an important part of community engagement. Learning about local food systems helps support the local economy, promotes fresher and healthier food options, and strengthens community connections.

Support Local Farmers

Farmers’ markets provide food with more nutrients than produce shipped into the community from around the world. It can be difficult as a consumer to really understand how much nutrition you are getting in your diet when buying from a large grocery store. Not all products are labelled with the country of origin and it is not clear how long ago the produce was harvested. Interacting with local farmers at the market or on their farms enables consumers to ask direct questions about what they are buying and see the conditions on the farm with their own eyes. There is also something special about seeing firsthand where your food comes from.

An Intriguing Question

Whole foods are also much more nutrient-dense than processed foods. Food processing removes the majority of fiber as well as many vitamins and minerals.  On her July 7th podcast, titled “Vanishing Nutrients: How Our Food Makes Us Sick”, Sharyl Attkisson raised an intriguing question. As she discussed the amount of nutrients lost through the process of manufacturing ultra-processed foods, Attkisson wondered aloud whether listing the percentage of nutrients lost compared to the unprocessed food on the label would change the purchasing habits of consumers. Attkisson lists some striking examples, such as the fact that milled and bleached flour contains 80% less fiber and 70% less iron than whole grains of wheat. She goes on to talk about health issues that emerged alongside food processing. You can listen to Attkisson’s podcast here

It is interesting to consider Attkisson’s question. Would you be more likely to put back a product if there were a large label on the front of the package informing you that, compared to the unprocessed version, this product contains much lower amounts of vitamins, fiber, or minerals? Studies suggest the answer is yes.

The cost of testing and paying for such labels would place a greater burden on smaller companies. Regulations can often have the effect of consolidating industries as small companies struggle with increased costs. Large corporations can more easily spread these costs out over their larger quantities of mass-produced products without the necessity of increasing their prices. This enables them to push small competitors out of the market or buy them up.

Kennedy’s New Guidelines

There is another, simple and cheap way that we might get the same effect. HHS Se

cretary Kennedy is set to release new food guidelines in September. The new guidelines promise to be simpler and easier to read than the ones they replace. In a press conference, Kennedy lamented that the current guidelines are hundreds of confusing pages that were heavily influenced by industries with financial interests. The new version is expected to be fewer than ten pages with recommendations from researchers who have no conflicts of interest. While changes to the guidelines may seem like a small bureaucratic update to a few documents, it could lead to sweeping changes in the foods being served to our children. Federal food programs like school lunches, prison meals, and military food programs are required to create meals that meet recommendations from federal guidelines.

Attkisson’s suggestion for informing the consumer of the amount of nutrients lost in ultra-processed foods could be added to the new guidelines and offered to the public on government websites. A short cheat sheet comparing whole grain, unbleached, and bleached flour could work as an easy guide to help busy consumers make quick decisions about products. Other simple comparisons might include: whole fruit to fruit juices and extracts, brown rice to white rice, or cornmeal to whole corn.

My Plate 

In 2011, the USDA created MyPlate.gov. My Plate offers simple nutritional guidance, enables users to create meal plans based on goals, and includes recipes. You can search recipes based on goals like eating more fruits and vegetables or reducing sodium. You can also search recipes based on food groups. My Plate has an app called Start Simple that users can download. The app allows users to enter foods into the app to track their calories and nutrition. It enables users to set goals from eating more vegetables, maintaining their current weight, losing a certain number of pounds, or increasing or decreasing specific nutrients in their diet.  

Kennedy has not stated whether the My Plate site and the Start Simple app will be updated to reflect changes in the nutritional guidelines. Adding a cheat sheet showing nutrition loss for ultra-processed foods to the website would be incredibly useful. While My Plate is based on current guidelines, for those looking to improve their health, develop new habits, or shed a few pounds, the website and app can still be helpful. They are both free. Rather than spending money on commercial tracking or planning software that is likely to be based on the same government guidelines, My Plate can offer a way to start planning and organizing without the expense. It can be a nice tool to help you take advantage of local farmers’ markets while we’re still in the peak of the growing season.

Attkisson’s suggestion could easily be incorporated into these programs. Generally, nutrition and wellness information focuses on the amount of nutrients and calories contained in a food. A shift in focus to nutrient losses could change the way consumers look at the food they are purchasing.  It would be interesting to see the USDA update My Plate to incorporate this information along with the new guidelines.

Farm to School Programs

Here in Pennsylvania, Democrat Danilo Burgos and Republican Jonathan Fritz have sponsored the Keystone Fresh Act HB 1768, to bring fresh food from local farms into our school lunch programs. The bill establishes grant programs that can be used by school districts to subsidize farm-to-school programs. These programs would incentivize food service providers to purchase locally sourced ingredients for school lunch programs. Preferences are given in the bill to new ranchers and farmers, economically disadvantaged farmers, and farmers who practice sustainable agriculture. Grants will range in amount based on the size of the student enrollment in the school lunch program. Up to 20% of grant money can be used to upgrade equipment, train workers, or pay for additional time for school lunch staff related to the program. You can read the text of the bill here.

Pennsylvania is Falling Behind on SNAP

Pennsylvania still has not acted to obtain a SNAP waiver. Recently, the states of Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, West Virginia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Indiana, and Nebraska have all received waivers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The waiver allows the states to prevent SNAP benefits from being used on junk food, candy, and soda. Before the waiver was offered by the federal government, nearly 25% of Coca-Cola's profits came from purchases through the SNAP program. That’s just one brand of soda! Removing these high sugar, empty calorie products from our nutritional programs is a great way to focus on health in our state. While our legislature is looking to increase healthy foods in our children’s lunches, they also should follow the lead of our neighbors in West Virginia and Ohio and remove soda and candy from nutritional support programs.  

Empowering Consumers

Attkisson’s idea is intriguing because it empowers consumers with information about how ultra-processed food differs from whole foods. While we are all conscious of the fact that whole foods are better for us than microwave meals, white bread, cookies, or crackers, the dramatic difference in nutrients between raw and ultra-processed foods is surprising. If consumers were more aware of just how much they are losing by selecting processed options, they might choose differently for themselves and their families.

Providing accurate information enables people to make choices in their day-to-day lives with confidence.  One of We The People Party of Pennsylvania’s five initiatives is bodily autonomy. We believe that every person has the absolute right to know what they are putting in their bodies, whether it is in the water they drink, the food that they eat, or the medication that they take. Good legislation that improves health transparency and supports access to healthy options is worth supporting. If you would like to support HB1768 or ask your state legislator to request a SNAP waiver, you can find their contact information here.