food

Pack your lunch to work.

"I would recommend that people bring food from home whenever they can, because then they have more control over what they eat", says Ms Grobys.

"It takes two minutes to make a healthy sandwich on wholewheat bread. Marks & Spencer provides some healthy spreads such as a green pesto or sundried tomatoes that can easily be combined with grilled chicken for a nutritious and tasty sandwich."

Choose wholegrain carbohydrates

"Restaurants and food courts tend to serve very large portions that have the wrong ratios of food groups when it comes to health," observes Ms Grobys.

"There is usually a large helping of carbohydrates (e.g. rice, bread, pasta) and too little vegetables. It is better to ask for extra vegetables and leave some of the carbohydrates aside, as too many refined carbohydrates in the diet can lead to a number of chronic illnesses."

"Choose wholegrain starches instead of the refined ‘white' starches," advises Ms Grobys.

She recommends cooking brown rice instead of white rice at home. Another alternative is wholewheat pasta, which can be combined with ready-made sauces such as tomato and herb sauce (above) or green pesto from Marks & Spencer.

Choose your snacks wisely

"When buying convenience foods, whether for lunch or for snacks, make sure to read food labels," urges Ms Grobys. "If there is a long list of chemical names you don't recognize or many codes such as ‘E202′, opt for another food." She notes that artificial flavours and colourings are linked to an increasing number of health problems, particularly in children.

If you need to munch on something, Ms Grobys recommends choosing treats that are free of such synthetic additives, such as Marks & Spencer's ‘Eat Well' Cranberry & Orange cookies (above) or Marks & Spencer's ‘Eat Well' Ginger Snaps.

In the UK, the food industry has come under fire from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee for being secretive about its use of "Nanotechnology" in food.

Here's a basic definition of Nanotechnology...."Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products."

You probably weren't aware of it but you're probably already come into contact with nanotechnology in the form of odor free socks. Its also being used to produce cancer drugs that seek out cancer cells before they spread and produce materials ten times the strength of steel.

While nanotechnology could be the invention to put all other past inventions in the shade it also has other not so nice uses, many military uses are for making more powerful weapons and smaller and more powerful tools for surveillance.

The only issue that raised its head was that of food. If you have read my blog for a while, you will know that my wife and I live in the French part of Switzerland. Our guest came from the so called 51st state. Australia. In food terms this is so very true. Australia like the US is fast food, frozen food, microwave and away food and certainly nothing sold or served with the head still on!

So our first scream of fright came when I asked if fish was ok. Yes was the answer. Until, “Eeeek! Its mouth is open! I can see its teeth! Its looking at me! Oh I just can’t! 

I tried explaining that the meat at the back of the head and in the cheeks is considered the best. To no avail. I did the only thing I could do. I went to the kitchen, decapitated the beautifully fried creature, and snuck the extra head onto my plate.

A trip to the market had our guest close to nausea as my wife selected a chicken for dinner. Well, of course the head and feet were still on and the fowl needed to be gutted by the vendor. That’s how we get all the prized pieces for making the sauce. It’s obvious really.

“Why do you wash your lettuce and tomatoes?” 

“To get the sand off!”

OMG I so love this website...www.vfmuk.com.  A virtual farmers market online woop woop!

The first ever 3D Virtual Farmers Market (VFM) has officially opened its gates. The VFM is a fabulous new website that, using the latest games technology, allows you to ‘stroll around’ a 3D farmers market world, where you can ‘meet’ the people that produce your food & drink via video streams and buy delicious farmers market produce from more than 45 market stalls from the comfort of your own home, with your very own Virtual Farmer helping to guide you around!