Guide to Eating Healthy in Richmond/Wayne County?
Submitted by Chris Hardie on January 3, 2007 - 12:08pm.
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posted under
An idea for a PWC resource we could collaborate on: a guide to eating healthy in Wayne County. I'm thinking it could have a general narrative of the resources available, categorized by labels like "restaurants that have vegan food" or "groceries with good organic produce" or "tips for raw foodists trying to eat out" and things like that. Perhaps it will be an exercise in despair, but may be useful to some. Anyone interested? If so, feel free to start posting resources here, or we could take a more organized approach.
healthy eating
There is a lot of confusion and faddishness about eating, and supplements. In the 80s, it was oat bran. In the 90s, it was fish oil, in the 00s, there are various exotic fruit drinks, etc... There is still a prevailing idea that what is good for one must be good for everybody. A "medicinal", healthy diet must vary according to season, person, and circumstance. We need different things in the winter than we do in the summer. We need different food if we're pregnant, or training for a marathon. Focusing on the widest parameters of healthy food, such as locally available, heavy on vegetables (good for almost eveyone), as few toxins as possible, and relatively affordable (so people buy it and eat it) seems to make the most sense. A great article on eating is Michael Pollan's "Nutritionism", which can be found online.
Healthy Eating
I would like to see more effort to encourage groceries and restaurants to use local food. I know there is a wholesale market auction in the works that would allow grocers and restaurant owners to buy large quantities of produce each week. This would not necessarily be organic, but it would be local.
As far as eating healthy in Wayne County, there would need to be some sort of rating system of guidelines to follow that would make menu items or restaurants eligible for a "distinction" of some sort.
I am all for this idea...
I also have a problem with public school lunches and will take this on at some point in my life. I am gathering information and research now. It would be great to utilize some of the models that allow farmers to sell directly to schools!
Healthy food is one of my big interests and I am very interested in working on this more. I am hoping we can utilize the city comprehensive plan to begin some food initiatives!
There is also a possibility to parnter with the Child Obesity Task Force for an Eating Healthy Initiative.
Eating Healthy
I think you would have to start with identifying your priorities: What does "eating healthy" mean to you?
Maybe we could come up with a rating system that recognizes different priorities like Organic, small farm produced, local vs. non-local.
It might not be worth the trouble since there is so little in the way of natural, small farm, locally produced food that is readily available.
defining Healthy
I agree defining "Healthy" is tricky. I know one family where one member is a vegan and another is on the Atkins diet. They both consider their diets healthy, but there is little in common that they can eat.
In terms of natural, local small farms, Boulder Belt in Eaton has good stuff: ( http://boulerbelt.blogspot.com/ ), but the aren't "readily available" in the sense that it's easy to pick up in a store here. 12 miles away is reasonably close, though.
defining healthy
i think this is a great idea!
i don't think there's any need to to define healthy for people - just name specific categories such as:
locally grown ingredients
low fat
low carb
vegan
vegetarian
organic
whole grains
etc.
i think the review should also note if the place is locally owned, a franchise, a small chain, and so on. places could just be grouped this way and people could assign their own value judgments.
there could be a prize at the end of a year or some other period for the place that improves the most. something like this would bring more attention to the review itself.