Let Her Eat Clean

King’s College London hosted an excellent ‘festival’ (for want of a better term) this week and last called ‘Feed Your Mind’.

The session ‘Does Healthy Eating Cost More’ taught me tonnes. Here’s some things that really grabbed my attention and got me thinking:

• ‘Fuel poverty’ is a major consideration when supporting low income groups with nutritious meal plans and recipe suggestions
• Is it all our own fault? Is it fair to blame the marketing of the food industry? Should we simply exercise more will power and accept greater responsibility for the consequences of our food choices
• Sewerage plants have specific containers for all the sweetcorn that ends up at the site
• TV often gets the blame for weight gain but what about new snacking behaviours we’ve adopted that go hand in hand with TV watching or the assumed compulsory popcorn bucket for a cinema trip?
• The ‘new rich’ of the developing world (China, Indonesia) are being hit by the diabetes ‘epidemic’ which now extends far beyond North America
• Kids get 30% of their vitamins from breakfast cereals
• Planning counts for everything where healthy eating on a budget is concerned – if you can’t get creative with a can of chopped tomatoes you’re in trouble. If you haven’t decided in advance what you’re making for dinner of course you’ll be tempted by an impulsive purchase and the ease offered by a microwave meal

I left this session with tonnes to explore from a research perspective which I’ll be sure to post as follow up.