We want to encourage a broad community conversation about food in the city. So every week until our Food in the City conference we are going to offer up a “juicy” question about food and agriculture.
Last week we started the conversation by asking about the importance of food in our lives. This week’s question digs a little deeper to explore one of the more obvious and important aspects of food: nutrition and health.
In many of the comments from last week’s post we heard that nutritious and healthy food is important to people. What we often find, however, is that what “nutritious” and “healthy” mean depend very much on who you’re talking to.
For example, there’s the debate between organic versus non-organic, or having to choose between locally grown versus non-local food. Which is the healthier and more nutritious choice? There are also the variety of diets to choose from – whole foods, vegan, raw foods, paleo diet, low carbs, wheat free, dairy free, sugar free and so on. And there are all those ethnic foods that we love and are important to us.
We can also consider the broader issues: does healthy mean healthy for me as an individual or healthy for the planet, or both?
Okay, we probably won’t have this debate over every meal. But we’d like to hear what you think.
So, our question to you this week is: What does “nutritious and healthy food” mean to you?
Join the conversation, post your comments, and share what you are thinking with others!