by Penelope A. Domogo, MD
One of the saddest sights I ever saw in our traditional pristine barangays is the sign “Frozen foods available here.” Because this meant that big business has invaded even the remotest barangay (sigh). As long as there’s a road, you can be sure the delivery trucks peddling these unhealthy foods from the factory have reached that place. So these roads are factory or market to farm roads, not farm to market roads as they are supposed to be.
What’s the problem with frozen foods? Well, frozen foods have lost some of their vitamins, especially Vitamin C and some Vitamin Bs. For frozen fruits and veggies, these were harvested days or weeks or even years ago, then frozen. For meat and meat products, the animals were killed much earlier then the meat was frozen or processed. Taste of course, is altered. Those who have grown in the traditional Igorot village would know the flavorful (almost succulent) taste of plain boiled meat of just butchered meat, and seasoning is just rock salt. Compare that to the taste of frozen meat. Now you understand why food nowadays, especially in restaurants, are smothered with ketchup or artificial flavors.
Aside from the loss of nutrients in frozen foods, there are added artificial chemicals in frozen foods like hotdogs or ham or bacon other processed frozen meat. These pose unnecessary risks to our health especially children because they have more years to accumulate these toxic chemicals and they have small bodies.
Moreover, frozen foods gets you out of sync with Mother Nature. The best food is what God gave in season. With refrigeration and other unnatural preservation, we can eat out-of-season foods and can be in excess, to the detriment of our health and well-being. Di ba, if hotdogs and meat are in your refrigerator, then you run the risk of eating these everyday and even three times a day. Of course, this is unhealthy.
Aside from the immediate dangerous effects of frozen foods in our bodies, they also adversely impact the environment. Food processing itself creates a lot of waste, add the plastic packaging of hotdogs and ham and bacon, and the cost of transportation of these goods. The farther your food comes from, the bigger your carbon footprint. The bigger your carbon footprint, the more destructive you are to the environment. And if you destroy the environment that sustains your life, ultimately, you are harming yourself, whether you are conscious of it or not.
Eating fresh foods also means eating locally produced foods. This means you are helping our local farmers. If we help one another and we lift each other up financially and spiritually, then we create a happy, healthy community! It’s our choice. By the way, when we buy from local farmers, let us not haggle. We can’t eat the coins or bills.***
====
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied gifts.” 1 Peter 4:10
