Nutrition of Foods in Modern Society.

In the not so far distant past, we ate what came from the ground the way that it had grown and developed over millions of years. Using the waste products that we didn't eat, or that came out the back end of the animals we fed it to, to till back into the soil as fertilizer.

Sure, we used the seeds from the heartiest, best tasting plants to grow the next crop, and bred the fittest animals to get the next generation. But that is just encouraging "natural" selection.

And under these conditions, the nutrition of foods was maintained through only the best of everything being passed onto the next generation.

Today, our foods are created by genetic engineers and food scientists who only have less than 100 years of knowledge to go on. And in many cases, only a few decades of research to back up their decisions.

How on earth can we even begin to believe that these scientists can possibly manage to improve the nutrition of foods over what was done through survival of the fittest over millions of years and tens of thousands of generations?

One of the primary causes of the obesity epidemic in the United States, which is spreading through the world, is our highly processed, engineered food diet.

The best thing you can do to improve your chances of weight loss, and to improve your general health, would be to shop only the outer perimeter of your grocery store or at your local farmers market.

If you hadn't noticed, the aisles of the store are filled with all of the processed foods which have been created for our convenience. These foods are generally very low in nutrition and have so many preservatives in them, that they can't possibly do any good for your body. It is simply not possible to manipulate food this much without seriously affecting the nutrition of foods produced this way.

At least in the outer perimeter of the store, you are mostly finding whole foods which have been minimally processed.

Although, even that is becoming questionable as well. Because, depending on where you shop, it is probable that the fruits and vegetables have been covered in pesticides, fertilized with only growth speed in mind, and genetically engineered to be more efficient to pick, ship and store.
This is not the way to grow food that is high in nutritional value, only in monetary value to the producers.

Sadly, these kinds of growing practices are practiced in the meat and dairy industry as well. Animals are raised in cages or pens, where they never even see real, live grass or leafy greans. They are fed only the types of food that are both cheap and promote rapid production. Health of the animal is a completely secondary concern, since that is not regulated, and can be covered up in processing.

If the animals are not getting the nutrition they need in order to grow healthy muscle (they aren't exercising in pens either), how healthy can the meat from them be?

If the milk producers are only being bred for their ability to produce large quantities of milk as quickly as possible, with their diet reduced to the minimum for that. How good can the milk be?

The simple answer is that heavy processing and genetic altering to create products for mass consumption at great profit greatly affects the nutrition of foods.

So I say that the answer to the question of "Who should eat organic food?" is ...
Everyone!