Four decades ago people ate and drank in a very different way, although not necessarily better. By then, the harmful effects of alcohol, which was offered to minors as medicine or a candy, were unknown, or it was believed that an overweight child was healthier than a thin one. There was also greater availability of healthy products and more time was spent in the kitchen. But everything is behind us.
The new book by food technologist Miguel Ángel Lurueña, From grocery stores to hypermarkets (Destino), focuses on these changes that we have barely noticed, where he covers the most recent history of food through his personal experiences. How we got here and what the future holds are other questions that he answers in these pages, in which he also gives us practical food safety advice.
In the book you talk a lot about yourself, for what purpose?
I use my biography as an excuse to talk about all the changes that have occurred in nutrition in recent years and emphasize the importance it has in our lives. Not only what it means from a nutritional point of view, but all the implications it has: I'm talking about food security, consumption, politics and even psychology.
This biographical journey begins with his childhood. There he explains that a few years ago it was considered that a "chubby" child was a healthy child. Now the opposite is happening.
In the 80s, it was mainly mothers and grandmothers who were in charge of feeding at home. Since we came from a time of scarcity, they believed that eating more was healthy, that a "chubby" child was a healthy child. But the previous effort for children to eat a lot, along with the rise of unhealthy foods and today's sedentary lifestyle, has ended up turning the tables. Currently, one of the main problems is childhood obesity.
But the pesocentric perspective has not disappeared.
Now it seems that if you are thin, you are healthier. On the contrary, if your weight does not conform to what is considered normal, you lack health and you are no longer an attractive person. It is even said that you are lazy and that is linked to a political idea.
The culture of effort.
Exact. They make us believe that if we try hard enough we will achieve what we set out to do. The responsibility always falls on the individual. They assure us that everything good and bad that happens to us is our fault, when it is not. Our circumstances do not depend only on our actions, but also on factors such as politics, where we live or the free time we have.
In his book he also refers to how our relationship with alcohol has changed. It used to be considered a medicine and that is no longer the case.
Before, alcohol was offered to children happily, especially in our parents' generation, when alcohol advertisements aimed at minors were normalized. Now we are aware that alcohol and children are two terms that should not be mixed, but it is still very present in our daily lives.
Too much.
It is very normalized. In every celebration or social gathering there is alcohol, and if you don't drink, they ask you if you are sick or pregnant. It seems that you can only stop drinking when there is no other option.
He also talks about those traditional establishments, grocery stores and grocery stores, which are no longer so common in big cities. What implications does it have?
In those neighborhood stores run mainly by families or individuals, the food offering used to be mostly healthy. It was like that because of the type of store and the time. Even in today's neighborhood stores, healthy foods continue to reign, something that does not happen in supermarkets. In large stores there is a greater proportion of products that are not nutritionally interesting. They have entire aisles dedicated to cookies, soft drinks, chocolate... It costs more to find healthy foods and that directly affects our health. It also has social implications: when we go shopping we no longer talk to anyone.
When she arrived at university, she learned a lot about food safety, both in classes and on student flats. Can food that does not smell or taste bad be contaminated?
It is often thought that if a food looks good, smells good and even tastes good, it is not bad, but this may not be the case. The most common and dangerous pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella or listeria, do not spoil the food.
Does microwaving food kill pathogens?
To eliminate pathogens we have to apply a sufficient temperature for a certain time. And when we heat in the microwave, the necessary degrees are not reached, they are not maintained for a sufficient time, or neither of the two things.
And how long can we leave a pasta dish at room temperature?
The recommendation is to cool it as soon as possible, especially in this case and in that of rice, which are more sensitive foods. In general, you cannot leave food for more than two hours at room temperature, and in summer, no more than one.
There are some myths that are very popular on the Internet. Do GMOs have anything to do with vegetables and fruits not tasting like anything?
Generally, we do not find a single GMO in fruit stores. Nothing would happen either, because the GMOs allowed in Europe are safe. But the thing is that they are practically not sold or approved because they cause rejection, when there is no reason. The fact that tomatoes or other vegetables have no flavor or look all the same is not because they are genetically modified. Many times it is a personal perception or it happens because the fruit is not ripe. Or perhaps because we are faced with a variety that has prioritized other aspects, such as texture and color, while there are others that give more importance to flavor.
And in supermarkets?
There are no genetically modified foods in supermarkets either. Since I dedicated myself to the study of food, more than 20 years ago, I have only encountered two: soy sauce and some crackers.
Another very common myth is that there is only one ideal breakfast.
The idea that there is an ideal breakfast and that it has to include dairy products, cereals and/or fruit, often comes from advertising actions by companies that are dedicated to marketing these products. Breakfast is one more meal of the day that should contain healthy foods, just like any other agape. Some lentils with tomatoes can also be a good breakfast. Imagination to the power.
Speaking of advertising, advertising for unhealthy foods aimed at children was on the verge of being banned.
A draft of a Royal Decree was made to prohibit it, but in the end it was not like that. It is important that this measure ends up being implemented because advertising of unhealthy foods encourages the consumption of these products among children and, as I mentioned, there is a significant health problem in this population due to excess weight that is associated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, children are more vulnerable.
They have no criteria to decide if a food is good for them. When a child goes to the supermarket and sees a box of cookies with cartoons on them, he wants that box and insists his parents buy it for him. It's an advertising strategy: convincing children to do the hard work, which is convincing adults.
There has also been a lot of energy drink advertising aimed at teenagers and young adults. Should its sale to minors be prohibited?
Of course. And throughout the country. They are drinks with a very high amount of caffeine and sugars. In addition, they contain other substances that it is not known if consumed in large quantities can be dangerous, such as taurine. Young people consume a lot of these types of products, up to one or two cans a day, because they are cheap and widely available in the environments in which they move. This can cause health problems, which is why in some countries it has been proposed to reduce the size of cans and prohibit their sale to minors. Galicia, at the end of last year, announced that it would do the same, and some communities responded that they would too. Nothing more has been said.
But these products have been around for a long time.
Yes, the ban is late. Now they have realized that they are consumed a lot among young people. It seems that no one had noticed this, when it is something that high school teachers and health professionals have been warning about for a long time.
So, is eating and drinking everything in moderation outdated?
The recommendation to eat everything in moderation was valid 40 years ago, but not anymore. It made sense when the offering in grocery stores was mostly made up of healthy foods, but this has changed. Today, if eating well consisted of eating everything in moderation, there would be those who would have a little cola in the morning, half a donut in the afternoon, and a slice of pizza at night. In a context in which unhealthy foods are the majority, this advice has lost meaning.
Many things have changed in four decades.
The changes have been abysmal and many of us have not noticed them. In the 80s, food stopped being seen as a form of subsistence and became consumer objects like a car or perfume. Although people have never sold food for the love of art, now they have stopped being a basic necessity and that has many implications. Health, for example, remains in the background, and is exploited as a marketing weapon.
