A month or so ago, a colleague mentioned that what bothered her about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution was his lack of respect for food.  If you watched the televised program, you know that he filled a trash dumpster with nacho cheese and meat as a statement of how unhealthy the food was.  In my colleague’s mind, this was completely wasteful.  True, it was.

Respect for food is an interesting concept to mull over.  As I often do when I don’t necessarily have a strong opinion on a topic, I reached out to other registered dietitians to get their thoughts on what respect for food means.

Jan Patenaude, RD, CL:

My first thoughts are that we respect people, not objects/things, and food is just a “thing.”  But, I have a “healthy respect” for how to use my guns or car properly. I don’t “disrespect them” by using inappropriately or for the wrong purposes. (You don’t drive recklessly or after having a glass or two of wine. I wouldn’t use the gun to hammer a nail, etc.)

So, how do we “respect food?”   Using it for it’s appropriate purpose. . . yes, to NOURISH us. . . not to OVERNOURISH us. Buying and eating more than we need increases the cost of food nationwide/worldwide, increasing the lack of food in other places. It’s disrespectful to the food AND to other people.  Use it up, don’t waste it. Don’t buy so much it goes bad in your refrigerator.  Grow/raise it with respect. Dousing it with artificial herbicides, pesticides and such isn’t respecting the food. Raising the same food in the same place, without rotating the field isn’t respecting the food/crop. Respecting the land it’s raised on.

Rita Grandgenett, MS, RD:

#1 — The major way Americans disrespect food is the ease with which it is tossed in the garbage.  I have observed this in restaurants when food is left on plates; when “take out” containers are brought home and the food is thrown out; when kids say they want something, it is served to them, they decide they don’t want it and it is discarded; one or two bites of an apple or other piece of food is taken and then the rest gets tossed.  Awareness and education in PORTION CONTROL is the answer!!

#2 — Respect for food means:  delight in the colors and flavors of food and seasonings; enjoyment from the aromas that emanate when baking or cooking food; devising creative ways to use “planned-overs”; using all parts of the chicken or ham for entrees, soups, and mixed dishes.

Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, The Veggie Queen™:

Disrespect for food:  Most people don’t know or care where there food comes from or what’s in it. Knowing the hard working farmer who gets up early every morning to run the farm or show up at the farmer’s market so that you can eat, changes things. Also, people don’t take the time to fully appreciate eating their food. It’s a kind of throwaway – doesn’t mean anything because if it did, better food choices would be made, and eating in the car, in front of the TV or standing at the sink wouldn’t happen nearly as often.

Respect for food:  Having reverence for your food from the farm to the table to the mouth and appreciating everything involves in its production and cooking. Respect for food means eating “real” food that is connected to the earth in some way, rather than food that comes in packages filled with chemicals and preservatives. Most people have forgotten, or never knew, what truly natural food is all about.

Interesting comments, and indeed much to think about.  In your life, what respect or disrespect for food have you seen?

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