Simon Dannapfel speech 7: food matters

Simon Dannapfel’s 7th speech from Toastmasters Competent Communicator’s manual Objective: Research Your Topic FOOD MATTERS 45% – The percentage of the total of the EU budget for the years 2007-2013 that has been or will be spent on agricultural subsidies and programmes. 925 million – amount of people hungry (malnourished) in the world as recorded by the United Nations 10 % – The approximate amount of total daily energy expenditure used to digest foods you eat 1 billion dollars- approximate amount EU attempted to cut-off with sanctions on cocoa exports from the Ivory Coast after the incumbent president refused to quit following the apparent loss of elections. 11,000 and growing – the number of patents US company Monsanto has on food crop seeds and other bio-technology. Madam toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guest…Food matters…for health and wellbeing…socially… politically and economically…food matters. Tonight I will be discussing food, our health and the complexity we generally face when choosing what to eat…I hope my discussion and conclusions will provide you some useful information when making decisions regarding the food you eat. Nutrition is a daunting topic for many due to the overwhelmingly vast amount of information available to the consumer. Diet books, seminars, videos, websites with experts all professing to have the key to the truth flood the unwary consumer with diets ranging from low-carb to high carb and everywhere in between. I propose that we can all mostly agree that the vast array of guidelines reflect one simple truth; each person has unique requirements and must experiment with various combinations of food to find the ideal mix. An example of this uniqueness is reflected in the work of dentist and researcher William A Price who documented the health of several indigenous tribes around the globe at the beginning of the 20th century. He found excellent health in tribes with vastly different native diets ranging from high protein and fat to high carbohydrate. The key factors seemed to be the quality of the food with the location of the people determining the ratio of nutrients. Processed foods with high levels of additives and pesticides are simply not good for you as demonstrated by researcher Bill Statham in his resource Chemical Maze. One example is the very common artificial sweetener aspartame which is known to cause breathing and neurological disorders. Even with fresh non-processed foods we are not off the hook. The Pesticide action network has found for example that conventional apples alone can have up to 42 different chemical residues. Based on their extensive analysis, the Environmental working group has a handy list of fruits and vegetables to preferably avoid or buy organically (dirty dozen) plus the ones that have lower pesticide levels and can be consumed with less risk (clean 15). Thus you are able to choose selectively and balance the cost of buying more expensive chemical free produce for health reasons. The take home message…the food that matters is fresh, non-processed and selectively organic or chemical-free where possible according to the research provided by groups and scientists such as the Environmental working group. By experimenting with food types to see what works for you best you will discover your optimal diet. It is no secret that food is expensive here in Finland. One Eurostat study shows prices to be up to 22% higher than the European average. However, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations food price index, the international cost of food also reached its highest levels at the end of 2010 so the cost of food seems to be affecting everyone. Recently Finland topped the list of a UN food security index, so despite the cost we can rely on supply. Health care expenditure in Finland was approximately 8.5% GDP or 2900 euros per person in 2008; by committing to a healthier diet we are not just doing our health a favour but potentially our wallets and government spending via reduced personal health expenditure. Food is a business and thus all aspects of food production and delivery is treated as such. As a consumer it is possible consider more than just the cost to our wallet to if we are to get true value for ourselves and others. That is where researched based life cycle and impact analysis comes in, providing an impact evaluation of how foods rate environmentally, socially as well as for health. The Good Guide is an example of a consumer directed tool that provides a rating for food and other products to help with informed decision making. At a minimum, looking out for key risk ingredients such as partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup, and sourcing more local or low toxin level foods should be a priority when making food purchase decisions. With many countries relying heavily on food exports to maintain a healthy GDP, the influence on politics via food cannot be ignored e.g. the recent events in the Ivory Coast and WikiLeaks revelation of US plans to pressure the EU to accepting GE food technology. If commercial farming methods or unethical food practises concern you, find out more and use your wallet to influence change. There is an increasing level of worry associated with the food supply such as how to feed an ever-increasing world population despite the interesting fact that mirroring the almost 1 billion starving people in the world is the same number of obese people. Interestingly it has been hypothesised that malnutrition is a common factor for both leading us back to the concept that quality of food is the key factor. More is not necessarily better… So to make food matter for you I would like to leave you with small list of foods and nutrients to get more of in your diet in order to make sure you are getting nourished and to support your quest for health. ,[object Object]

Fermented foods such as kefir and sauer kraut

Simon Dannapfel speech 7: food matters

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Simon Dannapfel speech 7: food matters