Thoughts about eating better. Today: quality

To be honest, we've got a little bit of an oversight about the quality of our food , Vegetables, which are not completely flawless, remain on the shelves of the supermarkets and are thrown away in the evening. A small brown spot on an apple causes disgust. Every day tons of food do not even go on sale because they do not conform to EU standards, which means they are too big, too small, not long or round enough. Or just look different in color. Quality often means an impeccable, uniform look paired with a completely over-the-top freshness claim. And somehow we're all involved too. For years we were brought up to want only the best - and to buy. Of course, personally I do not buy from the mass of apples the one who has a brown spot. That would be more than strange. But somehow brown spots (except in the health food store) do not appear.

From this very elitist attitude of consumption "perfect or not at all", a whole counter-movement has evolved, the so-called containerining or containering. Mostly under the cover of darkness, the containerists pick up the discarded but absolutely edible things from the garbage cans of grocery stores. Not always because they are poor or needy, but mostly because of ethical principles and political convictions. With the removal of food from refuse containers, however, they are actually moving into a legal gray area and are even risking charges of theft, including legal proceedings. The procedures are often discontinued because of nullity, but every now and then the containerists are also making examples and fined heavily.

But what about our quality standards? We seem to buy quality in pure culture for meat products that use a minimum of meat, yoghurts that do not contain fruit, soups whose list of additives is as long as the German tax law and a lot of "foods" that were constructed in the laboratory. Everything premium, quality-sealed, freshly prepared and otherwise named and awarded. In addition tomatoes, which look after 4 weeks in the domestic fruit bowl still plump and fresh. Everything visually flawless and always fresh, because eternally durable. We all know that food really can not work that way. But she does. But is she allowed to do that? Of course, it is convenient if the panned Wiener Schnitzel in the vacuum packaging is stable for 4 weeks.

But is that the quality we really want and expect when we buy food? After all, not every one of us has a kitchen garden in front of the door, which delivers vegetables in summer, of which we know exactly what we tipped out against the slugs. We must rely on those who produce and process the food for us. The German state provides extensive food controls. Is that also on the safe side? Unfortunately, no. The regulations of the German food law (and related laws) drive strange style blossoms. A specially designated product for children can consist largely of fat and refined sugar and still be advertised as - supposedly "healthy" - small milk meal (I remember in this context, still like the baby porridge from 3 months "Stracciatella flavor" On the other hand, the only really fresh milk that is NOT treated industrially in Germany may not be called "fresh milk".You should not eat anything your own grandmother would not recognize as food.

2. You should not buy anything that has more than five ingredients.

3. You should also not buy anything that contains substances that a normal person does not have in the fridge.

I think that's a viable first approach to understanding the quality of our food and the quality of our own To think about food. In addition, everyone should ask themselves if he/she needs snake cucumbers, which all look the same. What is so bad about a "crooked cucumber"? Is the brown spot on an apple really so disgusting that you not only take the daily dose of pesticides and coating agents but also eat them in bulk?

Food production is a business. And of course, as in any business, it's about maximizing profits. I recently read to Tim Mälzer that for the production of 100 km of raspberry yoghurt you need raspberries worth 30, - Euro. That does not sound like much. But then, when you learn that the amount of raspberry needed for 100 kg of yogurt costs 6 cents, you understand that never more than 1/2 the prescribed raspberry will end up in yogurt.

So there's our conscious one and responsible purchase decision asked. Label reading always helps. If the ingredients read on the label, like the synopsis of the chemistry box you always wanted in elementary school: keep your hands off it. And look at Louis de Fune's prophetic movie "Breast or Mace."

If you know what quality means to you, what you expect from a food you consume daily, if beautiful With the packaging and flowery marketing terminology no longer counting for you, you'll know which foods will make you eat better every day.

Viva GourmetGuerilla.