a mom's nemesis

Mom's are under constant pressure not just to care for their children but to be supermoms. One of the best ways to show that to the outside world what a superior mom you are is to shun high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). One trip to Whole Foods will convince anyone that HFCS is one of the world's true evils. Then, we had commercials telling us that those claims were unfounded. HFCS is "nutritionally than same as sugar". Is this just hysteria?

I say no. I do all that I can to keep HFCS from my families' diet. I don't always win that battle but, the more that I do, the better off for my family. So, why am I going the way of the Lemmings? First, I do not see that HFCS is the same as sugar. Having the same calories does not make the two products the same. HFCS also extends the life of "food". Yes, I meant to use those quotations. Many things that HFCS are found in are not really what I consider food. (This is totally going down the Michael Pollan path.)

Though I do not want to be wasteful with my food dollars, I think going the cheap route is not always the best, for my family, for the earth, even for my country. What? Food and politics? Really? Yes, stick with me.....

Corn is highly subsidized in the US. This makes HFCS a great deal for food manufacturers. It is cheap, makes "food" last forever (yes, because I like to know that what I am eating has been sitting on the shelf for the better part of the last decade), sounds like a great deal. Well, as a taxpayer, I am not too thrilled to have my tax dollars supporting this industry. Ok, liberals and conservatives go back to your corners.

HFCS is not merely the sugars pulled from corn. No, it is processed so that the natural glucose in corn is converted to fructose. There are some things that are great for humankind because we (as the smarties that we are) have made it better. When it comes to food stuff, that is sometimes true. In this case, it seems to me an inferior product is produced. I don't want to be feeding my family an inferior product.

Now, I have skipped most of the science and the studies linking HFCS to obesity. I think a big picture on this will suffice. What type of food do I want to feed those I love? And, really, I don't want them eating creepy food shaped, food flavored "food" when I can peel them an orange.

And, oranges make my kitchen smell nice.