You Are What You Eat

Growing up in the 1960s, my meals were cooked at home – exclusively.

Popular meals for our family included homegrown meats, mashed potatoes, garden-grown vegetables and fruits canned in the summer. Home-canned food provisions lined the shelves of our cellar pantry, not to mention the bounty of frozen meats and homemade sausages, vegetables and fruit that filled our freezer to the brim.

Rural families worked sunup to sundown, mandating the three-meal-a-day schedule to meet energy demands for their labors. Fast forward to today – with the increased incidence of double wage earners away from the home for extended periods of time – and there are many families that compensate for the time challenges by using more takeout meals or precooked entrées.

The preference in many households is to spend less than 15 minutes preparing a meal. Whether it’s a fast-food meal, an order of pizza, or a casual dinner at a family restaurant, eating out is no longer just for special occasions. It’s become part of our everyday lifestyle.

Hungry or not, food strikes our senses everywhere we go. Supermarkets provide an array of prepared food to “take out” or “eat in,” and convenience stores, recreational centers, vending machines and work canteens provide a multitude of grab-and-go food options.

Nutritional quality does not have to be sacrificed for convenience, as demonstrated by the rising availability of nutritious foods in today’s marketplace. Healthy dining out trends continue to emerge; locally sourced meats and seafood, sustainably grown produce, healthy kids fare, gluten-free/food allergy conscious options, and whole grains harken back to those days of three squares a day from the farm.

With a focus on going back to basics and wholesome eating, Americans now can make the choice to choose health when dining out. Healthy Door County 2020 is working to help you make eating healthy the easy choice when dining out.

This series of articles is brought to you by Healthy Door County 2020, a collaborative community organization with representatives from for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors, aiming to make Door County Wisconsin’s healthiest place to live, work, raise a family and retire. For more information visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/HealthyDoorCounty2020 or call Allison Vroman at 920.868.3660.