2.0 min. read
I’ve been just as guilty as 99 percent of the other food writers in the Websphere, neglecting a crucial element of the UPF story. I’m referring to the middle ground – the case for minimally-processed foods (MPFs). Thank Amy’s Kitchen for bringing it to everybody’s attention…
Amy’s Kitchen (AK) is a maker of prepared frozen and canned foods,and so has a crucial stake in educating consumers about the relative merits of minimally-processed foods. MPFs lie in the grey area between UPFs and whole, or non-processed foods. And Amy’s says they’re more healthy than many shoppers might think…
A national campaign
AK is tackling ‘myths’ that foods such as the ones it sells are less healthy than and more processed than their fresh counterparts. Exhibit A is the recent granting of ‘Non-UPF Verified’ certification from the non-GMO Project for nearly 90 percent of AKs product catalog.
AK is making a major effort to ‘get the word out’, mrunning online ads and partnering with Whole Food Market to put up in-store information displays.
“The multifaceted campaign kicked off at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California, in early October with a 40-foot installation,” Food Dive reports. “’End the Era of Ultra-Processed Food’ was projected onto the Clock Tower Building. The five-week campaign will run through Nov. 15 and is intended to reach health-conscious consumers between the ages of 24 and 44.”
Economic burden
According to the Food Dive story, “An economic analysis commissioned by [AK] found a diet high in ultra-processed foods is associated with a $359,836 in additional lifetime economic burden. The campaign comes as Americans are increasingly worried about ultra-processed foods, but are unedu-cated on what the term actually means.”
The underlying facts
… Show that canned and frozen foods are just as healthy, nutritionally, as fresh. More so, if you con-sider that packaged MPFs are consistent in quality all year round, while even the freshest produce can vary widely in ripeness and nutritional value depending on the source and the time of year.
A Talker Research survey of 2,000 Americans, also commissioned by AK, reported nine in 10 resp-ondents are eating ultra-processed food without knowing it. In addition, half are not confident they know the difference between MPFs and ultra-processed foods.
My take
Amy’s Kitchen has been around since 1988. And good for them, for championing MPFs, even if they have a vested interest.
But this may be just the right moment for AK to toot its horn. Produce prices are at an all-time high. And the average family’s buying power is shrinking. More and more folks go on the dole every month. And masses more folks are using Food Banks and other community food relief services.
On the other side of the coin, frozen and canned foods are cheaper than fresh, and entail no waste. You can usually get a bargain, too. As I demonstrated recently using blueberry prices as an example. The cheapest I ever got a pint / 8 oz / 125 ml of blueberries all this past season was $2.00. Frozen blueberries – in the 2 Kg / 4.4 lb resealable bag, are about $1.25 for the same amount year round…
~ Maggie J.