Clean eating meets food where it grows (USA TODAY)

The "clean food" movement is a recent one, spurred on by food magazines like the new Clean Eating and powerful media proponents like Dr. Oz. But its roots are in something as old as the American soil that nurtures and grows whole fruits and vegetables and the grasslands where livestock roamed.

The term generally refers to the eating of food as close to its natural state and point of origin as possible, and the movement is a reaction against the health problems caused by our growing fast food-oriented diet.
It's also a rebellion against some of Big Agriculture's controversial practices regarding beef, poultry and genetically modified crops. While eating fresh is preferred, canning and home-preserving are generally welcomed, too.
"I want people to eat whole, minimally processed food because it's nutritionally dense, affordable and good for the environment," said Lauren Niemes, executive director of Nutritional Council of Greater Cincinnati.
That includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, but also applies to other choices. "If you eat food in the form closest to nature, that means buying a turkey breast or a whole chicken and cooking it yourself, as opposed to buying (prepared) chicken nuggets. The challenge means you have to cook, which many people will have to learn. That's a good thing."
Beth Ehrensberger, healthy eating specialist at a Whole Foods Market in the Cincinnati area, further defines what she believes makes food clean. A clean-food diet includes foods free of artificial coloring and without chemical-added ingredients. For instance, natural salt is OK in a snack food, but not MSG. If a food is shipped here, it should be from a reasonable enough distance to be fresh, which usually means that produce be "in season."

There is also an ethical dimension to clean food, Ehrensberger said. "We want to know the meat has been treated as humanely as possibly, that the fish has not been overfished. Our fish has to come from the water to here within 36 hours."
To Candice Peters, owner of and certified nutrition coach at Hyde Park Body Boutique, the key elements to the clean food movement are eating whole foods, avoiding grains that have been genetically modified and embracing "slow foods" — those grown, prepared and eaten without the fast-food rush.
Niemes of the Nutritional Council finds the clean movement beneficial, but questions some ideas like only eating what's locally available. "When we talk about local versus global from a nutrition standpoint, you will be losing a small amount of nutrients when food is transported," she said. "It's different vitamin to vitamin, mineral to mineral. But if you're eating whole foods, I don't think the nutrient loss would significantly impact the nutritional status."
And, she said, it's much healthier to eat an out-of-season peach that has been frozen (without added sugar) than, because there are no fresh peaches, a bag of potato chips.
In some ways, it's a nostalgic movement — a harkening back to simpler times.
Clean food advocate Elaine Williams remembers growing up in Hamilton County, Ohio's rural southwestern corner, when trucks selling fresh produce would come through her neighborhood selling the latest ripe crop. As that area has become more suburban and less rural, it has relied more on processed and prepared foods, although there are still vegetable stands and a farmers' market.
"We're not where we used to be, and I would like to see it come back," Williams said.


Clean eating principles

-- Whole foods: As much as possible, eat food that is whole and close to -- as Lauren Niemes, executive director of Nutrition Council of Greater Cincinnati, put it – “the way God made it.” Fruits and vegetables are key.
-- Eliminate chemicals: If livestock or poultry is chosen, it should be raised as free of chemicals as possible and consumed in a way that’s relatively recognizable to its origin -- roast chicken rather than breaded nuggets.
-- Ethical consumption: Many advocates of clean eating avoid overfished seafood or livestock and poultry raised and/or slaughtered under inhumane conditions.


Source: http://goo.gl/YC0o5