Food Deserts: Another Food Lie
This may be a controversial one, and I’m sure there’s some nuance here I’ll miss, but I don’t really believe in the concept of a “food desert.” I believe this concept exists because we have the wrong idea of what’s required for good health.
The plant-based paradigm has taken over the mindshare of the masses and may have caused more harm than good overall. Hear me out.
People have been led to believe that the only path to health is to “avoid red meat & fat, eat tons of heart-healthy grains, and eat 4-8 servings of fruit and vegetables per day.” Not only do I not think this is healthy, I don’t think this is anywhere near realistic for average Americans.
If they knew they could eat foods that they enjoyed while also enjoying fat loss and great health, then MUCH more of the population would actually eat well.
That’s why I fight to get the word out about the healthfulness of red meat and other animal foods. It finally gives people permission to eat foods they CRAVE. And they crave them for a reason.
We’re human. We are only here today because our ancestors chowed down on meat, fat, organs, and other rich delights such as bone marrow. If the mainstream paradigm tells people they must avoid these foods to be healthy and survive on salads with Lite dressing, of course this will backfire.
What is a Food Desert?
Ok, so back to the whole “food desert” thing. This is essentially a term invented by woke professors telling the less fortunate that they are unhealthy because they can’t afford a $12 salad from Whole Foods.
The actual definition is “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods.”
Quick timeout - I have to make this clear. I have absolutely no problem with fresh fruit & veg. I eat fresh fruit and certain vegetables with every single meal. I am not, and never have been “carnivore.” My point is that these foods are not required with every meal to be healthy.
So this is where the “food desert” theory starts to disintegrate.
It’s not possible for humans to need a cornucopia of colorful produce flown in from far-reaching parts of the world year-round. This has not even been possible until very recently. This doesn’t accurately represent how healthy humans have lived for much of history.
Even our great grandparents didn't have access to these fresh foods year-round. And from what I’ve seen, they enjoyed a better healthspan than 90% of people in this day and age. They ate what was around them. “Meat & potatoes” is a phrase for a reason. For much of the winter a family could eat a very healthy diet based on animal foods and what they could store in their cellar. That could have been potatoes, onions, carrots, and a few other storable items. Truth be told, this is actually what I survive on for my dinner most of the time by choice! A big ole’ steak or ground beef patty with some of those delicious sides.
You don’t need a Whole Foods on every block or even a Walmart to find those foods. These are cheap, easily storable for long periods, and provide excellent nutrition.
The Carnivores
I appreciate the carnivore crowd for a couple of reasons. They’re certainly fighting the good fight and promoting meat as a true superfood. They’re also proving how healthy humans can be without all the buckets of fresh produce the USDA keeps telling us is required for health.
There used to be an entire website devoted to the hundreds of stories of people healing almost every condition you can imagine with an animal-based diet. Now that has been moved to a list of 554 video testimonials of real people telling their stories.
There’s 10s of thousands of others doing this around the world and even a study conducted at Harvard on it. It’s quite an interesting real-life, live unfolding experiment. Not for me, but interesting nonetheless.
So if all these people are choosing to eat just meat and healing countless problems, and meat, eggs, and milk are available at any corner store in the United States, then is there such thing as a food desert? It kind of unravels the whole concept.
What Does the Science Say?
Well, it’s mixed (like all nutrition science really). You can find all kinds of studies showing correlations to people who eat more fruits and vegetables being healthier, but you can also find studies saying the opposite.
Many believe the health advantage of these fruit & veg eaters comes from the “healthy user bias.” People who eat more fruit & veg also have tons of other healthy behaviors like drinking less, smoking less, and exercising more, all of which confound the data.
I actually think a lot of the benefit from eating more fruit & veg is simply the junk it replaces (I’ll say it again, I do think fresh produce is good, I just don’t think it’s a panacea). I believe that what people remove from their diet has much greater health benefits than just stuffing themselves with cups and cups of fibrous produce. Essentially I’m saying when people eat more fruit & veg they’re usually pushing out processed foods, refined grains, etc. which gives them a bigger overall benefit.
The study I mentioned in the attached video I made a few years ago said that “Consumption of fruits and vegetables or vitamins and minerals had no effect on oxidative DNA damage.” This was the whole idea of why people think fruit & veg is healthy. On the other hand, this is just one cherry-picked study.
There’s also a brand new study looking at 400,000 adults in the UK found that cooked vegetable consumption had no impact on cardiovascular disease and raw vegetables only had slight benefit. They said “This study suggests the need to reappraise the evidence on the burden of CVD disease attributable to low vegetable intake in the high-income populations.”
These 2 studies are also just correlations. These don’t really tell us much. We should never rely on observational studies to dictate nutrition rules or policy. I just use them here to show that there’s usually studies out there counter to what the mainstream consensus is. We can’t take these as proof of anything, but we should always be questioning our current beliefs.
Maybe the main point is, there isn’t a randomized controlled study that I know of that actually proves that fruit & veg create health. We have nothing but a bunch of corrections and assumptions based on our very modern idea that these foods are “super.”
My Experience in a “Food Desert”
I’d suggest taking the time to watch the 3 minute video at the top or bottom of this page to see me in action. I went around South Central Los Angeles, famous for being “a concrete jungle you don’t want to wander around in at night.” This would definitely fall under the description of a food desert. There was not a Whole Foods in sight 😱
Much to my dismay, I found no $12 kale salads. What I did find was far better.
I found cheap sources of fresh protein on every corner. I went to a Mexican Carniceria where I found rows and rows of fresh meat available at bargain rates. They had fresh liver for $1.99 per lb. I don’t think it’s physically possible to pack in more nutrients for a cheaper price.
I went to gas stations and found cans of sardines, oysters, and tuna. I found packages of nuts and beef jerky. I even spotted those hot dogs rolling on heated rollers.
OK hold up again. Hell, I’d eat these. What’s the big deal anyway? The only unhealthy part if the bun and ketchup.
But I digress… Of course a cheap hot dog is the least healthy meat you can probably get, but that by no means makes it unhealthy (I’ll have to do an entire article on this later).
I also went to a 99 cent store and found all kinds of great animal fare and even a bunch of fresh produce. They had cheap fruit and vegetables of all kinds as well as sacks of potatoes. At another little convenience store I found eggs and bacon in the beverage refrigerators.
Last but not least, I saw plenty of fast food restaurants like McDonald’s. There’s nothing wrong with popping in there for a stack of a la carte 100% beef patties and maybe a few apple slices.
I could have made a delectable menu of meals with the foods I found just walking down the street. I would have enjoyed each one and they’d have kept me as healthy as a horse. You wouldn’t even need a car or have to catch a bus to acquire all these super nutritious animal foods and a sprinkling of that oh-so-precious produce.
So what?
So yes, this isn’t ideal. I think it definitely is healthy to add in some fresh fruit & veg to your diet, but that doesn’t mean it’s required.
My big point here is that people have the wrong information on what a healthy diet is. If they knew they could eat a big plate of ground beef and eggs and be healthy, they probably would! They just need to know what to leave out! That’s the most important part.
If they skipped all the processed grains, seed oils, and added sugar which make up almost every other product that I saw down in the hood, they could be healthy.
But alas, it’s a hard switch to make. All those products are cheap, convenient, and tasty to most people. It’s a tough sell when you can buy a box of mac n’ cheese and a 2 liter of soda for $3. That could be a meal for 2. I get it. Eating simple meals of beef , eggs, and a few carrots like I do is not an “easy” solution everyone can just do all of a sudden.
But what I do guarantee is that healthy food options exist on every corner of America. People just need to wake up to the fact that beef, eggs, bacon, and even canned fish are super-healthy super-foods!
So there we go - Food Deserts are just another Food Lie.
If you want the best quality meat delivered to you please support our regenerative ranchers at Nose to Tail. We have other great products like our body care line made from regenerative beef tallow.
The new packaging looks great, and it’s made by hand by my man Tommy!
Hope everyone is staying healthy & happy!
Brian