Food wine and culture of California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Food wine and culture of California - Essay Example In laymans terms, a sustainable food ought to be reasonably priced and also include all the necessary nutrients required by the body. In other words, a sustainable food must be balanced. On the other hand, an unsustainable diet does not include all the nutrients that make a food balanced. Therefore, a sustainable diet helps uphold the well being of individuals. Over the recent past, most Americans have engaged themselves in consuming foods high in fats and sugars. As a result, a large proportion of individuals in the western world are either overweight or obese. According to Parvanta et-al (2011), "Approximately two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight. Overall, approximately 23 million children are obese or overweight, and rates of obesity have nearly tripled since 1980" (n.p). This shows that instead of upholding individual well-being, the western diet is contributing to ill health. The westernised diet lacks the necessary nutrients such as vitamins, proteins, and carb ohydrates, and is high in sugars, fats, and other industrially manufactured substances. Based on this aspect, the western diet is unsustainable. In essence, a sustainable food is a food with the ability to be available for a very long time no matter the conditions available. Sustainable foods are also affordable. It is important to consider the fact that a sustainable food has to be enough for the local inhabitants (Carrera-Bastos, Fontes-Villalba and OKeefe, 2011). People cannot depend on imports as some foods are seasonal. According to Simopoulos (2011), the western diet contains some imported food stuffs such as vegetables and fruits. Fresh food products are able to reach the intended consumers faster and cheaply as compared to imported food stuffs. Studies conducted in the past elucidated the fact that the more the food delays before reaching the intended consumers, the more nutrients it loses. Therefore, such food may not meet the