The Importance of Food

Food is one of the basic needs of man. It is usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water, which can be eaten or drunk for nutrition or for pleasure purposes. Food may come from plants or animals. It may even be a source from other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol.

Food preparation can be a tiresome job that is why most people will opt for fast foods. Fast foods are quick and reasonably priced alternatives to home cooking. It is therefore, readily available wherein one can skip the hassles of food preparation. Although convenient and inexpensive, fast foods are typically high in calories and fats. These known fast foods are very much appealing to the consumers: pizza, sandwiches, hamburgers, salads, and desserts. Although these types of foods are known for their calorie-contents, they cannot be avoided at all since a lot of fast food chains and restaurants exist worldwide. However, an individual can make better choices when eating at these kinds of restaurant. Choosing smaller-sized servings and splitting some food items help reduce the amount of calories or fat an individual takes in.

There are also foods that have been categorized as the healthiest on the planet. This foods decrease an individual's risk for deadly illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. Among those are: apricots, which have beta-carotene that helps prevent free-radical damage and protect the eyes, contain 17 calories, 0 fat, and 1 gram of fiber in one piece; avocados, which have oleic acid that helps lower overall cholesterol and raise levels of HDL, contain 81 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 3 grams of fiber in one slice; onions, which help protect against cancer, consist of 61 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber in a cup being chopped; artichokes, which have silymarin that helps prevent skin cancer and helps control cholesterol, consist of 60 calories, 0 fat, and 7 grams of fiber in a medium-sized artichoke; quinoa, consist of 318 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber in half a cup; peanuts, which can lower heart-disease risk by over 20 percent, consist of 166 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber in an ounce; salmon, which are best sources of omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce the risk of cardiac arrest, contain 127 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 0 fiber in a 3-ounce portion when cooked; crab, which is a great source of vitamin B12 and zinc for immunity-boosting, consists of 84 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 0 fiber in a 3-ounce portion.

There are a lot of food issues that make noises throughout the world. Among those that have been protested by environmentalists and public-interest groups are the Genetically-modified foods (GM foods). This controversial study makes these groups of individuals cry out loud. These foods refer to the crop plants being created using the latest molecular biology techniques, which will be used for human consumption. These plants have been genetically-modified to enhance the desired traits such as to improve its nutritional contents.

How can this process be protested when it promises to improve the nutritional contents of certain plants? Critics of such a process who have expressed their opinions stated that concerns on GM foods fall into three categories: environmental hazards, human health risks, and economic concerns.

In different parts of the world, government work hard to establish a regulatory process to monitor the effects of GM plants. In Japan, there has been an order that the testing of GM foods will be mandatory. Some states in Brazil have banned GM crops entirely and has filed suit to prevent the importation of GM crops. In Europe, anti-GM food protestors have been active. In the United States, however, there has been a confused regulatory process, since there are three different government agencies that gained jurisdiction over GM foods.

Although GM foods are potentially able to solve hunger and malnutrition problems, there are great challenges that need to be considered like safety testing, regulation, international policy, and food labeling. Genetic engineering is inevitable; thus, a precaution must be taken to avoid causing unintended harm to the environment and the human health.