Tartan

Issue date: 5/10/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Abby Potash Professor Jim Gould leads the panel.

The 'Food Fight' I experienced was not your typical cafeteria tray, beverage throwing food fight most would imagine when hearing this type of terminology. Instead the "fight" I witnessed was that in the form of a debate held at MCC in the conference center. The forensics team finished up their speaker series on April 22nd with a healthy discussion on whether or not today's families can afford to eat organic.

Elaine Whalen, a LEAD instructor, providing health and fitness education to MCC students as well as faculty, passed out nutritional information to those in attendance. Provided were recommendations on how to lead a healthier lifestyle, in addition to the Mediterranean pyramid, which Mrs. Whalen stated is her preferred choice of recommended daily allowances.

This pyramid differs from the version we are used to seeing in that it has the category for meat located at the top, allowing for month consumption of 3 to 4 servings, a sharp contrast to where it is usually found, in the weekly category. Most American families use this pyramid as a guide for RDA. Another clear difference is the recommended daily use of olive oil, an idea foreign to most families in the United States.

After about 20 minutes of speaking, it was time for the audience, better know as the 'peanut galley', to choose the topic of debate. The choices were as follows: This House Cannot Afford to Eat Organically (Fact); This House Believes that the Worst Local Food is Better than the Best Fast Food (Value); This House should significantly decrease the production of corn (Policy). The 1st option was picked by a show of hands, preceded by a brief intermission with coffee and brownies, while the speakers prepared for the task at hand.

Appointed to Prime Minister was faculty member Sara Ruffman, who partnered with Jim Gould, to represent to government. Their job was to prove that it was more true than false that today's families cannot afford to eat organically. The opposition was represented by Chris Cox and Joe Cusamano, members of the MCC Forensics team, and they made the argument that today's family must find money in their budgets to purchase and consume organic foods.

The reason that held the most weight with the audience was that organically grown fruits and vegetables have a higher nutritional value, up to 10x more than those found in the grocery isles at Jewel or Wal-Mart. (Shame) The hidden costs with the amount of low quality foods one eats, proved to be a strong point made by the opposition, claiming that in the long run, a triple bypass surgery would cost you upwards of $30,000. This, in addition to supporting the local economy, were the reasons the students won this highly animated "Food Fight".

The evening ended with each side shaking the others hand, and an audience Q&A session. Over all, the re-occurring theme was buying local and buy what you can. As the young man in a tie-dye shirt sitting next to me so simply put it, "If you can only afford one organic purchase, make sure it is eggs. Even when my family can't afford to buy fruits and vegetables that are organic, we always find the money for free-range organic chicken eggs." And at least that's a start.

For more information on health and fitness wellness at MCC contact Elaine Whalen @ 815-455-8543. To view this debate online go to www.mchenry.edu/food.

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