Nikki & David Goldbeck, food activists and co-authors of nine food books including Healthy Highways.

In the 1970s, when we started writing about consumer issues, nutrition and food, we thought the battles were straightforward – better labeling, a concern for additives, pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in the food supply, reducing packaging, more organics, and an appreciation of the benefits and joys of wholefoods. Gee, if everyone just ate brown rice everything would be OK.

For a while we thought we were winning – labels were more complete, the public was getting the message about decreasing pollutants in their food, organic food was becoming more available (and reasonably priced). We felt that our 1970s unexpected bestseller, The Supermarket Handbook, had actually had an affect. We could even mention yogurt and tofu on a TV without getting a laugh.

But as we now know, for the food industry these were just small battles in their war to makeover human food. While we were thinking that wholefoods cuisine would save the day, they were dreaming up even more outrageous insults, such as the feeding of animals to animals which has engendered Mad Cow disease, attacks on organic standards, and probably worst of all – genetically modified food, to name only a few.

Jefferson said that the revolution must constantly be re-fought. It seems this wisdom does not only extend to traditional politics, but also to the struggle for pure, wholesome food. Fortunately, new warriors are stepping up to the plate. Our current heroes are the folks at Organic Bytes, a group of good people in Finland, Minnesota, who are doing a remarkable job of staying on top of these issues. We highly recommend that you visit their website, subscribe to their newsletter and support their efforts.

By the way, we still think wholefoods cuisine can save the day, and that is why we have reissued American Wholefoods Cuisine this year. We continue to believe that experiencing the joys of real food is the best incentive for people to do something about what is happening to our food supply.

The Goldbeck’s website is www.HealthyHighways.com.

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