After crops are harvested from the fields or the orchards, then we
immediately confront the challenge: How to preserve them for later
consumption? It is obvious that we cannot consume everything immediately and
that we need to have enough reserves till the next harvest or collection of
fruits. This ancient challenge nowadays occupies the scientific branch of
food technology. There exists a multitude of ways of food processing which
can be divided into three basic groups:
- Food preservation (for example, drying, preserving with salt, preserving in vinegar, etc)
- Extraction of a specific ingredient from a specific crop (for example,
olive oil, apple juice, cane sugar, etc) [1]
- Creation of new food products (for example, cheese, pasta, jam with mixed fruits, etc)
There are some methods which can be used in more than one group, such as
fermentation which can be used either to preserve the food (e.g.
sauerkraut, sour beets, etc), or to make new products (e.g.
yogurt,
miso,
etc). [2]
Besides this it is sometimes hard to tell if we have, in the case of a
specific food product (e.g. jam with one kind of fruit with added sugar), a
new product or that it is just an example of the method of preservation.
Origins and Nature of Traditional Food Processing
If we want to trace the origins of traditional food cultures we need to
go far back in time when "everything of a spiritual or cultural nature that
men received in those days came to them from the
Mystery centres, whence it
was spread abroad as widely as possible among people by all manner of
channels. All the laws, institutions, and social fabric existing at that
time could be traced back to Mysteries. Everything was subject to the
authority of Mystery leaders; everything depended on that. It was the
principle of authority based on truth and wisdom lived out to the greatest
extent in the best way. Only those who were great and wise leaders of
humanity were allowed to exercise such authority. And this took place
without causing any kind of damage to humankind." [3]
Thus we can trace the origins of traditional food cultures, including
traditional methods of food processing, to such places of wisdom, the
Mystery centres. Practical instructions in regard to all aspects of food
production were based on knowledge of supersensible forces active via
various foods and the effects of these foods on the whole human being – on
his physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego organization. All
diverse food cultures were therefore based on the knowledge of how different
dietary customs helped specific group of people in the development of their
specific characteristics with the aim to contribute to the overall evolution
of humanity. [4]
In the long transition period from old food cultures guided by Mystery
centres to the modern predominance of the materialistic science people have
mainly lost the knowledge and awareness of supersensible aspects of
nutrition. [5]
But luckily we have retained traditional food processing methods – such as
drying, fermentation, etc. – due to these being passed down from the father
to the son and from the mother to the daughter. Thus we have inherited these
treasures of old spiritual wisdom.
What all traditional food processing methods have in common is that they
are natural – all relying on natural processes and natural substances. And
whenever the food is transformed in a way that causes changes in the
chemical composition of food this is achieved by the use of naturally
occurring beneficial microorganisms in the processes of fermentation. In
fact, "the process of fermenting foods – to preserve them and to make them
more digestible and more nutritious – is as old as humanity. Unfortunately,
fermented foods have largely disappeared from the Western diet, much to the
detriment of our health and economy. Because fermentation is, by nature, an
artisanal process, the disappearance of fermented foods has hastened the
centralization and industrialization of our food supply, to the detriment of
small farms and local economies." [6]
This is not a surprise when one takes into account that the true
nature of "wild fermentation is the opposite of homogenization and
uniformity, a small antidote you can undertake in your home, using the
extremely localized population of microbial cultures present there to
produce your own unique foods. What you ferment with the organisms around
you is a manifestation of your specific environment, and it will always be a
little different." [7] This is the underlying reason why artisan cheeses and
other fermented foods are so diversified in their tastes, aromas, textures
and also in their appearances.
There is something more one need to know. Because traditional methods of
food processing have existed for thousands of years our bodies have
developed the skills to properly digest such foods. As is explained in
FOOD AS 'POISON' we need to be capable of digesting any food if we don't want to
get into trouble. This is evident from examples when some people lack a
specific enzyme to digest a specific food.
[8] In the case where somebody didn't inherit the
ability from his or her ancestors then this person
needs to learn by their own effort how to properly digest any new food that
appears on his or her menu.
Origins and Attributes of Modern Food Industry
The modern food industry is, alongside
conventional farming, another
offspring of the industrial revolution which grew out of a modern scientific
understanding of the
inorganic kingdom. "The characteristic
nature of modern technology arose as a result of man acquiring knowledge of
natural laws and then proceeding to use the material world to fashion his
machines according to these natural laws, machines with which he can then
work back on nature and life by filling life with them and creating his own
technological settings. That is modern life in its essence and function."
[9] However, great achievements of modern science in all areas where we deal
exclusively with physical laws and matter (industry, transport, buildings,
etc) are useful in food processing to a limited degree. For example, the
technological advances in transport and refrigeration enable safe and quick
transport of fresh vegetables which would not be possible in the previous
times. Or, the quality of modern buildings has enabled improvements of
hygienic conditions in food processing that were not possible in the Middle Ages.
Things are more problematic when we come to the food processing itself.
For in the case of food we are dealing with organic substances derived from
living organisms – plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. The main
problem of a scientific approach to living organisms is that each is looked
upon as a kind of apparatus made exclusively from physical substances which
use energy to produce new substances, or which use substances to produce
energy. For example, in the book Food Technology to GCSE – "written for students working towards
GCSE Design and Technology: Food Technology"
[10] – one can read: "In common with other industries, the food industry uses
components to manufacture its products. A component is an integral part of a
manufactured product, e.g. a car has thousands of components, each one with
a specific purpose. Likewise with food, each component, or ingredient
performs a specific function." With such a mechanistic approach it is quite
logical that we can take to pieces complex natural foods and reassemble them
in all kinds of ways possible. And because we are dealing only with material
substances we can use all technological methods which are safe enough not to
harm people immediately. But what has been completely lost with such an
approach is the awareness about the effect of food processing on the life
forces present in plant and animal foods. This has contributed to a large
extent to the emergence of fast food culture based on mass production of
cheap, low quality food products.
However, inside the modern food industry we do not find
just junk food; there exists a whole spectrum of quality which extends from
good to extremely bad. The outcome depends on the following factors:
- What kind of raw materials are used
- What kind of methods or technological processes are used
- What kind of substances are used to aid food processing but which do
not become part of the final product
- What kind of food additives are used which become part of the product
Because of all these factors there exists many categories of quality in
practice. Nevertheless, we can distinguish two types of food production
inside the modern food industry which stand at the opposite sides of the
quality spectrum (and all kind of combinations in between):
- The use of traditional methods of food processing,
and organically or naturally grown raw materials and natural additives. In
this case machines replace human labour or traditional equipment with the
aim to produce higher quantities.
- The use of modern high technological methods of food processing and
conventionally grown raw materials and artificial additives. In this case
everything serves the goal to produce high quantities of cheap food.
For an example see
How Oils are Manufactured – a comparison of two
processing methods:
- the traditional method of oil production which has
been adopted and modernised in organic oil production of cold-pressed oils;
- the modern industrial method of production of cheap refined oils.
[11]
It is a curious fact of modern life that in spite of the Internet and
other modern means of communication we know very little about how exactly
our foods are processed. It is very hard to find information about how
specific foods are produced. How many people have ever heard (apart from
freezing and irradiation) about the following so-called 'soft technologies'
used in food processing: [12]
- microfiltration and ultrafiltration
- high pressure technique
- pulsating electric field
- pulsating light
- thermo-sterilisation with microwaves
- food sterilisation in the floating layer in the watery medium
- osmotic impregnation in vacuum
- irradiation (with Gamma rays)
- freezing
One can just wonder what would the list of 'hard technologies' used in
food processing look like. [13]
Now, in Fourfold Nature of Real Foods
it is explained that our food is not just a combination of physical
substances, but also contains etheric forces, astral forces, and typical
forms as an expression of the individual nature of a specific plant or
animal species. Mainstream nutritional science dismisses these supersensible
aspects, but in holistic nutrition they are an essential part of overall
food quality. Here we cannot explore the question of how one can measure
these supersensible aspects of food quality, because it would demand a lot
of writing. However, one thing must be obvious: If people dismiss or are not
aware of these aspects then it is very unlikely that the outcome of their
interventions will be positive in regard to food quality.
At this point we need to clarify that the standpoint of spiritual
science about modern technological development is not an indiscriminate call
'back to nature'. However, "it is necessary for us to understand that
humanity has created a completely new world around itself today; human
beings themselves have developed the factories and forces that now determine
their destinies. But human beings are more than just intellect; they also
have feelings and sensibilities. These have to cope with everything entering
the soul from the products of technology, from machines. The only way to
counteract this is to fill your soul with the one thing that will give you
strength, a strength the earth itself cannot provide. We can only become
sure of ourselves as human beings if we walk the road created by the whole
of technology, but do not let our lives be governed by the products of
technology, and grow able to behold the spiritual power that can become the
part of us and overcome all those products of technology. What matters today
is that life and spirit must be brought together – everyday life must be
imbued with spirit, and real life must be taken forward to connect with the
spirit." [14]
When we start to connect everyday life with the spiritual foundations of
existence then what becomes apparent is the urgent need to overcome a
materialistic approach to those realms of existence which are dealing with
the living organisms. This must also include the field of food production –
more precisely, the methods and substances we use in growing and processing
of food. These are the most important factors that determine the final
quality of food we consume. There are many intelligent people who simply
don't take seriously the fact that the way we produce
food affects the food quality.
[15]
This attitude is the same as to say: "The quality of an artistic approach – the
ideas, techniques, and aesthetic values of an artist – has nothing to do
with the final outcome. What is important are substances found in the
artistic creation. No, even this is not the decisive factor; what we need is
to know about their chemical structures." When enough people realize that
the understanding of quality demands a truly holistic approach that takes
into account physical and supersensible factors which add cumulatively to
the final outcome then the entire modern food processing will change into
another direction: to nature-friendly, human-friendly, small-scale, and
diverse artisan-type food production with high-quality food products that
will benefit human beings in body, soul, and spirit.
Real versus Fake Food
First we need to acknowledge that modern food production with its mass
production of cheap foods has already made momentous steps towards the
production of artificial food. The fact of modern life is that
"adulteration of food, especially in the developed world, exceeds today
anything that the public guardians of standards of purity in earlier times
could have imagined. For modern food technology relies on additives,
numbered in thousands."
[16] Modern consumers "find it hard to avoid the 6,000
food additives – flavourings, glazing agents, improvers, anti-caking
agents, solvents, preservatives, colourings, acids, emulsifiers, releasing
agents, antioxidants, thickeners, bleaching agents, sweeteners, chelators –
and the undisclosed 'processing aids', that are routinely employed behind
the scenes of contemporary food manufacture." [17]
This is an evident case of modern food adulteration exercised on an
industrial scale!
Although many food additives are aimed at making industrial food products
more attractive, the majority of these additives are used to make the
production of them cheaper. As natural foods demands more expensive raw
materials, there is a trend to replace them with imitations. For
example, the cheese in pizzas and burgers is most likely so-called
‘processed cheese’. “Processed cheese is a food product which begins with
real cheese, such as cheddar or colby, and is created by adding ingredients
such as food colouring, salt and emulsifiers… Since many inexpensive
ingredients can be used in its production, it is typically more economical
to manufacture than regular cheese.” [18]
The profit motivation leads to other extreme measures. "A scientist
in the employ of one of the largest food producers in America recalled a
message from the management to the laboratory workers: the company business
is to sell air and water." [19] If it were only air
and water it would not be so bad; but with all those artificially produced
substances (many in the form of powder) that imitate the taste, texture and
appearance of real foods we are in the realm of illusions.
However, there is another motive for making artificial food. In the time of man's
landing on the Moon one could read in the newspapers about the so
called "astronaut diet which consisted of a mixture of amino acids,
carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, aromatic substances, etc."
[20]
Such attempts are an expression of the ardent desire of modern science to
create food in laboratory conditions where one can easily control all
factors and create food according to specific needs. For in nature things
are not so predictable and reliable – there are always variations due to
seasons, type of soil, plant family and variety, animal breed, and diverse
methods and substances used in farming.
The astronaut's food paste is not the only attempt of creating completely
artificially made food; this idea is reappearing again and again from those
circles who have adopted a materialistic approach to food science. One
recent example was the demonstration by several American food experts
who "showed a live audience at Euroscience Open Forum how to create various
foams, gels, solids, and other food-like textured substances out of
chemicals that, when combined, resemble things like lemon soufflé and
chocolate pudding. These food scientists then shared samples of these
laboratory creations with audience members, who were told that the imitation
food products are the wave of the future" [21] development in food production.
From these examples we can see that the key difference between
real and fake food is:
- real food is created by plants and animals with
the assistance of human beings according to natural principles;
- fake food is made artificially in the laboratory environment.
Today many trends inside the mainstream food market in affluent
societies demonstrate that it is just a question of how much time will lapse
before artificially made foods become part of everyday reality. The main
argument of their proponents is that only in this manner can we solve the
modern nutritional problems due to overpopulation and limited natural
resources. For that reason one needs to focus on the crucial question: Can
artificially created food nourish people in the same way as real natural
food?
From the content of this whole website and especially from the explanations
given in fundamental principles of nutrition it must be clear that what we need
is living food. It doesn't suffice to eat just minerals and chemical compounds!
People can "analyze the foods and make chemical foods, but they are not able to
recognize that chemical foods are not nourishment in the same sense as natural
foods, although they consist of the same substances." [22] As
is explained in THE TRUE NATURE OF NUTRITIVE SUBSTANCES in the case of food we are not
dealing just with the chemical substances present in it. If we want to properly
evaluate the impacts of artificial food we need to take into account that
"behind everything material there is the spiritual, also behind nutriments. With
them we do not only take up what is materially spread out before our eyes, but
with them we also eat what is spiritual behind it." [23] For that reason one
cannot be surprised to hear that behind the promotion of artificially made food
is active an impulse "to establish nutritional laboratories and thereby gain
influence over the nutrition of populations" [24] and
consequently the control over people. Although people who are promoting
artificial food might not be aware of this more sinister attribute of fake
foods, we need to know better and protect ourselves accordingly.
There is another reason behind all this. Of course, we "can only hint at
what is really involved, because the matter itself goes very deeply into the
occult realm, and because in the cycle of nature in which we now find
ourselves it is the material perception which is to the fore, while
intuitive perception has been lost. However, picture to yourselves that
instant point in time in our Earth's development when no one had yet applied
his hand to the shaping of inorganic nature, when the whole planet was
presented to man just as it came from nature. And what happened then? Look
back to the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, in which stone was fitted
to stone through human agency. Nature's creation was given a new shape as a
result of human thought. Human wisdom has thus transformed the earth. Using
a wide variety of tools, guided by human wisdom, human powers have brought
about in the mineral world a transformation that has unfolded between
primordial times and the present day.
Art is likewise a means of pouring the human spirit into lifeless matter,
and again the result is an ensoulment and conquest of the inanimate to be
found in nature. All art is dedicated to this purpose – there is always this
mastering of lifeless, inorganic nature, regardless of whether it is a
sculptor chiselling marble or a painter arranging colour, light and shade.
Till now, man has only mastered the inanimate in nature. The
transformation of the living forces, the transformation of what sprouts and
grows in the plants, and of what manifests itself in animal and human
reproduction – that is beyond his power. Man has to leave these mysterious
powers of nature untouched. What results from these forces cannot be fully
comprehended by him. In the same way that man has achieved control over
inanimate nature, has mastered gravity with spirit-level and plumb-line, and
the directional forces of nature with the aid of geometry and mechanics, so
it is the case that in future man will himself control what he only receives
as a gift from nature, namely, the living. In the future, those forces of
outward nature over which we have no control at present must be conquered,
just as man has already conquered gravity, light and electricity in
inanimate nature." [25]
There is still a long way to this future time and before we achieve the
mastery over living forces we have to work on our moral development. For only
"when men have progressed so far that they are not merely at one in their
intellect, but also in their perceptions and feelings, and are in harmony
in their inmost souls, so far that they find themselves in what is noble and
good, so far that they lovingly join together in the objective, in what they
have in common, in the same way that they agree that two times two makes
four and three times three equals nine – then the time will have arrived
when men will be able to control the living as well. Unanimity – objective
unanimity in perception and feeling – with all humanity really embracing in
love, such is the precondition for gaining control over the living."
[26]
There is more than enough of evidence that we are still far away from
this precondition. It is also perfectly evident that the majority of people
working in the modern food industry are not motivated by such moral ideals.
For that very reason we must understand that any encroaching into the realm
of living to which also the food belongs – any form of manipulation of life
– cannot produce anything good. Therefore production and consumption of
artificial imitations of living foods works
against the free development of human individuality – the task of the
present age – and is consequentially harmful for all those who want to
participate in the positive stream of earthly evolution.
For a complementary perspective see:
♦ ORGANIC vs CONVENTIONAL FOOD
