This may not be why I'm fat, but it can't be helping

I came across this great graphic on Consumerist. It originally appeared in an article, Health vs. Pork on Good Medicine.

I couldn't have summarized this graphic better than the President's Cancer Panel:  

"[C]urrent agricultural and public health policy is not coordinated—we heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases..."

I'm sure many of you have read, or are familiar with, the work of Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle and other advocates for change in our nation's food policy. I have nothing smart to add to the debate, but wanted to post something here...I don't know, to show I am aware of how messed up the situation is.

It's better (for me) to take a few steps back and adhere to Pollan's wise mantra to Eat [real] Food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I'm not a vegetarian, but I do try to find humanely raised animal products, like grass-fed, antibiotic-free meat and hormone-free, free-range poultry. Usually this means finding small farmers at the Greenmarkets here in NYC. 

When you factor in corporations ("Big Food"), I completely lose any ability to articulate my anger. Even as the bulk of farm subsidies goes to growers of corn and soy, the cost of those crops are skyrocketing due to the virtual monopoly of genetically-modified patented seed from Monsanto. In New Zealand, Weight Watchers has teamed up with McDonald's to offer a few menu items coming in at under 6 trademarked WW Points. Pepsi is funding a research chair at Yale's Medical School. How long until a Yale researcher publishes an article touting the health benefits of a daily Pepsi (perhaps infused with Vitamin D or the antioxidant du jour) and some Frito-Lay (another healthy Pepsi brand) snack "made with whole grains!"?

See, this is where I get crazy. I know Farm Subsidies and Big Food didn't make me fat, but they sure as hell didn't help! I try to eat clean, whole/real foods. But I'm human, too. I like the occasional Cheeto! (Just one, of course.) I just wish processed food didn't take up 90% of the average grocery store. And that it offered honest labeling - no flimsy health claims, honest nutritional information (make the label state the contents of the entire package, not "about 14 cheetos")...but that's a whole other topic.

Oatmeal cookies!

One resource I couldn't live without is a recipe analyzer.  I'm sure there are plenty out there, but I use this one.  You enter the ingredients and how many servings you expect to reap from the recipe and voila!  It kicks out a nutrition label for your recipe. It's been a great tool for trying new recipes at home. I made a great pumpkin loaf with vanilla yogurt and my great grandma's oatmeal cookies. (Yeah, I've been craving some sweets lately!)  

One reason I've experimented with sweets is that I've been on the hunt for Real Food alternatives to Big Food / Diet Industry snacks. Main gripes with so many of these cookies and bars:

• Don't have all that fewer calories
• Taste like chemically-flavored cardboard
• Contain dozens of unrecognizable and/or unpronounceable ingredients
• Shelf life of centuries

The only one I've made some peace with is Luna. Usually 180 calories. I like the Peppermint Stick ones once in a while. But I was looking at my oatmeal cookie recipe and admiring its mere 5 simple, staple ingredients. And using the recipe analyzer (I picture a sci-fi type laser ray probing the cookie dough, abbracadabra!) I discovered each cookie has less than 100 calories and some fiber.  No, it's not an apple, but I stuck the finished cookies in the freezer and having a couple as a snack has made me feel very satisfied. Mmm, I made these...and I didn't use any molybdenum glycinate.  I realize some people can't have cookies, even frozen ones, in stock.  Actually, I am that person, but for some reason, perhaps because I was armed with the caloric "damage" information and knew I had made them as a homemade treat for myself, I didn't go overboard.

As a favor to my mother, for my initial foray, I made the recipe "as is" - no crazy yogurt or applesauce substitutions.  Which means there's a lot of sugar in these suckers.  And I'm ok with that for the most part.  However, I would like to experiment more with some healthy substitutions, just so long as the integrity of the recipe isn't completely compromised. (For example, I don't want to repeat the Great Spaghetti Squash Switcheroo of my WW days.  That's NOT spaghetti. I'm not fooled and now I hate life. I like squash enough, but I like pasta, too. Alright, I've managed to refind my will to live....)  

So if anyone knows about subbing out ingredients in baking, please drop me a line.  Is applesauce generally a sub for butter? Or sugar? And yogurt? I would like to take a recipe I know I like and maybe sub out 1/2 of a less healthy ingredient (sugar) with a better choice and see how that comes out. It will likely take some experimentation, I suppose.