Natural food movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The natural food movement is a term for a style of eating that became popular in America and Western Europe during the 1970s. Its principles include avoiding artificial ingredients and 'processed' foods such as refined sugar and white flour. Adherents of the movement also tend to choose organically grown fruits and vegetables and are often, though not always, vegetarians.
Such a diet is generally followed because it is considered to be more healthful than other types of eating (though some nutritionists dispute this), to have a lighter impact on the environment and to avoid supporting large corporations. The natural food movement is particularly associated with members of the counterculture.
Food produced or sold according to the ideals of the natural food movement is sometimes known colloquially as 'health food,' although many people also use that term in a broader sense to mean any type of healthy eating. Natural-food philosophy overlaps with the organic movement, vegetarianism, whole food, macrobiotics and herbalism, although it is not synonymous with any of these.
Although in modern times the natural food diet has largely been only practiced by a minority, it has frequently influenced the way the wider population eats. Some of the foods that the movement helped introduce to America include yogurt, tofu, carob, brown rice and herbal tea.
There are many shops, restaurants and cookbooks catering to the natural food diet. Until recently, natural food stores tended to be independent ventures or co-ops. However, the growth of chains like the Whole Foods Market has taken the selling of natural foods into the mainstream.
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