Northeast Regional Breads, Cereal, Pasta, Tortillas, Whole Grains
At the base of the food pyramid, this is the group from which you can eat
most generously. In fact, you should be consuming 6-11 servings each day!!
A half cup of kasha (made from buckwheat), pasta, rice or cooked cereal, a
slice of bread, and a tortilla are each individual servings. A number of
the grains needed for these items, like wheat, oats, barley, corn and
buckwheat, are grown right here in the Northeast.
A common misconception regarding this food group is that all of these
starchy foods are fattening. However, this is not true. These foods are
MADE fattening by adding things like butter, margarine, cream, cheeses, and
sugars. So remember to avoid these added fats and sugars when eating from
this food group!!!
The northeast produces a wide variety of grains, dry beans and peas and
some nuts. The region has also maintained some milling capacity. Clearly
the midwest and west are far bigger producers of these commodities now, but
at one time New York's grain production was great enough for the state to
be known as the grainery of the Northeast!
While rice is not a major agricultural commodity for the Northeast, there
is some production in the region. Because it, like other grains and
cereals, is comparatively low in water content, less energy per caloric
value of food is necessary for transportation. Contrast this with the high
volume of water and relatively low caloric density in fruits and vegetables
and it is easy to see that from a resource standpoint it makes more sense
to transport grains and dry beans than iceberg lettuce and tomatoes! Also,
produce requires more extreme temperature control in the form of
refrigeration for shipping and storage than do grains and dry beans.
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MAIL TO: Dr. Jennifer
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