extreme couponers

[HumblePie]

"Processing" food is either adding or removing materials from edible food ingredients. Period.

Some forms of processed food will have substantially less nutritional value than if they weren't processed that way, but would not be the same food either.

Cooking a meal is technically "processing" food as well. Adding seasoning to a soup, baking your own bread, or even removing the peel of a banana is processing that food piece. "Over processed" is usually defined as over done to the point the food is no longer edible. Such as adding too much salt to a soup that it is no longer edible. Either because it's dangerous to do so, or it just tastes soo bad no one will eat it that isn't starving.

Processing foods is done to achieve something from the raw materials of the food. I saw raw, but that's not really true because everything is processed in some way. But by definition I mean extra processing done by the direction of a human person once the food piece has been separated from its origin. Otherwise watering and fertilizing a tomato plant to cause tomatoes to be bigger and juicer is technically processing food. So is peeling it, drying it, cooking it, boiling it, rubbing salt on it, baking cheese over it. All of that is just another process upon the tomato base components.


Anyone I didn't want to derail the thread, but just stating something is bad because it is over processed is stupid. Most of "junk" food is bad because they contain absurd amounts of either salt, sugar, or both to preserve them on the shelves.

 

[linuxboy]

Anyone I didn't want to derail the thread, but just stating something is bad because it is over processed is stupid.

I think we are coming at this with different definitions of processing and overprocessing. I use overprocessing to mean something inherently unhealthy, either by adjuncts added, or changes made. To me, "over" is the part that puts it over the top from positive to harmful. And my threshold for "over" is driven by current best science as well as a desire to provide the best nutrition possible from base ingredients, which, admittedly, may be wrong as new discoveries are made. There is also something to be said for the difficulty of determining a food as inherently one thing or another, when moderation of consumption is practiced. Meaning, anything consumed in excess may be bad. Yet, some foods, like junk foods, clearly are bad.

I don't think this is derailing. We're talking about a complex phenomenon of using coupons to purchase "stuff". I see it as damaging to go out and buy stuff, and to be obsessed with acquiring more stuff. It takes away from relationships and from healthier interactions. Like that couple in the video, she must have absolute control over some completely arbitrary coupon thing, and instead of going out and engaging with the world, there is this obsession. It is not healthy. And to use the justification that donating it makes the behavior acceptable, and somehow even laudable... that seems to lack honesty, because it seems to be a sort of band aid to justify compulsive behavior. I also brought up the point that in many cases, donating it might actually cause harm because of the low nutritional value.

This said, I have personally at times used coupons to purchase many items for near free, or made money on the purchase.