There is a secrecy surrounding processed food.  People who create the way it tastes are obliged to sign confidentiality agreements, presumably to protect both trade secrets — the popular taste of Coca Cola, for example — as well as the appearance that your favorite strawberry Starburst, for example, might have a bit of strawberry in it.  Of course it doesn’t.  You knew that.  However,  if taste and the process of creating what processed food tastes like has always fascinated you, read The Taste Makers from The New Yorker.

And if you want a little help visualizing the food you eat, several websites are happy to oblige:

Visual Ingredients posts the ingredients of processed food, and well, other food — the ingredient of broccoli is broccoli –  in a visually appealing way.

Sugar Stacks shares pictures of food, with cubes of sugar, representing how much sugar the item contains.

German photographer Oliver Schwarzwald has created a fascinating photo essay illustrating Breakfast around the world (on his link, press editorial, then press breakfast).  His breakfast pictures include a typical American breakfast, French breakfast, Russian breakfast, and more.

And if you really want to think about how our children are being raised on processed food (and it’s not pretty), check out this blog:  Fed Up With Lunch:  The School Lunch Project.  A teacher commits to eating school lunches for a year, and shares her pictures of her daily school meal.

A recent memoir titled The Art of Eating In, chronicles Cathy Erway’s two year commitment to eating in: no fast food, no restaurants, to takeout.

Jamie Oliver is a chef who has taken up the cause for real food.  Take a look at this trailer for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

If this post inspires you to seek out fresh local food, then Local Harvest can help you find organic farms in your area.