So often we hear from elders that food just doesn’t taste as good as it did when they were younger. And it’s fairly well accepted now that as we age, we lose some of our sense of taste of food. Food tastes less sharp and bright, and — especially if we shun foods with excessive salt and sweeteners — meals just don’t taste like much. This helps to contribute to nutritional deficiencies as food becomes less and less interesting to consume.
But is diminished ability to taste really the entire cause of food losing its savor for many of our older population? Or is it that our customary food supply lacks flavor? I think it’s probably some of both.
Think about it: those who are now in their 70s and older grew up in a time before industrial farming and food manufacturing. Typically, they ate food grown closer to their own communities. A far greater variety of breeds of chickens, cattle, pigs and sheep were given pasture regularly, and were fed entirely differently than they are today. Older varieties of plants and animals were used, much of it what we now call “heirloom” stock. These are particularly delicious — and often too fragile to ship long distance.
Today we see a more narrow variety of plant and animal foods for sale. The same (to me) amazingly dull tasting varieties are found around the country, bred and grown for uniformity, toughness during shipping, and long keeping abilities — not for great flavor. Fish is largely farmed, and tastes nothing like wild, fresh caught. How many of the dozens and dozens of varieties of, say, lettuce, beans, cabbage, or chickens do most people even know exist, much less ever see for sale?
As a backyard farmer growing well over 100 varieties of plant foods in my suburban yard, I can attest to the fact that food found in our supermarkets (and even in many speciality stores) — and also, as grown from the typical seeds found in most garden centers — contain just a fraction of the flavor of what I now grow and eat. Even though I used to be a professional chef, until I raised this many heirloom plants, I had absolutely no idea of the amazing depth and variety of flavors that had never met my palate.
Why does this matter? Besides sheer pleasure, the more flavor food has, the higher is its the nutritive value — particularly in plants. The naturally occurring compounds that we experience as taste, fragrance and color in grains, legumes fruits and vegetables are the same ones that provide dense nutrition. If food doesn’t taste like much, it can’t provide much in the way of nourishment. Older folks may well remember what food is “supposed to” taste like — can we blame them for finding our more modern fare too pale by far?
Farmstands, CSA’s (Community Support Agriculture) and backyard gardens may be key to turning this around for many of us. And not just for plant foods — many more folks are raising amazingly tasty eggs, dairy and meat. So why not take an excursion to a local farm with your favorite senior, and begin a paired journey to better tasting and healthier food? Open a discussion about the foods your family’s elders remember eating when they were young. Where did it come from? How did it get to their home? How was it different from what they have eaten in their later years? How the same?
Buy, trade or beg eggs laid by the chickens kept down the road, and together compare their appearance and flavor with supermarket eggs. Plant and nurture a pot of heirloom salad greens together. How does it compare with store-bought? Discuss what previous food traditions might be possible to re-establish in the household. Such conversations and experiences will both educate the current household shopper, as well as spur the sharing of fascinating memories and traditions.
As a culture, we have lost so many of what anthropologists call our “foodways” — the rich cultural traditions connected to geographic locations, ethnicity, and to the seasons. Foodways are often also connected to fabulous tasting heirloom plant and animal varieties that have been handed down through the centuries, some virtually unaltered from ancient times. These are also traditions that connect family members to one another, and to their ancestors through time. Until enough of these are re-established — or wonderful new foodways are created — how would we know just exactly how much of a loss of food taste is due to aging, and how much is due to the lack of flavor of what we eat?
