‘Quitting sugar’ might be the latest in a long line of food fads, but not everyone’s crazy about it. Australians are, of course, as a society eating far too much of it, but this is not a reason to make sugar another enemy in an increasingly long line of foods to fear.
Food is not inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but labelling it as such is what fuels the lucrative diet and food-fad markets – besides, we all deserve treats! And if you’re keen on knowing where yours come from, there are myriad ways to grow natural sweeteners at home and all of them have a better nutritional profile than refined sugar. If you make your own treats, you can also control the other additives, like fruits and veg, whole grains and nuts that bring more balance to your diet.
Given empires have been built on the back of these simple carbohydrates that humans so adore we figure that the ability to grow sweets might be a useful skill to have in the relocalised economy of the future.