‘Unprocessed’ Processed Food? Sunshine Burgers: The IRONIC
When it comes to food, most people agree that fresh is best and whole is blessed.
But, um, I have two small children and a couple of full-time jobs. And so I’ve grown comfortable with the reality that there is never any such thing as perfection.
There are not that many processed foods that get it right, or even mostly right.
This one’s pretty darned alright:
Source: Leslie Loves Veggies
Here are the ingredients of the one I have in my freezer now: cooked brown rice, ground raw sunflower seeds, carrots, herbs and sea salt.
C’est tout!
Take note, other veggie burger makers whose ingredient lists read like a ten-ton tome.
Here is what I particularly appreciate about this product: The back of the box explains the story of how the Sunshine burgers came to be, with the caveat that “Carol’s farm fresh vegetarian burgers are not meant to be a beef imitation but an excellent flavor sensation of their own.”
And the reason I appreciate this is because it seems to me that if you want to go veggie but spend your days inhaling highly processed foods with a thousand ingredients that imitate the taste of your favorite meats, then perhaps it’s better (for your health) to just eat small quantities of the organic, grass-fed meats that you enjoy every once in a while until you’re ready to give them up altogether (or not).
Sunshine burgers come in a few flavors. Though my favorite by far is Barbecue, I tend to avoid it because it’s sweetened (though very slightly and with brown rice syrup, which is relatively low glycemic) and also because its second to last ingredient, ‘natural smoke flavor,’ confuses me.
What is that exactly?
Is it, as some sources warn, one of those hidden forms of MSG?
Until I know for sure, I won’t be consuming a whole lot of it. And if the nice folks over at Sunshine burgers would care to educate us, why, we’d like that even better.
My second favorite is the Southwest burger, which gets its kick from bell peppers, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno peppers and cumin seeds.
I toast my Sunshine burger along with a sprouted or Ezekiel tortilla. Since the burger tends to be a bit dry on its own, I smother it with a large heap of guacamole and top it off with fresh salsa, preferably a smoky one made with chipotle peppers.
I’m working on a homemade version of Sunshine burgers that also involves mushrooms. The few batches I’ve made have been crazy delicious, but I haven’t been able to get the texture and shape quite right. If there are any food magicians out there who can help me figure out that part, please drop me a line. I will share the recipe as soon as I perfect it.
And speaking of sweetened foods, I’m hoping you saw the bomb dropped by the New York Times over the weekend. Is Sugar Toxic? is what science writer Gary Taubes asked in his lengthy piece in Sunday’s Times Magazine.
And it would seem that the answer is yes.
Since most of us more or less knew that already, the more important issue is what does that mean to us in practice, in our daily lives? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Category: Featured Articles: Health & Nutrition, Health & Nutrition, The Ironic, Things I Like
I think TOO much sugar is toxic…but not in small doses. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about sunshine burgers, but mainly about how great it tastes. I wonder what that natural smoke flavor is, too. Sounds a bit suspicious…
Great Post, Amanda! You know, I TOO want to believe that small amounts of sugar is harmless, but what is fascinating about the study noted in the NYtimes article is that it isn’t entirely clear how little/how much sugar is considered ‘toxic’ (they found lean people with fatty livers, not just overweight people, as a result of sugar intake).
The other issue is that, unless one cuts out processed foods altogether, there is a danger that you could eat more sugar than anticipated as so much of processed food has sugar ‘hidden’ in it (and I’m not talking candy bars, ice cream and baked goods).
Exactly!!!
Patty said it!
But, I’d also like to know, do frozen foods have any adverse affects just by virtue of being frozen and not fresh? (For your next article
Just saw this really well-done side-by-side nutritional comparison of a Sunshine product versus a Boca product. It’s kind of amazing, really.
http://thelovecleanseblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/determining.html
Now, mind you, I used to LOVE me some Bocas back before I knew any better.
Lena, fantastic idea. I’m on it!
Great post Amanda. Where can I get me some of those sunshine burgers in the land of Green!?!?
Ok, so I have started to watch my sugar intake this past week since the NYT article. I will admit that I am one of those nasty people who has never had to diet and I am in my mid-30s now. While I don’t have a terribly sweet tooth, I have always taken sugar in my tea and coffee. At one point I did start replacing it with Agave syrup and that actually worked well. I just lost the routine with moving back to the UK, but I think I will resume it. I was reading an article not so long ago though that was implying that agave is not everything it’s cracked up to be. I should investigate more or perhaps The Ironic could investigate
Actually, I would be very interested in seeing a full evaluation of the healthier sugar substitutes/alternatives available out there.
Great post. I stopped eating veggie burgers a long time ago because I avoid processed foods masquerading as healthy ones. The Sunshine burgers look pretty good ingredient-wise, but ah…natural smoke flavor…hmmmm.
As for the Times article, I’ve been wary of sugar for many years but could never stop eating it completely. I do avoid white sugar for the most part and use only unrefined sweeteners…but I am honestly hesitant to believe any and all sugars are “toxic”.
Lena & Amanda – some links re: fresh/frozen: http://www.zomppa.com/2011/02/07/tidbit-of-the-day-fresh-or-frozen/
When I was 100% veg, I ate SO many processed veggie burgers it’s a wonder my pipes didn’t clog up for good. (Sorry for that visual.) Ironically, not that I eat a bit of well-sourced meat I think I must be healthier. Weird. Those Sunshine burgers are pretty good. You should also try Field Roast products, they are amazing.
Used to take “natural” as “real and honest”…but I guess they are not the same thing.
I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for these, as yet I haven’t seen them in my markets.
But I love the fact that they aren’t made to taste like meat burgers. I never really understood the concept of that. Cuz, a meat eater is not going to find a meat “flavored” veggie burger to even come close to taste they’ll like.
I want my veggie burgers to taste like veggies.
Although I have no idea what kind of ingredients that they use to produce “natural smoke flavor”, I do recall an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown created his own natural smoke flavor with basically wood smoke and water condensation, so there is the possibility that it is actually natural, and not “natural”.