I had written a column about food and nutrition shortly after a report came out of a lunchroom "monitor" in an elementary school taking a cupcake away from a 1st grader...a homebaked cupcake packed in his lunch sack by his mom, mind you. Now I'd rather my grandkids ate something made with love out a home kitchen than see them tear open a cellophane wrapped gluten-free, egg-free, fat-free, sugar-free, love-free cookie that was made in a factory weeks before. But I guess that's just me. And yes, I know that some kids have allergies or other limitations requiring foods be without certain ingredients, but hello? doesn't Mom already know what safe for that little guy or girl to eat so isn't she sending those safe foods already? Why do the food police have to interfere in a choice a mom makes for her child?
As far as the fast food industry, I was a fast food glutton...loved it! Still do and if I could I'd still be at it! And out here if you want a MacDonald's or a Taco Bell, you'd better not have anything planned for the afternoon - the nearest fast food joint is 25 miles, one way. However, when I had my gallbladder out, suddenly fast food was not real comfortable to eat. But I'd be lying if I said I quit totally. My hubby has a medical condition called "sarcoidosis". He has it in his lungs, liver, spleen, parotid glands, eyelids, and joints. The liver nodules finally contributed to acute pancreatitis, so his diet changed radically. That was the final nail in the fast food coffin. We got rid of the junk food and prepared to re-do our lifestyle. Guess what I found out? In most cases it's cheaper to take a family of 4 to MacDonald's for supper than it is to feed them the healthy stuff at home. Yep, that's a fact. I was totally STUNNED at how much the contents of that shopping cart cost me, full of fresh and frozen fruits and veggies (no canned), lean meats, cracked wheat bread, and other such stuff. No sweets, no chips, no white bread, no prepared or prepackaged foods. And that was just for the two of us for one week's meals.
It's a plain fact that many people do not have the space, the time, or the ability to make a garden and grown their own. Not everyone has a nice backyard where they can carve out a plot for veggies. For apartment or condo dwellers, or even some in suburbia with HOAs (not all HOAs but the really restrictive ones) they couldn't grow a garden if they wanted to. Oh, they can toss a few tomatoes in planter on the balcony or even some cukes and a little lettuce in a postage size plot outside the kitchen door - that type of thing - but a full blown garden from which they can eat fresh, can or freeze is just not an option. And that goes double for many communities banning backyard poultry, rabbits, or anything else. So those folks either rely on the brief time the Farmer's Markets are open or have to hit the supermarket. And that's when it becomes more costly to eat right than to eat fast.
Now given the current economy, where in some families both parents work or in single parent households where the adult has to work, too many folks are barely able to make ends meet as it is. After working a multi hour shift, and with there still not being enough money for all of the expenses, not to mention so little time at home, what is the logical outcome? Spend $50.00 at the grocery store for the "good stuff" for a meal or spend $50.00 at a fast food joint to feed the family for a few nights? Many people opt for the faster, cheaper meal, then they're criticized for it. And while they're slapped around for "killing" their families, the prices of stuff they should be eating keeps climbing and climbing. There is no excuse for what this video showss but in fairness most kids DO know a tomato when they see it. To make the kids look stupid while throwing so many roadblocks in the path of home production and making it impossible for them to learn to grow their own healthy stuff, is asinine.
In a perfect world everyone would have a garden and know how to preserve food. We'd all be able to buy or raise a steer to fill the freezer and have a few chickens in our backyards for meat and eggs. I'd certainly wish that for my kids and my grandkids. But unfortunately we don't live in that kind of world and most of us have to work with what we have, accepting limits and choices that aren't always the best ones. Where I live most people are still raising their own, meat, eggs and produce right in town. But we are the exception, not the rule. I feel good that I can share some of the meat we hunt and the eggs that our chickens provide with my kids and grandkids. It's not a full healthy diet but it's better than nothing. I know many of you won't agree with me, and that's okay. Those of us who do grow our own foods are fortunate to be able to do so, but we need to remember that the system has made it easier to eat garbage than good food.
Okay, off my soapbox. And what the he// this has to do with this thread I simply don't know!The video made me do it!
x2. Everything you have written here is the sad, horrific truth. The Food Nannies have been so busy here in California that some local markets no longer carry peanuts! I did notice a couple of candy bars that contained peanuts - but apparently one local market was threatened with a lawsuit by a woman who claims her offspring reacts just walking in the door. Now, this is possible - but she had better learn how to handle unexpected reactions, and teach him to do the same because if he has one allergy, he likely has another waiting in the wings.
