The woman I saw who I never want to be!

Many busy Mom's rush home from work, and prepare some sort of food before their child gets rushed off to an activity. I don't think they are sitting in front of the TV. Most I know spend more time behind the wheel of a car, then in front of a TV. I think that generalization was a bit harsh.

Tonight as I rushed around to prepare a good healthy meal, it was stressful. DD had to be at marching band at 6, DH does not get home until 5:40, so somewhere in there, I try to time the meal to be prepared for both of them to eat. Believe me, Subway would have been a whole lot easier.

I am not just talking about the cost of bread. Fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, especially in the winter, as are good cuts of meat, fish, and such. 19 year old boys are bottomless pits, and can go through a drawer full of food in one night, so it is expensive to keep healthier alternatives around. I have spent a whole lot more money this last month being more health concious, and am at the store more often getting fresh foods, because they spoil too easy if bought in bulk.
 
"I think that generalization was a bit harsh."

Thanks for realizing that this is exactly what it was .... a generalization. (as in "average american" in quotes.)

Also, in terms of the high cost of healthy foods, the "average american" also spends around $120 or more a month on their TV bill ... money that could be much better spent on healthy food, reglar visits to the acupuncturist, etc.

Another travesty is that the "average american" spends loads of money each month on prescription medicine ... often for common things like high-blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.... things which you can say were brought on by the crap manufactured by the food industry, and things that could be avoided/cured by eating healthy, exercising, and getting alternative medicine.

Of course, I'm sure there could be cases where food and lifestyle have nothing to with these health conditions, but I used to work for pharmaceuticals and I know for a fact that the drugs are designed strictly so that you can peacfeully and safely co-habitate with your diesease. They are drugs designed to allow the disease to perpetually manifest peacefully in your body ... this way, you always need to buy the drug, so the corporations always make a profit. Trust me, common ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure, high-cholesterol, etc., are nothing more than a high-dollar market. It's in the corporations best financial interests that you develop and maintain these illnesses. So they def don't want you to know that diet/excercise/alternative healthcare/lifestyle changes can cure you of these illnesses. Of course, some might argue that they are genetically predisposed to an illness, and no amount of proper diet/lifestyle/fitness etc will change that. But then again, that's where the term "predisposed" is key ... it is not a guarantee ... it is the likelihood for disease as long as conditions are good for devloping and hosting the disease. (I also have a background in alternative medicine and healing). Again, it all comes down to education.....teaching people that things are not necessarily the way society presents them to be.

I don't mind anyone tearing apart what I've said ... but think about it ... whose story would you beleive? The story of big corporations trying to make a buck off you? Or the story of groups that truly know how to get and keep you healthy ... remember, if you are healthy, the doctors, pharm companies, med insurance, diet companies, etc., go out of business. And it's def culture-based, for in China, if you get sick, the doctor does not get paid! Why else don't insurance companies pay for alternative care? Because then you won't be sick and in need of medicine ... all which turn a profit for insurance companies. Which by the way, "health insurance" should be called "sick insurance," as they don't do much to KEEP you healthy. Instead, they just take care of you when you are sick.

Anyway, just some information that hopefully enough people will absorb and trust ... and share with others.
 
Nancy/Mahomini:

I once had a friend who lived in Staten Island who joined the Park Slope Co-op! I've never again in my life seen organic food prices as cheap as I saw them there! (often cheaper than conventional produce prices!) I've got no plans to move back to Brooklyn, but if I ever had reason to, it would be the co-op! haha! Now excuse me, but I need to go walk by 50 Au Bon Pan's on my way to work ... my town's idea of health food! hahahaha!

And by the way Nancy, you MUST check out Jubb's! It's on E 12th ... I want to say around Avenue A. The guy who owns/runs it is from Tazmania or something, and he's a heavy duty raw-foodie. I've got his cookbook (which they sell at the cafe).
 
Manmohini:

Yes, the Columbus Circle Whole Foods is mammoth, with lines longer than Disney! I guess they not too long ago opened one in Union Square. My biggest regret is how Whole Foods has contributed to the commercialism of healthy food. I remember back when it was Bread and Circus. It's good that organics has gones mainstream, but at the same time, it's bad, cuz I feel that is what has caused the prices to skyrocket!

You should check out Fairway (I think the flagship store is the one on the upper west side. Broadway and about 72nd ish.) It's much more old-school, (unless they remodeled, which I don't know as I moved away from NYC about 3 years ago) but watch out or you might get swallowed up by the throngs!
 
jzsnow:

P.S. THanks for starting this discussion! This has probably been the most informative and productive thread I have yet seen on this site. I'm glad that it sparked interest and a chance for people to exchange very important information about healthy eating, healthy lifestyles, and american society in general. It seems like we could take it to Oprah!
 
B&G, thanks! I'll try it. (I can't remember if Vatan has a big banana tree. I just remember all the pots and pans on the walls and people sitting cross-legged in velvet booths.)
 
Thanks Nancy and B&G,
I will definitely be checking out Jubb's and Vatan's next summer when I'm in NYC.

B&G, I know what you mean about Au Bon Pain being your town's definition of health food. What city is that anyways? People around here think Panera is the healthy alternative to fast food. But bagels and cream cheese? Come on. I travel a lot in North America, and being health conscious in a countercultural way has meant slim pickings most of the time. I typically rely on filling a grocery bag at a local health food store (if the town has one). Happycow.com is a site I always consult before I travel to find out where the co-ops, markets, vegan and veg. restaurants are (of course, veg. restaurants are not always healthy either--I've been to some real greasepits). I have found that NYC, coastal California, and several college towns across the U.S. are the most progressive in terms of what's available to eat. I've not been to Seattle, but I hear it's a decent town for the health conscious. From my experience, the Midwest and South tend to proffer the worst kinds of foods. What you say about schools not serving junkfood is a positive development. My first child will be arriving in November, and, like most parents, my husband and I want him to develop taste for good, healthy, life-sustaining foods.

Still, I agree with your point about the system (food, medical, insurance, pharmaceutical, television, advertising) making it hard for people to know how to go about achieving optimum health. I know for me it took many years of unlearning what my culture and family taught me, and I'm still tweaking my lifestyle constantly. It's a process, really, and people need a ton of support to make the change because it is such an upward stream swim. Whenever we swim against the current, we get resistance from friends, family, co-workers, everyone. Think about how many times you've been at events that involve food at work. Except for what you bring, probably there is nothing for you to eat. How does one navigate those tricky social situations where sharing food means so much more than just food and where refusal to share indicates something so much deeper? Of course, by now, everyone has just written me off as a crackpot and they know I probably won't be indulging in the cookies offered. But it took me some time to learn how to be gracious in these situations and not hurt people's feelings; plus I make sure to turn them on to tasty, healthy food as much as I can. You bring up the medical issue as well: I have an allopathic doctor and I love him. But I also see an Ayurvedic doctor (whenever I'm in New YOrk), a Chinese acupuncturist (when I'm in Dallas), and a naturopathic doctor (when I'm in Lawrence, Kansas). I like to get as much information as possible, and if there's an issue of systemic imbalance, I try to correct it through diet and lifestyle choices. I haven't taken a pharmaceuticals since I was a kid, but that's not to say I wouldn't if trauma struck. I bring all of this up just to say that I have always felt bold and fearless about pursuing choices that cut against what I learned from family or culture. I have never been afraid to question conventions.

But not everyone has this disposition, and after years of working informally with people to help them with diet, I see that the real problem is the lack of a social support structure for the changes they so deeply in their hearts want to make. Then throw in a social network that is hostile to or tries to sabotage any little positive change they make. So this goes back to my main point of not condemning or judging people. The problem as you point out is deep, deep within the way our economy is set up. And it works against people. And it is hard to find the way out. And becasue it's hard to be a human sometimes, people take refuge in what's easy and instantly pleasurable.
Manmohini
 
Very good point about preventative care not getting covered like sick care. I too find that very frustrating.

On Fox News' website under Health there is a little blurb about a study done on kids. They found if you develop a kids taste early(as in when they start solids) to healthy foods instead of junk, they will be more apt to stick to that type of diet as they get older. So clearly there is harm in any Mother of a 10 year old, big, little or in-between loading up the junk.

My kids are 14 and 19. Junk food started entering their lives more in middle school and high school. Why? Because of the candy and soda machines in the schools. At that age, when they are at school, you cannot stop them unfortunately. When they bring it home, they get the Mom glare.
 
>I wish that all schools would have these rules. In our
>school system, students are bombarded with treats/junk food
>for everything. Teachers use them as rewards and motivators -
>even at the high school level. Even the school nurse gives
>her helpers candy to thank them!

I was at a workshop (FL teaching methods) where the presenter brought "treats" (ie: crappy junk food candy) and had them out for participants to take whenever they wanted. She also commented that she 'rewards' her grade-school-age students with the same kind of treats. I was tempted to make a comment about promoting junk food to children and question whether the parents of all these children would want their kids to get junk at school, but I'm afraid I would be in the minority objecting to it, as many of the other attendees were feeding at the junk-food trough themselves.

Ie: vending machines in schools. "Appetite for Profit" by Michele Simon is an interesting read that deals somewhat with this issue.

Too many schools rely on the money PepsiCo and CocaCola pay them for rights to sell their crap in schools. Our university has Pepsi machines in every building. Once, they even put on in the hallway in front of my office. I wrote a letter of protest, pointing out that we are an institution of higher education, not shills for junk food, and that the position of the machine interfered with traffic of students going to and from classes, and had many of my colleagues sign, and they finally removed it (putting it outside the building under an overhang). Why they even needed it in the first place was beyond me, since there were already machines in almost every stairwell of the building. (But we're also a university that once has a McDonald's "M" displayed on several university signs, directing students to the student union).
 
Dorothy: About kids developing taste. I read a study recently which suggests that children develop their tastes in utero starting about 5 or 6 months! This means that what a woman eats in pregnancy might be more consequential than we thought. The study said that if the woman ate a lot of sugary carbs, then no matter what you try with that kid in childhood, the child will not be attracted to veggies. ON the other hand, if the woman ate a lot of fruits and veggies, the child will have a taste for those. I have read that the fetus can begin to differentiate between sweet and bitter somewhere around the fifth month.
Manmohini
 
This is an interesting thread (and making me miss Park Slope - I used to live there, too!) Loved it!! I agree that NY is definitely a "healthier" place as far as availability (as long as you stay away from Times Square - tourist-trap, mega-crap restaurants). I haven't been to a grocery store in a while (other than Whole Foods), because I get my groceries delivered. But I do think there is a certain - laziness - on the part of most of America. When I used to go to the grocery store, it was very easy to avoid the junk. It's all in one aisle - don't go down that aisle. Easy. And a lot of healtier food is packaged just as conveniently as the junk - carrots and celery are pre-cut, low-sugar applesauce comes in snack packs, etc. People just don't even try. I am one of the people who kind of looks at some people's carts askew. They have choices. And I don't buy that "my kid won't eat...." B.S. If you're kid is three, they aren't getting into the car and driving to the store/fast food restaurant, etc and buying the stuff. They can't drive, they have no money. They eat whatever they are provided. The parents teach them. This was brought to horrible light just last week - I was sitting on the train and at the station a mother and child walked by. The child looked to be about 10 or so - and I kid you not, if you measured her belly, she is probably as big around as she was tall. That kid is going to get diabetes, heart disease, goodness knows what and will die young. I find it all very sad. We had junk food when I was a kid, but we had more fruits and veggies. I can remember wanting a snack and mom saying no, eat an apple. So I ate the apple. I realize that marketing and corporations have gotten out of control, but there is still the primary element of choice and personal responsibility. No one is forcing anyone to buy junk. They choose to. People are just lazy - they don't want to exercise, they don't want to think about their food, etc. And the kids are the ones who are ultimately suffering. It's very sad.
 
>On Fox News' website under Health there is a little blurb
>about a study done on kids. They found if you develop a kids
>taste early(as in when they start solids) to healthy foods
>instead of junk, they will be more apt to stick to that type
>of diet as they get older. So clearly there is harm in any
>Mother of a 10 year old, big, little or in-between loading up
>the junk.

And I'm sure the contrary is true as well: if children develop a taste for junk early, they tend to seek out that same taste later. At least, that's what the "pseudo-food" manufacturers are counting on, as well as developing brand loyalty from an early age, so kids don't just want a soda, but a specific brand that they grew up with (probably purchased from the school vending machine).
 
I can only speak from my personal experience, but my parents fed me mostly healthy foods and I developed a taste for junk as soon as I went to school and discovered the junk that other kids brought in their lunchboxes. After that, I dumped my healthy lunches in the trash and begged for scraps from my friends' lunches. My best friend used to bring chocolate sandwiches for lunch - white bread with butter spread on it and Nestle Quik powder! Sometimes sprinkles were substituted for the chocolate powder. My friend's mother eventually sent me a sandwich also because my poor friend was sharing her entire lunch with me. I still battle with food all the time because I love sweets and refined carbs and have battled eating disorders my whole life which started with my sneaking junk food so my parents wouldn't know I was eating it.

With my four kids, I have tried to feed them healthy at home, but starting in preschool they are exposed to constant junk either supplied by teachers, other parents for treats or what they see their friends bringing from home and they still develop a taste for it early. My three older boys constantly compare what they bring to what other kids bring to school and have actually said that they feel like "nerds" because of what I send them and I already feel like I've compromised a lot on what I pack for lunches. I worry that if I don't allow them the junk in moderation, they will feel deprived and eventually eat only junk food when they are on their own which is basically what I did. So, I buy junk as well as lots of the good stuff and they eat and enjoy both.

Erica
 
While I understand the sentiment of this post, this is just a slipperly slope of a generalization to be posting in the first place. I know some things just aren't going to come across pretty (read non judgmental) no matter how hard you try.

*munches a donut and plyo-jacks off stage right*


Debbie


Brain cells come & brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.
 
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