January 15, 2004

• Because of mypetfat, I can still enjoy some old friends. Ain't that the truth. *eats a hot dog*
• The solution to weight loss is not to carry around a giant blob and change your thinking. The solution to weight loss is to change the thinking of the American food industry, creating tasty, inexpensive, and healthy snacks not laden with corn syrup or partially hydrogenated fats.
• Bob was a good friend. He's an even better meal. *snacks hungrily on femur*
• Best>Post>This>Month!
• Excellent post IngnorantSlut!! Dr. Zira, The only responsibility of the food industry is warning about the contents and long-term health problems that their products can cause. It's the responsibility of the costumers to choose wisely based on that information and care for their own health. Besides, there are enough companies and small farm-businesses that produce health food so there's no need to force the rest of the companies to do the same.
• [ insert gripe about food pyramid here ]
• Zemat: Yes, I agree with you about consumer responsibility. I would disagree with your statement about there being enough companies and small farm-businesses that produce health food. The problem is that the small companies and farm-businesses cannot compete with the marketing power of the giant food companies who are able to make huge profit margins making cheap unheathly snacks, because ingredients for making such products are cheaper and subsidized by the government. Take a look at the food pyramid, then take a look at where government subsidies are going. They're sure not going to subsidize fruit and vegetable farmers, which, in theory, is the food we're supposed to be eating.
• Zemat: Sure consumer responsibility is all well and good, BUT! as a consumer on a limited budget, when I go to shop the most affordable foods are not the vegies and healthy food, it's the chemical and sugar laden crapola. Even if I never put a pack of cookies or bag of chips in the cart, I still wind up with plenty of sugar, salt, preservatives, and dye products. I'd love to shop at the co-op or the health foods store--but the cost is twice as high as the local chain. Then there are the little consumers in the household--you know, the ones that are brainwashed by all the advertising. Don't let them watch the commercials on the tube, you say? Hey, I'm talking about the advertising in the school hallways and in their textbooks. I'm talking toys and clothing with candy and junk food advertisments that [some]parents PAY money for! Ah, such choices we have in the market! Shall we eat nitrate and dye-laden sausage, BSE steaks, or tuna a'la mercury tonight, honey? Accompanied of course, by the vegetables either slathered in pesticides or dipped in preservatives and wax. Yum. Crap, I'm just rambling. On preview, Dr. Zira, you said it! I'm sick of winter--at least in the summer I can get a good tomato out of the garden. That's MY attempt at being a responsible [non]consumer!
• This is an argument for the ages, but the bottom line is that the food industry is just that... an industry. It's business. They are going to pump out the most profitable products they can. If people stop buying them, they stop being profitable. As for consumer responsibility and the affordability of healthier alternatives, it is more expensive. You should expect to pay more for a better product. Much like you expect to pay more for a higher-end DVD Player or good quality wood furniture. It's not always fair, it just is what it is. Of course there are very poor communities throughout the world that seem to eat better than we Americans do, so I've got no answers. I find if I stick to the perimeter of markets I can eat relatively healthy without it costing an arm and a leg. I'm sure it must be tough to ward off the sugar-laden goodies when you have kids, but I also know plenty of families who do that. I used to be a nanny for a family of six (kids aged 1.5 - 7) on the Northshore of Chicago. A very affluent neighborhood with plenty of peer pressure, even for children that young. The family never had junk in the house. When their little friends would come over we would make healthy snacks together. Those children didn't even LIKE sugar. They never developed a taste for it, therefore when they had it, it was a turn-off. I wish my parents had done the same for me. Sorry, this is so long, but it's a sore subject for me. As someone who spent a lifetime eating candy and drinking sugary soda like it was water I eventually wound up dangerously close to diabetes. I was lucky to meet someone who understood nutrition and took the time to explain it to me. I no longer eat sugar or white flour and avoid high-glycemic foods like the plague. I'm healthier than ever, 50 lbs lighter and out of the diabetic danger zone thanks to her. I feel strongly that in order to reverse the horrible trends in American Health (dramatic increase in obesity and diabetes) for both children and adults, that nutrition has to be a bigger focus through our schools. I just never knew these things.
• I totally agree IgnorantSlut. The general public doesn't have access to current nutrition information. I used to work for a group that trained low-income families on how to prepare healthy meals. They had no idea what they were putting into their bodies. I've been noticing recently that the low-carb "sensation" is really going mainstream in terms of products these days. I can't go to any supermarket without seeing a slew of low-carb (and therefore, theoretically, low sugar) food. When I was in Maryland recently, there were low-carb alternatives at restaurants even. I'm happy and sad about this. Happy because I have hypoglycemia and finding convienant products that aren't going to make my blood sugar spike is rough, but sad because along with this mainstream recognition comes a lot of misleading labeling and the certainty of what we're putting into our mouths becomes muddled. I could rant about this all day (as people who know me can attest to), but I'll stop with saying I really hope that the government and mainstream media catches up with current research about what actually causes obesity and heart disease.
• Thanks iSlut, I wouldn't have come with a better argument.
• Also thanks Kimberly. That was my impression. That healthy choices are going mainstream and that people nowadays have more options over health issues.
• Kimberly - very true. Knowledge is power: read the labels, ask questions, do the research. Ignorance is not bliss.
• ...the low-carb "sensation" is really going mainstream... And now it seems to be drifting back away again as bread is taken off the endangered species list.