But many folks either forget or never learn the most
intriguing portion of each of these tales:
·
Before banishing Adam and Eve from the garden,
God sat down at the most high holy sewing machine and made garments of hides
for them before sending them out into the world (a very tender, poignant moment
for the three of them, not so much for whatever animals had skin in the game.)
·
After all the pesky war, famine and pestilence
were released, Pandora noticed a crumpled little thing still in the jar: HOPE.
Both of these foundational myths speak tellingly of our
human condition. Most of us possess a certain dignity and decency, and, given
the opportunity, will do the right thing, given enough information and enough
thinking time to make informed, thoughtful decisions.
Key phrase from previous statement: most
of us.
This week, a new law goes into effect in San Francisco,
requiring any restaurant meal accompanied by a free kids toy to meet certain
very basic nutritional requirements. McDonalds immediately snapped into action…
charging 10 cents for the crappy little lead-encrusted doodads they place in
their Happy Meals. Get it? They are no longer giving away free toys, so they
don’t have to change the fat, cholesteral and sodium enriched sludge America’s
youth is hoovering up at an ever-increasing rate. HAH!
I wanted to grumble about McDonalds, but I can’t imagine any
sentient being on this or any planet who can somehow fail to be aware of what
McDonalds “Food®” does to the human body. I mean, just pull your head up out of
the trough and check out your fellow diners…
Burger joints marketed to children long before our current
obesity epidemic (Willard Scott was the original Ronald McDonald, and I would
pay big money for a Foghorn Leghorn or Speedy Gonzalez glass from way back when).
The Garden of Eden and Pandora myths were humanity’s
struggle to reason out why some people did nasty , destructive and/or stupid things.
The history of civilization since is wrapped up not so much in origins as what
to DO about evil already present. Our most reality-based answer to date comes from Scottish sociologist and educator R.M. MacIver
(1882–1970) who posited in 1926 that you
can’t legislate morality. Even the academes eventually can only throw up their hands, put down the
chalk and step out for some fresh air.
Let’s extend this now. McDonalds’ San Francisco Two-Step is really
nothing more than a cynical reflection of a corollary to Dr. MacIvers bonny
truism:
Turns out you
can’t legislate wisdom, either.
But slow down now. Don’t get me wrong. I am sick to
death of the lunk-headed neo-con scream machine ripping into Mrs. Obama for
mounting an effort to fight childhood obesity. We have a looming health crisis
that is already threatening to overtake our already massive healthcare crisis that
some would choose to simply whistle past in the dark. The first mom is the
perfect person to lead by example, especially on an issue that hits so hard in
minority and impoverished populations. Even if we decide we are not our brother’s dietician (and remember the original
speaker of the original line – humanity’s first murderer), since we are all
living in America, we all pay for some people’s bad choices through higher
insurance rates, skyrocketing medical costs, over-crowded hospitals and some really
wide, slow folks in the grocery store snack aisles.
Mrs. Obama’s is a sane, rational approach, and an appropriate use of her
elevated, influential position. With Type II diabetes nearing epidemic status,
obesity rates increasing exponentially among our children, and factory farms
turning out cheap, cruelly produced, chemical/hormone/bacteria tainted
“mcfood,” Pandora’s Happy Meal Box has already been opened. With McDonalds spending more than $2
billion a year on advertising, the chaos is swirling and winning. What can we do?
Constitutional scholars, libertarians and deep-pocketed corporate
sycophants aren’t about to let us impose healthy eating habits on the general
public, but we can relentlessly clothe every person within earshot in wisdom on
their way to the marketplace (For example, I highly recommend the movies
“Super-size Me” and “Food, Inc.” every chance I get.). Four of the people I
love most dearly in this world (my wife, daughter, sister and brother) are
healthy food evangelists. The rest of us should speak up as well.
We can’t outlaw junk food, but, perhaps, even with so much damage already done, and in the shadow of all that money and corporate influence, we can still scrape Hope up out of
the empty Happy Meal box. When you can't legislate, educate.
Thankfully Kristin and I both cut out fast food years ago. Sometimes, when traveling long distances, we'll make a stop on the thruway to eat something quick. We usually try to find a place with subs but I remember on our way to Chicago we got McDonalds. I still remember how run down and awful I felt inside. Not because I felt as though I had done something wrong, but because that's how the food made me feel. I can't imaging eating there once per month, week, or even everyday. If the people that frequented there would just change their diet for a couple of weeks or a month, they'e be surprised just how much better they felt. Their moods would improve along with their energy levels.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started at Tom Wahl's in high school (first job), we learned that fast food places, such as McDonald's, could say their hamburgers were 100% beef because everything in the patty came from a cow. However, it wasn't 100% meat. Think about what else could be in their hamburgers that came from that animal...
Looking back now, I'm thankful that we didn't go to McDonald's all that often. It was a special treat or because we had been out all night and mom and dad wanted to feed us quick on our way home. I'm also proud to know that our children will probably never taste McDonald's food.
All I can do is read this and sigh. For the past two years I've been a semi committed vegetarian (I confess to an occassional meat break, but very small occassion). It really is a challenge on those days when work has run me in the ground, when I have a boatload of homework on my plate, and a kid to transport here, there and everywhere, to build a propper, well rounded, homecooked vegetarian meal. Yet, even with my questionable vegetarian diet, I feel a thousand times lighter and healthier than any fast food meal I can remember.
ReplyDeleteI do get frustrated with the way organic food is priced and how out of reach it is for working families to consistently have organic food products in the home. I would love to buy organic milk on the regular, but can't get past the $6/gallon price tag. Seriously?? And I have to question why is it that there is this lifestyle that could grow rapidly with increased consumer support, yet it remains financially out of range for many consumers. Where is the organic farmer response to the 'food deserts' in impoverished, urban neighborhoods? Yes there are farmers markets, but why are they only one day, and not ongoing?
I'm sure from the organic farmers' persepctive it's about the bottom line too. They have to insure a profit margin to keep the farm and maintain the integrity of their products, but it just seems there is a good recipe for a massive social justice food movement, that instead is still dwindling.
One of my professors is leading a research project on the neighborhood response to heathier eating and community gardening, so maybe once she's published her study, I'll come back and post it here.
And maybe once I'm done with my own dissertation journey, I can roll up my own sleeves and take part in helping that social justice food movement grow. Although I think I need to work on my own diet practices first. (I've found eating cookies while writing keeps the writer's block pre-occupied :)).
I like this a lot Corey. But you know that this problem stems from a vicious circle that started long ago when women decided that they "needed" to work. Thus, pick up the kids from day care and run through the drive-thu. I could go on and on about that one but that is a subject for another time.
ReplyDeleteWe, as parents, have to be the ones influencing our kids to eat right. I may not be able to control what they eat now that they are grown and out on their own, but I hope some of the things I have done will stay with them.
Tips...
1. Like Jim said, make fast food a treat and try to choose Subs shops and fresh food type places.
2. Give the kids info on just how bad this food is. No mater how young, a kid will absorb info.
3. Don't buy a lot of junk food. Offer smart choices at home.
4. Don't give "Arch Cards" etc. as gifts. If your kids get them as gifts, buy or trade them from them, then donate them to a food pantry.
5. My best tip...Put a plate of fresh fruit, veggies and dip on the counter every day. You sub-consciously eat the food that is in front of you. Never leave a plate of chips or cookies out. My kids friends all come in and out and they grab the veggies too. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard one of them say "My Mom never buys this stuff". Or "My Mom buys it but doesn't cut it up and we end up throwing it away". The grocery stores now offer these trays already made and they are worth it if you know you are never going to cut the veggies your self. Besides, I've done the math, it is only a few cents more. It just seems like a lot of money because it is one item. Break it down and it is comparable in price.
Anyway, keep up the good work. It has got to be hard for you knowing your boss is always watching.
You Cousin Shari
The Looney Tunes glasses came from Carrol's restaurant, the last of which is/was in Batavia. At least, they did originally, in the first wave.
ReplyDeleteIt was diabetes that made a convert out of me. having said that, I did have a McDonalds meal for lunch yesterday, having woken up a mere 15 minutes before my dental appt. and not having time to pack my leftovers for lunch. I had a salad. And it was good.
McDonalds isn't bad for coffee, though you have to let it cool an hour before it will be safe to drink. There iced tea, with no sugar or lemon, won't kill you either. Anything else? Not very often, thank you.
So it is up to us, the individual consumers. I mean, when a bill that would improve the nutrition in school lunches is defeated in Congress with the "urging" of food conglomerates such as Coca-Cola and a company that makes its "dough" selling frozen pizzas (pun intended), we know we can't count on our representatives to look out for our welfare and that of our children.
Change will only come by exercising the power of the pocketbook and shoe leather strategy. Don't buy there, and go someplace else.
Merry Christmas, All. Chow down.
I think a major problem we are facing today is the belief that healthy=expensive. Really, it is the other way around-- unhealthy, fatty food choices do great damage to your body in the long run, increasing your (and everyone else's) medical bills and decreasing your enjoyment of life.
ReplyDeleteI'm a strict vegetarian (I eat no flesh, no products with eggs, and try to limit my dairy intake) for both ethical and health reasons. The human body is not actually built for the consumption of animal products-- the length and complexity of our intestines is evidence that we are meant to be herbivores. Carnivores digest meat and eliminate waste much more quickly than humans can because of the layout of their digestive systems. Animal products are often high in fat, and because the concentrations of toxins increases as you go up the food chain, eating meat in a world of factory farms and heavy pollution can be downright dangerous. Just look at the swine flu scare of a few years back; people got sick from being in close contact with pigs at a factory farm in Mexico, where the animals were crammed together in cruel and unsanitary conditions. Now think of all the people who had been eating meat from that farm...and all of the people those people come into contact with. One of these days, a pandemic will occur, and we will have nothing to blame except society's desire for cheaply produced animal products.