Kim Klaver did a post asking "If "normal" food is so bad for us, why is it so common?"
"There are two main reasons. One is that it has more immediate appeal. You may feel lousy an hour after eating that pizza, but eating the first couple bites feels great. The other is economies of scale. Producing junk food scales; producing fresh vegetables doesn't. Which means (a) junk food can be very cheap, and (b) it's worth spending a lot to market it.
If people have to choose between something that's cheap, heavily marketed, and appealing in the short term, and something that's expensive, obscure, and appealing in the long term, which do you think most will choose?" -Paul Graham
We know we need to make a change. What SHOULD one eat that's quick, tastes good and doesn't make us look old and feel tired before our time? Kim Klaver source
Here are some reasons Americans don't eat healthy, in my opinion:
Don't like the taste of healthy food.
Can't afford it.
Don't have time to cook.
Bombardment of advertising from TV, radio, and online.
Picky eaters.
Don't know what is healthy.
Processed – boxed – ready to cook – just add water – frozen dinners are quick and convenient.
Family meals are a thing of the past.
Lack of knowledge about food:
Americans think they are healthy so don't put thought into what they eat. They think if they're still alive after always eating the food they eat today it can't be all that bad for them. For some, it takes a death of a loved one to make them think about nutrition. Better food choices can prevent disease.
If all we eat is junk fast food, it will taste better than healthy food. Kids are growing up eating junk food so they don't know what real food is. American's taste buds wouldn't know real food because it's so rare. If it isn't processed, loaded with sugar, salt, fat and will last longer than our kids because of the chemical preservatives, it has no flavor or doesn't taste right.
Junk food is always available. Look at the check out counters at any store, they are loaded with candy bars, bagged snacks and even energy gum! There are snack machines everywhere, even outside my son's dentist's office. What a positive sight when you leave the dentist; eat more candy and wash it down with this Coke. We are exposed to junk food everywhere. Stores are playing on our impulse shopping, besides it's just a candy bar, right?
This one is huge...
We are bombarded with advertisements from McDonalds, Burger King and Arby's to name a few. This keeps food on our mind and after a while we think, hey that sounds good I'm going to make a McDonalds run for lunch. Our kids see commercials for fruit snacks, cereal, chips, candy, pop-tarts or Oreos and pick these things out when grocery shopping. We are being led to eat what is advertised, the whole purpose of the marketing.
So leave a comment and share what you are doing to eat healthy, if eating healthy is important to you.
"There are two main reasons. One is that it has more immediate appeal. You may feel lousy an hour after eating that pizza, but eating the first couple bites feels great. The other is economies of scale. Producing junk food scales; producing fresh vegetables doesn't. Which means (a) junk food can be very cheap, and (b) it's worth spending a lot to market it.
If people have to choose between something that's cheap, heavily marketed, and appealing in the short term, and something that's expensive, obscure, and appealing in the long term, which do you think most will choose?" -Paul Graham
We know we need to make a change. What SHOULD one eat that's quick, tastes good and doesn't make us look old and feel tired before our time? Kim Klaver source
Here are some reasons Americans don't eat healthy, in my opinion:
Don't like the taste of healthy food.
Can't afford it.
Don't have time to cook.
Bombardment of advertising from TV, radio, and online.
Picky eaters.
Don't know what is healthy.
Processed – boxed – ready to cook – just add water – frozen dinners are quick and convenient.
Family meals are a thing of the past.
Lack of knowledge about food:
Americans think they are healthy so don't put thought into what they eat. They think if they're still alive after always eating the food they eat today it can't be all that bad for them. For some, it takes a death of a loved one to make them think about nutrition. Better food choices can prevent disease.
If all we eat is junk fast food, it will taste better than healthy food. Kids are growing up eating junk food so they don't know what real food is. American's taste buds wouldn't know real food because it's so rare. If it isn't processed, loaded with sugar, salt, fat and will last longer than our kids because of the chemical preservatives, it has no flavor or doesn't taste right.
Junk food is always available. Look at the check out counters at any store, they are loaded with candy bars, bagged snacks and even energy gum! There are snack machines everywhere, even outside my son's dentist's office. What a positive sight when you leave the dentist; eat more candy and wash it down with this Coke. We are exposed to junk food everywhere. Stores are playing on our impulse shopping, besides it's just a candy bar, right?
This one is huge...
We are bombarded with advertisements from McDonalds, Burger King and Arby's to name a few. This keeps food on our mind and after a while we think, hey that sounds good I'm going to make a McDonalds run for lunch. Our kids see commercials for fruit snacks, cereal, chips, candy, pop-tarts or Oreos and pick these things out when grocery shopping. We are being led to eat what is advertised, the whole purpose of the marketing.
So leave a comment and share what you are doing to eat healthy, if eating healthy is important to you.
Beyond Organic Healthy Food
I could go on for hours about this- it really upsets me!
ReplyDeleteI think it's appalling the way food is marketed to us nowadays. And I may sound overly-dramatic, but I also find it disrespectful to treat what we fuel our bodies with so lightly, especially when so many throughout the world are starving. When I shop for and prepare food, I mostly shop the perimeter of the store (not the aisles), and there are certain ingredients I try very hard to stay away from, especially if they are listed in the first five ingredients:
hydrogenated oils
high-fructose corn syrup
enriched flour
sugar
saturated fats
This is tricky to do, but really worth it. My kids love graham crackers, but most are made with only these five ingredients! These ingredients are toxic to our bodies and can alter our behavior (esp, in children).
I am mindful of packaging that says "no trans-fat", but on the label says something like ">1 gram trans fat per serving." Once you've finished the entire package (all the servings), how many grams of artery clogging trans-fat did you actually eat? Do you see where I'm going with this?
Also, look at the ingredient list, and not just the nutrition information. If the nutrition information says no sugar grams or no fat grams, but corn syrup and hydrogenated oils are in the ingredients, then just leave whatever it is on the shelf.
I'm not perfect, but in addition to staying away from those five additives, I try my best to buy organic fruits, veg and dairy; and also hormone-free chicken and beef. My children, while living in the US, were never sick. Ever. Not even a cold. Since living here in Russia the past two years and having no access to fresh produce, dairy or decent proteins, my children have been sick at least once every two months.
You do the math.
Okay, I still have more to say! Something that bothers me so much is when I see people catering to their children's picky eating habits by giving them less healthy choices. For example, my dear mother-in-law is a wonderful cook, but when the kids go to her home, she only feeds them frozen kid-styled dinners and white bread because she has this notion that kids won't eat roasted chicken and veggies. I can't stand it! If you feed your children healthy food from the start, they won't develop a taste for the bad stuff. Some of my kids' favorite foods, among other things, are artichoke hearts, spinach, avocados, edemames and tofu. It's because I fed them these types of things first as babies and toddlers. I was with some friends one day when my daughter was not quite two years-old, and they wanted to stop at a fast food place for lunch. There were really no healthy choices, so I ordered the chicken nuggets to share with my daughter. She would not eat them. This child who ate normal chicken, tofu and bean sprouts at home flatly refused to eat a chicken nugget from the restaurant! She spit it out! I think that says a lot.
ReplyDeleteNatalie thank you for the so helpful comment. I worry about what is called food and the effect it has on our health.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you get back to the States soon so your family will be healthy again. I guess I never realized we do have much better options in the States about the food we buy. So sad that many people still don't take advantage of healthy food.
Your tips are very good!
Robin