Party excerpt

[shadesong]

From an e-mail to docorion:

I don't know where this Epidemic Of Obesity In America's Children thing is coming from, incidentally, but it isn't Atlanta. We laid out several kinds of potato chips, Cheetos, pretzels, Starburst, etc., and then some veggie trays, a fruit bowl, and a plate of cheese and crackers in case grownups stayed.

Overheard from the living room in the first half-hour of the party, as the scientist was setting up in the kitchen: "You know, I don't always like broccoli, but this blue-cheese dressing is really good."

Poked my head back in. Fruit bowl? Veggies? Decimated. Junk food? Virtually untouched.

So in case you were wondering, that's what the 10-year-olds eat these days.

Do you like Fiery-Hot Cheetos? Because we have some to get rid of.

Comments

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

I always prefer veggie bowls and dip to any junk food but pretzels. I am a pretzel geek. :)

[conuly]

A lot of people (especially poorer people, I think) don't have time to cook, and it's cheaper in their areas to buy junk food instead of real food. They also tend not to have time to exercise, and can't always trust the neighborhood enough to let the kids play outside.

[soph-nyc.livejournal.com]

Too true. That's the only grudge I have about living in the Bronx, the food options suck, anything you buy fresh will go bad within 24 hours and it's just terribly expensive (come on, no one wants to pay 5 bucks for a head of lettuce you know won't be good the following day... not even those who have money, which most people around here doesn't.)

And, if you do let your kids out to play, chances are someone will pick them up to do little "errands". Not even I can go outside without two or three guys asking if I'm over 18 (which still makes me laugh cuz yes I am, but if you need to know I doubt I'm very interested in what you have to say.)

[conuly]

The sad reality is that the poorer a neighborhood is, the more expensive the stores tend to be, because poor people don't have the options richer people have.

[soph-nyc.livejournal.com]

Yup. I've noticed... it's strange how Manhattan has cheaper meat and fresh veggies than we do up here. Also, what is cheap is crap (tons of starch and sugar.) People get what they can afford, which is just that. Sugar and starch. It just makes me so mad as I know mothers (and fathers) want to do better but they have no choise...
I guess I am lucky as I have the ability to get food elsewhere... and the fact that I know what's good and not. I think a lot of it has to do with education as well, or at least what you have been thaught and brought up with.

I was thinking about all that tonight, when walking around here for a bit trying to get a few erraneds done. If these people were just given a chance, however small, the world would be a very different place.

[conuly]

If these people were just given a chance, however small, the world would be a very different place.

Probably. But it's a lot easier instead to just scream about the obesity epidemic and tell people that it's their fault they don't eat well than to find out why they don't eat well.

[microwench.livejournal.com]

Firey hot cheetos rule! Glad to hear the party went so well, considering allllll that planning!

In unrelated news, I sent my man out after SS Anthology#6 today...and the huter-gathererererer... returned empty handed. Do you happen to know where one can find it in the Kansas City, Kansas area?

I second that emotion

[gev.livejournal.com]

those hot cheetos kick ass!

Re: I second that emotion

[microwench.livejournal.com]

You have earwormed me!

*wanders off singing "I Second That Emotion"

SCORE!

[gev.livejournal.com]

I win, I win!

Re: SCORE!

[microwench.livejournal.com]

*Throws Cheetos at you*

Poopiehead!

:-)

Re: SCORE!

[gev.livejournal.com]

*gobble*

That's me!

Hey!  don't stop throwing those!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Uh-uh. :(

[cyber-pagan.livejournal.com]

hot cheetos? not bad, but I do know who LOVES salsa and chips (vanuslux) if you have any.

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Fiery hot Cheetos sound horrid. But then, almost any kind of Cheetos are, IMNSHO, horrid. If you want 'em, y'all can *have* 'em, thanks.

[pharminatrix.livejournal.com]

I'm a freak for carrots and hummus.

[mr-wombat.livejournal.com]

Not that I'm suggesting for a minute that america doesn't have an obesity problem (and hell, europe is well on its way too) but the definition is "obese" is pretty stringent. I was reading some material about it just last week and it turns out that I'm borderline obese (that is to say I can veer across on a bad week) and I'm by no means a lardo. Annoyingly I look ridiculous at my ideal weight of 12 1/2 stone - or did the last time I was there.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Famous chefboy Jamie Oliver has taken it in hand to change the junk-fooding eating habits of British children (we're right behind the Americans, allegedly). School lunches (or dinners, as they're called here) have become filled with junk -- processed meats etc., and Oliver is creating a bit of a revolution. Of course, the fact that some school cooks are supposed to create a lunch for 37p per child doesn't help.

But it was amazing watching this show on television -- teenagers down to six year olds upset because they could no longer just buy pizza and chips (fries) for lunch, refusing to eat Oliver's recipes, etc. And parents complaining also about it and sneaking McDonalds' plastic food to their kids. One headteacher (principal) of a primary (elementary) school started looking at the packed lunches parents made and couldn't believe how low in nutrition they were.

So, go Elayna and her friends!

Me, I'm impressed that a bunch of my Year 9 (13 year olds going on 14) have told that McDonalds' is disgusting. :)

Pretty much the same here in Canada.

[hasfartogo.livejournal.com]

I volunteer in two public schools with different socio-economic levels. Too many of the school lunches I see here have too much fat and not enough fiber. One school does offer fruit and veggies to supplement the kids diet. At the other school the kids come from better homes so their lunches are better balanced. I caused a bit of a stir with the kids by eating figs with my lunch. I had to explain where they came from and where you can find them sometimes.

Re: Pretty much the same here in Canada.

[silme.livejournal.com]

My school (I teach secondary English in England) started to switch to healthier lunches this year. First off, they banned the ice cream/penny sweets (candy) van from coming onto the school's premises. (The students cannot leave.) Oh, the kids were upset. Some of them used to just buy sweets and ice cream and that was lunch.

And then the new chef made some changes. I like them because I can buy a nice lunch of stir fried chicken and veggies with noodles for all of one pound. But the kids resisted. They still can buy burgers and pizza, but only as part of a meal. They still can buy chips (fries), but they have to buy them as a meal. The kids used to just buy a box of chips and that was lunch. And now the canteen features homemade baguettes and wraps -- good stuff.

For a while, the kids protested. In fact, some of my year 8 students were so mad, I set up a project. They had to interview the headteachers (principals), science and food teachers (for nutritional information) and the chef. They then had to share what they learned (they went off in small groups, each group interviewing a different person), and then they had to write it up in a discursive essay. I was impressed that most of them had changed their minds and now thought that healthier eating was okay. :)

Re: Pretty much the same here in Canada.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, and we got rid of the Coke machine with Coke, Dr Pepper, Fanta etc. We now have machines that sell bottled water and fruit juice. What used to be a vending machine with chocolate bars sells bags of dried fruit and granola bars. :)