Alosha here! So a few weeks ago, in my Principles of Nutrition class, my teacher asked the following question:
Who should take the responsibility for obesity in this country? Society or Individuals? Why? What can we do to reduce fat intake in our nations youth? What can we do to promote healthy eating? Do you think we live in a Toxic Food Environment?
Before answering this, my class was required to read a TED award speech by Jamie Oliver. Feel free to look it up on YouTube...I reference his speech in my response.
Who should take the responsibility for obesity in this country? Society or Individuals? Why? What can we do to reduce fat intake in our nations youth? What can we do to promote healthy eating? Do you think we live in a Toxic Food Environment?
Before answering this, my class was required to read a TED award speech by Jamie Oliver. Feel free to look it up on YouTube...I reference his speech in my response.
"First off, I very much enjoyed this video!
I understand that there are many children who grow up in environments that do not promote healthy eating or nutrition, but at some point, those children do grow. There is so much information out there about healthy eating habits that is either, easy to find, or being thrown in our faces. I here so many people give the excuse that their parents didn't cook, or they were always given fast food so that's what they're used to eating. And I always respond, "Do you still live with your parents? Are you claiming to be unaware that fast food is unhealthy?" Jamie Oliver made a point about how students should be taught 10 healthy recipes in school. But, even if they're not, at a certain age they can find the means to learn. Plenty of people don't want to take responsibility for their own bad choices, so they blame their parents or their prior circumstances, but those are bad excuses. There are too many opportunities and resources available at no cost, for people to use their childhood as an excuse for their bad decisions in their adult life. When I was growing up, my dad, who is no longer in my life, didn't allow me and my siblings to go to school. But that didn't mean we would send the rest of our lives illiterate. My mom and sisters taught me to read, write, and do math. Back then, the internet wasn't as available or broad as it is today. But that didn't stop my sisters from looking up learning material for my age group. By the time he was gone, most of my sisters should have been in college, but they had no prior school records. Therefore, they studied for the GED, took it, and scored higher than 80% of other people taking the test at their time. Now I have two sisters with Bachelor’s degrees from prestigious school, and the other 4 of us are in college right now. At some point in our lives, we become aware of what is best for us. That is when we need to start making the choices we know we should make.
To reduce fat intake in our nation’s youth, I think it is important to learn to cook. It is too often that I hear people say they don't like vegetables. But in my opinion, there are just too many vegetables to say you don't like them all. As I began eating more at my friends' houses, I started to understand the statement. Many people cook vegetable by boiling them until they lose their color, and serving them mushy and flavorless. A lot of people don't realize that you can season vegetables similar to the way you season meat. Chances are, if meat was cooked by just boiling it down, without any herbs or spices, a lot of people wouldn't like meat either. If vegetables were made to taste good, more people would eat more of them. I've made stir fried vegetables for friends, with ginger, onions, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and a few other simple seasonings, and they've loved them. Also, it would help to broaden the variety. I noticed Mr. Oliver should the young class an eggplant. I know many people who have never seen or tasted eggplant. But it can be very delicious, especially if made into eggplant parmigiana (My favorite dish).
Promoting healthy eating can be done demonstrating healthy eating habits. Many people give the excuse that fast food is cheaper. But often, that isn't the case. While many fast food restaurants have a value menu, chances are, families aren't getting each family member just one item off the menu. So if an average meal per person at McDonalds costs a bit over $5.00 for a meal according to http://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/mcdonalds-prices/, with a 4 person family, that's about $20 for one meal. But a 20lb bag of rice only costs $18 and that's 20lb of dry rice. So if 4 serving of rice is 2 cups dry, which weighs about 14 oz, that's less than $1 for that meal's worth. Now let’s add a vegetable. I bought a pound of carrots last week for 59 cents. That's about 4 servings of vegetables. And now for the protein, because most American families eat meat. So the average price of boneless chicken according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is about $3.50/lb. One serving is around 4oz. So 1lb is 4 servings. This means in total, for a family of 4, you’ve only spent about $5.00 on dinner. Plus $2.00 for juice, and then about a dollar for the amount of spices you're going to use for that one meal, that puts you at about $8.00 total. This is less than half the price of a fast food dinner. And even if nobody in that household knows how to cook, lucky for them, many foods are sold with recipes or instructions of the back of the packaging. And if all else fails, there's always YouTube or recipes.com.
I don't think we necessarily live in a toxic food environment. Of course there are plenty of bad influences, but there are plenty of positive influences as well. Not even the excuse that fast food restaurants stay open late is valid anymore. There are Walmarts and ShopRites open 24 hours these days, just to name a couple. There are campaigns promoting healthy eating habits that seemed to be looked over. So many people blame the fast food industry for their own poor diet, but fast food is a multi-billion dollar industry. The people running them are not in the business of tending to consumer diet needs, they're in the business of making a profit. It is completely up to us on whether they're successful. I don't see much of anyone blaming alcohol distributors, or drug dealers, for those with substance addictions. So why are we blaming unhealthy food distributors for our obesity issues?"
I understand that there are many children who grow up in environments that do not promote healthy eating or nutrition, but at some point, those children do grow. There is so much information out there about healthy eating habits that is either, easy to find, or being thrown in our faces. I here so many people give the excuse that their parents didn't cook, or they were always given fast food so that's what they're used to eating. And I always respond, "Do you still live with your parents? Are you claiming to be unaware that fast food is unhealthy?" Jamie Oliver made a point about how students should be taught 10 healthy recipes in school. But, even if they're not, at a certain age they can find the means to learn. Plenty of people don't want to take responsibility for their own bad choices, so they blame their parents or their prior circumstances, but those are bad excuses. There are too many opportunities and resources available at no cost, for people to use their childhood as an excuse for their bad decisions in their adult life. When I was growing up, my dad, who is no longer in my life, didn't allow me and my siblings to go to school. But that didn't mean we would send the rest of our lives illiterate. My mom and sisters taught me to read, write, and do math. Back then, the internet wasn't as available or broad as it is today. But that didn't stop my sisters from looking up learning material for my age group. By the time he was gone, most of my sisters should have been in college, but they had no prior school records. Therefore, they studied for the GED, took it, and scored higher than 80% of other people taking the test at their time. Now I have two sisters with Bachelor’s degrees from prestigious school, and the other 4 of us are in college right now. At some point in our lives, we become aware of what is best for us. That is when we need to start making the choices we know we should make.
To reduce fat intake in our nation’s youth, I think it is important to learn to cook. It is too often that I hear people say they don't like vegetables. But in my opinion, there are just too many vegetables to say you don't like them all. As I began eating more at my friends' houses, I started to understand the statement. Many people cook vegetable by boiling them until they lose their color, and serving them mushy and flavorless. A lot of people don't realize that you can season vegetables similar to the way you season meat. Chances are, if meat was cooked by just boiling it down, without any herbs or spices, a lot of people wouldn't like meat either. If vegetables were made to taste good, more people would eat more of them. I've made stir fried vegetables for friends, with ginger, onions, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and a few other simple seasonings, and they've loved them. Also, it would help to broaden the variety. I noticed Mr. Oliver should the young class an eggplant. I know many people who have never seen or tasted eggplant. But it can be very delicious, especially if made into eggplant parmigiana (My favorite dish).
Promoting healthy eating can be done demonstrating healthy eating habits. Many people give the excuse that fast food is cheaper. But often, that isn't the case. While many fast food restaurants have a value menu, chances are, families aren't getting each family member just one item off the menu. So if an average meal per person at McDonalds costs a bit over $5.00 for a meal according to http://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/mcdonalds-prices/, with a 4 person family, that's about $20 for one meal. But a 20lb bag of rice only costs $18 and that's 20lb of dry rice. So if 4 serving of rice is 2 cups dry, which weighs about 14 oz, that's less than $1 for that meal's worth. Now let’s add a vegetable. I bought a pound of carrots last week for 59 cents. That's about 4 servings of vegetables. And now for the protein, because most American families eat meat. So the average price of boneless chicken according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is about $3.50/lb. One serving is around 4oz. So 1lb is 4 servings. This means in total, for a family of 4, you’ve only spent about $5.00 on dinner. Plus $2.00 for juice, and then about a dollar for the amount of spices you're going to use for that one meal, that puts you at about $8.00 total. This is less than half the price of a fast food dinner. And even if nobody in that household knows how to cook, lucky for them, many foods are sold with recipes or instructions of the back of the packaging. And if all else fails, there's always YouTube or recipes.com.
I don't think we necessarily live in a toxic food environment. Of course there are plenty of bad influences, but there are plenty of positive influences as well. Not even the excuse that fast food restaurants stay open late is valid anymore. There are Walmarts and ShopRites open 24 hours these days, just to name a couple. There are campaigns promoting healthy eating habits that seemed to be looked over. So many people blame the fast food industry for their own poor diet, but fast food is a multi-billion dollar industry. The people running them are not in the business of tending to consumer diet needs, they're in the business of making a profit. It is completely up to us on whether they're successful. I don't see much of anyone blaming alcohol distributors, or drug dealers, for those with substance addictions. So why are we blaming unhealthy food distributors for our obesity issues?"
To this, my teacher responded, "WOW, great post!"
Now here's some side notes. As I was reading posts by my fellow classmates, I noticed that they all said we live in a "toxic food environment." Then I went on to read my teacher's response and she said the same thing! She actually stated it as if it were fact and not her opinion. However, that did not stop me from sticking to my original opinion, and I actually received full credit for this assignment. I feel as though many students become hesitant to express their own original opinions because it may be contrary to popular belief, but don't be. As long as you can back up your stance, many instructors will actually be impressed. Also note that my response was about three times the length of most of the other lengthy posts. So get creative, get persuasive, and get to work!
