Living in Junk Food County? (Read 1462 times)

Trent - If you are going to troll me - fine you win. I will quit posting giving perspectives from where and how your food is produced. There is a lot of disinformation out there and you in particular are going to believe what you want to believe. Bye.

Trent is the bully of the Internets.

Awww shucks. I AM nuts And I intended NO oneupsmanship. Or disrespect. Really. Just sharing thoughts. Really. And I DO appreciate your perspectives!

Sorry, after rereading this I realized how long it was. Problem is I couldn't cut back my words because I feel pretty strongly. I even have MORE to say but I will refrain for now! I remember discussing in a class I took just how overweight poorer people are in the US. Poor people in other, not-so-industrailized countries are not overweight. They are skinny, sometimes with distended bellies. If you walk into most grocery stores you will find that the sales are for buy-one-get-one-free Hamburger Helper or Digiorno frozen pizzas. Look at the price of fresh produce and you will find higher prices. We have decided that we will not eat an apple that is not perfectly round or has even the smalles bruise. So lots of apples are wasted because people won't buy them and that cost must be incorporated somehow. And that is but one example of hundreds. Our society has become hectic. By the time we get home from work we barely have time to cook a decent, healthy meal so what do we do? We stop by a fast food drive through or open up a box of prepackaged, place-in-the-oven dinner. For breakfast, a box of cereal is ridiculously expensive to most people so we stop at Dunkin Donuts, not realizing the cost of that breakfast is triple the cereal cost for the week. And never mind the time to tend to your own summer veggie garden like we had in our backyard when I was a kid. And that's even if our HOA in our suburban and not-so-suburban subdivisions and housing developments will allow it. You know, we'd hate to bring down property values with the smell of compost for fertilizing and the sight of dirty, muddy people picking their small harvests in their yards for that nights' healthy, delicious, home-grown dinner. The horror! Too many farms are owned by large food corporations. Farmers must get their seed and fertilizers from these companies, sell to these companies. The foods are then processed into the pizzas, "helpers," cookies and crackers that are in the stores. Your box may have one brand name on it but if you look closer you will find it's a subsidiary of, say, Con-Agra or ADM for example. R2farm's experience may be different. I hope so. Not all farms are owned by large corps. It's just my opinion that large corporations and marketing have changed the American people's view of food. Con-Agra-types have made fair pay for farmers' goods a thing of the past. Marketing has made consumers look for only the best, the perfect, the fastest, the cheapest. Tomatoes are never odd shaped, an apple never has a dent. What is that? I know nature doesn't produce perfection every time. So until groceries start marketing healthy, poorer people will look for the cheapest. My mom uses her food stamps each month towards whatever is on sale (and has a coupon to go with it). She only buys salad items if they are on sale. The thought of green peppers costing over $2 for 2 or 3 of them kils her. Microwave meals are normal for her. And it kills me. But she's made the choice. And there is nothing I can do about it. Whole Foods Market (and others like it) are definitely pricey. I won't even shop there. I have a budget for groceries and those shops send me over the top. I can find what I need in a regular grocery store. And those stores are carrying more organic, small brand healthy convenient foods (Think Amy's, for example). But even those foods cost more than the large brands. Sometimes quite a bit more. I guess it comes down to individual choice. Some people have chosen to eat crap foods, not take care of themselves (and not for lack of better information as it's everywhere). I choose to feed my family as well as I can with the more nutrtious foods. (Not to say we never eat frozen pizzas. I happen to love CPK's White pizza.) I encourage physical activity (structured and fun free play). There are many things that should be changed that will encourage better health but that is a whole 'nother thread or post and are better worded by people other than me.

Runner67, interesting info, thanks. Question: was diabetes prevalent among the obese down there? One postulate out there is that folks are fattened here on less healthy and more diabetogenic foods by the nature of them being processed.

Runner67, interesting info, thanks. Question: was diabetes prevalent among the obese down there? One postulate out there is that folks are fattened here on less healthy and more diabetogenic foods by the nature of them being processed.

Trent: I don't seem to recall many diabetes cases in my younger years...not very scientific, I know...however, I seem to hear more about it lately. My grandmother fought it most of her adult life but then again she had 8 children (aka farm hands). She died at the age of 95 despite having type II. I can totally see where more prevalent health issues, such as diabetes, would become more common in the fast food lanes of rural America. The nutrients we get from fresh produce or home grown foods (and the lack of preservatives etc) is something many are missing in their diets. I'm not sure who, here in Dixie, are aware or educated on the benefits of good nutrition. It does seem that even if they were in the know, nutrition/growing a kitchen garden etc would be a low priority for many (thinking of mind set, convenience, taste, etc).

I like food. What are maf runs and are they food related?