I have a confession to make…I have never dieted, never counted a calorie, and never looked in the mirror worrying about my weight. This is a difficult subject for me to discuss as my weight is often a conversation piece. “How do you stay so skinny?” or “Don’t you eat?” are common questions I am asked. This presents somewhat of a dilemma. If I say, “That’s just the way I am” it sounds vain. If I admit that I love food and eat quite heartily I am bragging and appear insensitive. Shrugging has become my token response.
So what does this have to do with the topic? Well a lot actually. We know that people can have health issues no matter what their weight right? For example as a tall, thin woman with a family history of osteoporosis I have a higher chance of suffering from this condition. I also have to watch my blood pressure as I have an affinity for salty foods. Another issue is my teeth, what I eat will have a direct impact on my teeth, which I want to keep healthy. Lastly, and maybe of greatest concern is my family, as the resident cook, I have an important responsibility in providing healthy well-balanced meals.
So I am going to use this essay as an opportunity to share on a topic that I am usually mum about, my experience with food. I will preface this by saying that the topic is an issue that is most timely considering my husband was just recently diagnosed with hypertension and cancer, two conditions that some say are at the very least impacted (positively or negatively) by diet.
First off, my mother is a relatively good cook. She cooked primarily from scratch and we ate a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables. Meat was probably the center of our diet and we did eat a lot of ground beef. We seldom ate at the table together but we almost always had a complete meal. I do not remember eating a morning meal on a regular basis and by the time I was in high school I had given up on breakfast altogether. Candy was rationed and so was soda, for my siblings and me anyway.
One thing that really sticks in my mind is soda. My mother was never without her Diet Pepsi, she bought upwards of eight 2 liter bottles of the stuff a week. She also smoked a pack of cigarettes (More Menthols) a day. When I left for school in the morning she would be sitting on the end of the couch smoking and drinking Pepsi, when I got home she was usually in the same exact spot.
So how has my childhood experience with food affected my adult food habits? First off, I do not smoke and I rarely drink soda. I do however have a weakness for candy, particularly the sour kind. I thoroughly enjoy fruits and vegetables and eat fresh greens almost everyday. I still skip breakfast about a third of the time, but most days I have at the minimum a yogurt or banana. I am very physically active and at the age of 39 have no chronic conditions. Sounds good right? Wrong… there is a rotten apple in this picture, it is called time.
Evening meals in our family are frenzied affairs. My husband is out most evenings with church activities and my two children are often busy with their own schedules. So, in order to make all of our appointments our family often resorts to quick meals. I mean Spaghettios, Top Ramen, Mac and Cheese, and from time to time, Taco Bell or McDonalds. Don’t get me wrong I do cook a traditional meal about 2-3 times a week but even on those days the meal may include canned green beans or a package of fast cooking chicken-flavored rice. Now mind you this diet was never a concern for me before. I mean, we always have fresh fruits available and they seem to disappear after only a few days. My kids do not willingly eat salads but they do get some kind of vegetable everyday. What could be the harm?
Well here it comes; two things niggle at the back of my mind. First, what is actually in the foods we are consuming? I know that most of our food travels a great distance to get on our supermarket shelves. What is in that food that keeps it from spoiling? I once read an article talking about how far food travels to get to the local supermarket and I wondered what harm additives and preservatives in that food might do to the body. How do we know they are not harmful? My daughter is 10 years old and is already hitting puberty, I hit puberty at 15. I can’t help but wonder if it has to do with hormones in the milk or meat she consumes.
An example of a particularly convenient "food" is the fruit snack, Years ago I discovered these squishy, sweet tasting, pellets that come in boxes of 6 – 12 pouches. What I liked about them is that they supposedly contain a full day’s vitamin C. As an added bonus you can even get fruit snacks in the shape of Sponge Bob or Scooby Doo. SCORE! They are nutritious and my children liked them. Now fruit snacks are not actually food in the literal sense are they? Also, what else is in them? If you bury a fruit snack in the ground I wonder how long it would take for it to dissolve. Needless to say, I have stopped buying fruit snacks.
The second thing that worries me is the rise in cancer cases. Now I do not have figures on this but I will tell you that when my husband was diagnosed with cancer I could not help but wonder. He does not smoke, he does not drink, he does not work around chemicals, and he eats a (somewhat) well balanced diet, so why does he have cancer. No one knows. What I do know is that he eats a lot of processed foods, products high in salt and preservatives.
I guess my point in all this rambling is that we sacrifice a lot for the sake of convenience. It used to be you knew the people growing your food or you grew it yourself. Now we are lucky if our food comes from the same continent as the one we live on.
Since my husband’s diagnosis I have been making gradual changes. I actually look at labels now. I am working towards reducing the amount of canned and processed food we consume as a family. We grew our own tomatoes and peaches this year and are planning to expand our garden next year. I am also making fresh vegetables more accessible to my children as snacks. I have also discovered that the Crockpot is a wonderful invention.
Habits do not change overnight and the American diet was not formed in a day. I think as people become more informed they will make gradual changes. Who knows, current events may even force us to reconsider how and where we purchase our food.
So what does this have to do with the topic? Well a lot actually. We know that people can have health issues no matter what their weight right? For example as a tall, thin woman with a family history of osteoporosis I have a higher chance of suffering from this condition. I also have to watch my blood pressure as I have an affinity for salty foods. Another issue is my teeth, what I eat will have a direct impact on my teeth, which I want to keep healthy. Lastly, and maybe of greatest concern is my family, as the resident cook, I have an important responsibility in providing healthy well-balanced meals.
So I am going to use this essay as an opportunity to share on a topic that I am usually mum about, my experience with food. I will preface this by saying that the topic is an issue that is most timely considering my husband was just recently diagnosed with hypertension and cancer, two conditions that some say are at the very least impacted (positively or negatively) by diet.
First off, my mother is a relatively good cook. She cooked primarily from scratch and we ate a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables. Meat was probably the center of our diet and we did eat a lot of ground beef. We seldom ate at the table together but we almost always had a complete meal. I do not remember eating a morning meal on a regular basis and by the time I was in high school I had given up on breakfast altogether. Candy was rationed and so was soda, for my siblings and me anyway.
One thing that really sticks in my mind is soda. My mother was never without her Diet Pepsi, she bought upwards of eight 2 liter bottles of the stuff a week. She also smoked a pack of cigarettes (More Menthols) a day. When I left for school in the morning she would be sitting on the end of the couch smoking and drinking Pepsi, when I got home she was usually in the same exact spot.
So how has my childhood experience with food affected my adult food habits? First off, I do not smoke and I rarely drink soda. I do however have a weakness for candy, particularly the sour kind. I thoroughly enjoy fruits and vegetables and eat fresh greens almost everyday. I still skip breakfast about a third of the time, but most days I have at the minimum a yogurt or banana. I am very physically active and at the age of 39 have no chronic conditions. Sounds good right? Wrong… there is a rotten apple in this picture, it is called time.
Evening meals in our family are frenzied affairs. My husband is out most evenings with church activities and my two children are often busy with their own schedules. So, in order to make all of our appointments our family often resorts to quick meals. I mean Spaghettios, Top Ramen, Mac and Cheese, and from time to time, Taco Bell or McDonalds. Don’t get me wrong I do cook a traditional meal about 2-3 times a week but even on those days the meal may include canned green beans or a package of fast cooking chicken-flavored rice. Now mind you this diet was never a concern for me before. I mean, we always have fresh fruits available and they seem to disappear after only a few days. My kids do not willingly eat salads but they do get some kind of vegetable everyday. What could be the harm?
Well here it comes; two things niggle at the back of my mind. First, what is actually in the foods we are consuming? I know that most of our food travels a great distance to get on our supermarket shelves. What is in that food that keeps it from spoiling? I once read an article talking about how far food travels to get to the local supermarket and I wondered what harm additives and preservatives in that food might do to the body. How do we know they are not harmful? My daughter is 10 years old and is already hitting puberty, I hit puberty at 15. I can’t help but wonder if it has to do with hormones in the milk or meat she consumes.
An example of a particularly convenient "food" is the fruit snack, Years ago I discovered these squishy, sweet tasting, pellets that come in boxes of 6 – 12 pouches. What I liked about them is that they supposedly contain a full day’s vitamin C. As an added bonus you can even get fruit snacks in the shape of Sponge Bob or Scooby Doo. SCORE! They are nutritious and my children liked them. Now fruit snacks are not actually food in the literal sense are they? Also, what else is in them? If you bury a fruit snack in the ground I wonder how long it would take for it to dissolve. Needless to say, I have stopped buying fruit snacks.
The second thing that worries me is the rise in cancer cases. Now I do not have figures on this but I will tell you that when my husband was diagnosed with cancer I could not help but wonder. He does not smoke, he does not drink, he does not work around chemicals, and he eats a (somewhat) well balanced diet, so why does he have cancer. No one knows. What I do know is that he eats a lot of processed foods, products high in salt and preservatives.
I guess my point in all this rambling is that we sacrifice a lot for the sake of convenience. It used to be you knew the people growing your food or you grew it yourself. Now we are lucky if our food comes from the same continent as the one we live on.
Since my husband’s diagnosis I have been making gradual changes. I actually look at labels now. I am working towards reducing the amount of canned and processed food we consume as a family. We grew our own tomatoes and peaches this year and are planning to expand our garden next year. I am also making fresh vegetables more accessible to my children as snacks. I have also discovered that the Crockpot is a wonderful invention.
Habits do not change overnight and the American diet was not formed in a day. I think as people become more informed they will make gradual changes. Who knows, current events may even force us to reconsider how and where we purchase our food.
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