I have been participating in an obesity discussion on the local newspaper forum board. There are some strange strong personalities there. However it did spark thought. When my cousin visits from UAE she is appalled at the vegetable selection and cost here. Their vegetables are subsidized and apparently the selection is much better as well. Checking out after an excursion with her and I realized just how non-veggie our society is. The check out clerk had to check for a price on her veggie sheet and had a significant amount of trouble with the process. The reason? She had NO clue what half the vegetables were. Keep in mind we are in the South and if it isn’t collard greens then some are just confused. Moving on…the cost of buying fresh vegetables is unreal. Healthy choices are just more expensive. For instance, my weakness is chips. I LOVE salty snacks and HOT potato chips are my favorite. That with a Barqs or IBC and I am a happy camper. I’m also very fond of cheddar/sour cream flavor chips. Hot chips you can’t buy baked, but many other flavor/brands you can- Dorito’s, Lays, even Cheeto chips. The price is a dollar (or more) higher AND you get less. It’s the same with healthy cereal. So many choices that are significantly better for you cost a lot more.
Anyone else eat out a lot? We REALLY need to stop, but with both of us working full time it is just easier. Next time you go out to eat notice the portions. It is usually double the amount of a single serving, or more! Most places do not hhave a smaller portion menus and they will not allow an adult to order from the children’s menu. As I said on the forum, a person could exercise self control and just not eat all of the food. However, most of us have been taught to finish our plate and it is wasteful not to. Plus, it is easy to get caught up in the conversation and finish the meal. Why so much food?!?! I know it is so the customer is satisfied, but shoot!
What about fast-food? We have stayed away from fast food for a while. Lately, we’re drifitng. A Sonic recently opened and it is the ONLY eating place within five miles of us…and RIGHT on the way home. Tuesday’s are five for $5. SO easy just to drop by when we can’t come up with another alternative. BAd-bad-bad. Anyone see the documentary Super-size me? Morgan Spurlock ate at McDonald’s every meal for 30 days. He did signifcant damage to his system. If you haven’t seen it check out the site and try to find the opportunity to watch it. Very eye-opening and food for thought.
The only way to improve your life is to desire it and take the time/effort. It may be costly, but it can be done. Not doing so is even more costly, and not just to yourself.
How’s that for something to think about right before the biggest eating day of the year?
Tags: Reviews and evaluation
November 21st, 2006 at 9:45 pm
what a novel idea, subsidizing vegetables instead of subsidizing grain that goes into beef and other meat..
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:59 am
I have been trying to eat better and have noticed that it is more expensive to get healthy foods compared “junk” food. I’ve been trying to get fruit out instead of chips, but have to admit that bag of chips and IBC sounds really good right now, but instead I’ll go eat my orange!
Have a great Thanksgiving!