Is this what we've become?

[pj]

In the just approved federal government nutrition bill costing $4.6 billion, there's a provision limiting school bake sales. The ag secretary says he thinks he won't apply this provision. Thinks he won't apply it? Who the hell is he, who died and made him food sheriff?

I want my Uncle Sam to be my uncle and my parents to be my parents. We don't need a damn bureaucrat dictating what our children digest or how we raise them.

First they came for my brownie at school and I said nothing. Then they came for my fruity pebbles at home and I said nothing. Then they came for my Girl Scout thin mints and I had to shoot the son of a bitch, ain't nobody gonna take my thin mints.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_ ... bake_sales

[ruckman101]

LOL. I guess Sarah Palin finally called one right.


neal

[ruckman101]

Charter school. Pony up the cash. That or home school the tykes.


neal

[rmannon]

Have we really become so stupid on a massive level that we need Uncle Sam to tell us that it is not healthy to eat doughnuts for breakfast, ding-dong's, ho-ho's and soda for lunch and steak and taters or Mcshit for dinner? Being type 1 diabetic kind of makes me biased on this but maybe we need to have a national "pull your head out your ass" day. Crappy food is cheap and we have been in a race for "lower costs" for years (ever). Cheap never means better but we still don't need the feds telling us we cannot have bake sales.

[ruckman101]

You never know, maybe there are more lucrative fund-raising opportunities to be had auctioning off those federal bake-sale credits.


neal

[Randy in Maine]

It is very difficult to legislate common sense.

The truth is that most parents don't give a damn what their kids eat.

[Amskeptic]

It is very difficult to legislate common sense.

The truth is that most parents don't give a damn what their kids eat.

This issue is more insidious, as seems to be the case these days, than it appears.

There is a massive food industry that is selling crap on the order of Marlboro cigarettes. The industry has found very economical means to churn out deadly comfort food, trans fats, dyes, chemical flavors, and the effect it is having on this nation's health is indisputable.

You know capitalism, it has to be roped in to do the right thing. Our health care costs, hello! are increasing dramatically due to fat and adult-onset diabetes.

You know why so many parents don't give a damn, Randy? Because we declared war on the American family, and mommies had to enter the work force to pay the damn bills, and the food industry was waiting to sell "convenience" pre-packaged garbage for poor tired-out mommy after she got home. We have a generation of children who do not understand good food nor how to prepare it. You will note that fresh produce is almost unavailable in inner cities, and yes, of course advertising has been cramming crap sugar crap down kids eyeballs and gullets since modern media. Yes, it is the parents' responsibility, but ever ask a parent how it went with the hormone-laced hamburger that wreaks havoc on their childrens' endocrine systems? Do parents have to watch out for pesticides and e-coli, or should the profit-mongerers?

It is craven and typical to once again blame the American citizen, "hell, they like WalMart! They like unemployment! They know all about bad mortgage products and artery-congealing hormone-boosted real natural and other flavors 'food'. They like it!"

Watch the Food Lobby jump right in this one. They say "don't let the government tell you what to eat." They mean, "don't let the government make us be more responsible." It is that duh.
Colin

[ruckman101]

pj, taken literally, I just have to say that your values are dangerously skewed when you place the value of a thin mint higher than a fellow being's life. High fructose corn syrup addiction is a terrible thing.




neal

[Sylvester]

High fructose corn syrup addiction is a terrible thing.

Speaking of high fructose corn syrup, there are commercials here that are promoting this on TV. They say our bodies can't tell the difference between HFCS and real sugar. Now why would they emphasize that point only?

[glasseye]

... They say our bodies can't tell the difference between HFCS and real sugar. Now why would they emphasize that point only?

Who's the sponsor?

[Randy in Maine]

High fructose corn syrup addiction is a terrible thing.

Speaking of high fructose corn syrup, there are commercials here that are promoting this on TV. They say our bodies can't tell the difference between HFCS and real sugar. Now why would they emphasize that point only?

A lot of people mistakenly think your body can tell the difference.

But it can't. Sugar is sugar to your body.

I guess my point is why not just have the kids help you make say a beef stew in the crockpot in the morning and then sit down with them and talk out life's things over a dinner table. Or have breakfast before they go to school. Or pack a healthy lunch for them.

It is probably more important to have a time to "talk" together than really what they are eating so much. Kids and parents also really need to understand and respect just where their food comes from and why they need good food to nourish them and help them grow up. Even most grownups don't have a clue where anything comes from.

The real bone of centention during the passage of the bill was that some large food companies were miffed that small local growers (and even the "bake sale") does not have to meet the same standards (which cost money) that the large food producers did. Meat, eggs, and dairy are already covered by the Department of Ag, but produce adn baked goods done locally were not.

Personally I buy local food whenever possible as it tastes better. I actually know the farmer that my eggs come from. That is a good thing and he is actually interesting to talk with.

[ruckman101]

Local Farmers Markets are a wonderful thing.


neal

[rmannon]

Kids and parents also really need to understand and respect just where their food comes from and why they need good food to nourish them and help them grow up.

I could not have said it better. People just have no concept of where food comes from. That is very disturbing to me. I was raised on a farm and I helped raise the food we ate. It's hard, even with my own kids to make them understand that the meat on the plate was once "alive". Maybe I need to take them to slaughter? I don't want to traumatize them but they need to know. They also need to know that locally grown whole foods are way better than stuff shipped in from other countries. It's hard to point them in the right direction with all the opposition in the way.

[BellePlaine]

Randy, I'll take your word for it that sugar is sugar. But what about the glycemic indexes of sugars? Although I don't fully understand the science of it, I thought that sugar from honey or maple syrup is supposed to be better for you then HFCS or table sugar.

[rmannon]

It's the absorption of the carbohydrate that is different in honey and maple syrup compared to table sugar and HFCS. Table sugar and HFCS have been stripped of all the "complex" parts of the carbohydrate. They absorb super quick and spike blood glucose levels. HFCS I think is the simplest sugar to date for consumption. It's really hard on the body to be pumping out mass amounts of insulin to counteract this process. Sometimes the body will pump out too much insulin and then hypoglycemia happens. I walk this line every day but on more of a try to stay away from non complex carbs. I have to keep track of all the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats that I eat. It is a bit of a pain but once you get it dialed in you can keep your blood sugar and insulin levels pretty dialed in. This would be good for most non-diabetic people as well.