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News & ArtsTuesday, February 9, 2010
Chow How's That Hopey, Changey Stuff Working Out For Childhood Obesity?
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 10:39 AM
The problem isn't what we're feeding our kids. The problem is what we're feeding ourselves. Adults are reluctant to make "better, healthy choices" for their kids because they don't want to make better, healthier choices for themselves. Kids aren't going to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and opt for skim milk or water with meals, so long as mom and dad are sitting there scarfing down bags of chips and sucking down Cokes.
And people aren't going to make better choices so long as we're subsidizing the production of cheap, sugary, crap snack-and-fast foods. Soda should be taxed like alcohol and snack-and-fast foods should be taxed like cigarettes, i.e. not so heavily taxed that they're completely out of reach (people still drink, people still smoke), but taxed heavily enough that people can't afford to live on corn syrup and crap.
Anyway, the White House launched its "fight against childhood obesity" today—and somewhere Sarah Palin is preparing two-pronged attack—a Tweet and a Facebook status update—denouncing the White House's efforts as a hopey, changey socialist plot to indoctrinate our children and destroy our country by preventing American children from developing adult-onset diabetes in their early teens like God intended. And when the predictable and imbecilic attack comes the Democrats will stand there helplessly with their dicks in their hands.
2
And while we're at it, let's subsidize the hell out of the production and distribution of fresh vegetables and fruits.
3
I still remember when my mom stopped buying 2% milk for the house. Oh how all of us bitched, kids and husband. Now that I am all grown up and buying my own milk anything but skim tastes awful.
4
well, duh. I can't imagine why you think the readership wouldn't already know this, unless they don't have kids (why would they read?) . My kid will drink vegetable juice if he gets a chance to be creative with adding fruit; a blueberry banana yogurt smoothie always takes precedence over pancakes. He even downs child-appropriate dosages of chlorella, Vitamin D and cod liver oil, and he wouldn't do that if his parents weren't doing these things without a smile and an explanation. He's not terribly smart, either.
Farm subsidies should be removed, and I would hope Mrs. Obama could subtly extend her influence in her "organic healthy food" program to turn the populace against food processors. Maybe the food processors can extend their global influence and make sick the people who have jobs Americans used to have.
Farm subsidies should be removed, and I would hope Mrs. Obama could subtly extend her influence in her "organic healthy food" program to turn the populace against food processors. Maybe the food processors can extend their global influence and make sick the people who have jobs Americans used to have.
5
ok, we get it, you didn't go to Denny's free Grand Slam today, Dan.
Meanwhile, let me enjoy my bear claw and 1 percent soy milk latte in peace.
Meanwhile, let me enjoy my bear claw and 1 percent soy milk latte in peace.
6
please dan, lecture me more about how i should raise my kids
you stupid, arrogance-born-from-ignorance fuckup
your knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep
you stupid, arrogance-born-from-ignorance fuckup
your knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep
8
Amen to that. We live in a world where a fast food burger and fries is cheaper than the ingredients needed to make a complete, healthy meal at home (i.e. something beyond just rice and beans), and that's the problem right there. I mean, I understand that some people will still eat fast food and drink soda every chance they get regardless of the availability and affordability of better choices, but our food system actively stacks the deck against people who do choose to make healthier choices.
9
It all comes down to the basics, parents are the ones who set the example. Target the behaviors of the adults and those of kids will be corrected.
11
First time I ever had a coke, a neighbor kid gave me one when I was 5 or so. I had a couple of sips and threw up. I didn't think it tasted bad, I just think it was clear evidence of how foreign all the phosphoric acid, caffeine, 9 tsp. sugar, etc. is to a body that's not accustomed to mainlining it all day, every day.
Now I'll buy one maybe a couple times a year for long car trips when the caffeine and sugar are helpful and I don't feel like coffee. Don't ever keep it around the house.
Now I'll buy one maybe a couple times a year for long car trips when the caffeine and sugar are helpful and I don't feel like coffee. Don't ever keep it around the house.
12
Someone somewhere did the math and we could forgo the soda tax and just remove the corn subsidies. The potential revenue from the soda tax just offsets the cost of the corn subsidies. Removing that would force up the price of corn syrup. Soda prices could be kept artificially low, but it would make soda production less profitable.
13
I gave up eating all together. Too contoversial. And who the hell chairs the DNC anyway? Does anybody know?
14
Amen brother!
Weening our nation off industrialized food would go farther to solving the health-care issue than any legislation could ever do.
Weening our nation off industrialized food would go farther to solving the health-care issue than any legislation could ever do.
15
Yes, the shit everybody eats are one of the reasons why this country's so obese. But let's not forget the other reason: Lack of exercise. When I was a kid, I spent most of my free time outdoors. I walked to and from school almost every day. You won't see today's kids doing any of that. Partially it's because they're parked in front of the TV or computer all the time; part is because everybody's scared shitless that they're going to get abducted. But the fact remains that little Johnny or Jennie spends most of his or her time sitting on their fat ass.
17
It already is. Do you think before you type?
It would also force up the cost of most other types of food, including all meat. Even if corn-producing states didn't have disproportionate political power, vastly increasing the cost of most food would never fly with the American people.
Soda should be taxed like alcohol
It already is. Do you think before you type?
The potential revenue from the soda tax just offsets the cost of the corn subsidies. Removing that would force up the price of corn syrup.
It would also force up the cost of most other types of food, including all meat. Even if corn-producing states didn't have disproportionate political power, vastly increasing the cost of most food would never fly with the American people.
18
Obama is from the Corn Belt and is propped up by Agribusiness.
He's not going to do shit about corn syrup that pervades the food supply.
He's not going to do shit about corn syrup that pervades the food supply.
19
@13 Tim Kaine, former Gov. of VA
I volunteered in our school cafeteria, it was disgusting how much food got thrown away. Entire hot lunches that the kids don't like, but for whatever reason the parent(s) didn't pack them a lunch. At our school there's not many on the free lunch program, it's the wealthy families whose kids would buy extra fries and two desserts. That's about 3 bucks on top of the price of the lunch. The principal says she can't stop them from buying the crap if their parent(s) allow it.
I volunteered in our school cafeteria, it was disgusting how much food got thrown away. Entire hot lunches that the kids don't like, but for whatever reason the parent(s) didn't pack them a lunch. At our school there's not many on the free lunch program, it's the wealthy families whose kids would buy extra fries and two desserts. That's about 3 bucks on top of the price of the lunch. The principal says she can't stop them from buying the crap if their parent(s) allow it.
20
Look, end the subsidies for corn (ethanol) and allow cane sugar to be imported.
Then everything will fix itself.
Then everything will fix itself.
21
Keshmeshi, do you think it would really increase the price of food that much? I can see how it would affect the price of more than just soda, but I don't see how it would cause a sharp increase.
In any case, we could just phase out subsidies over the course of several years, so the change isn't that noticeable. I mean, if it were politically feasible to do anything except give farmers anything they ask for, we could do that.
In any case, we could just phase out subsidies over the course of several years, so the change isn't that noticeable. I mean, if it were politically feasible to do anything except give farmers anything they ask for, we could do that.
22
I had similar thoughts to this myself, this morning, when I checked my Google News.
Obesity - childhood or otherwise - is, in America, a symptom of a profoundly broken system. Somehow I really doubt that the childhood obesity panel is going to overturn the industrialization of food and the paradigm of advertising as a cornerstone of "free-market democracy," and so I really don't see how they're going to make any difference.
It's rather like creating a committee to help stop hair loss in cancer patients.
Obesity - childhood or otherwise - is, in America, a symptom of a profoundly broken system. Somehow I really doubt that the childhood obesity panel is going to overturn the industrialization of food and the paradigm of advertising as a cornerstone of "free-market democracy," and so I really don't see how they're going to make any difference.
It's rather like creating a committee to help stop hair loss in cancer patients.
23
The challenge is with "The Homosexual agenda". On page 224, as you all know from having read it, there is the plot to corrupt children by making "being fit" "6pack abs" and "Buffed but not too smart" Totally Gay. These aspects of the body beautiful concept are Gay and therefore should be taught in all schools so says "The Homosexual Agenda." We will now see the push back from Palin and company to prevent this clearly Homosexual Agenda plot from being fulfilled. Better to have fat unhealthy children then Gay children.
24
Vilsack was at the meeting. If anyone thinks he's giving up anything that has to do with Iowa corn, you are dreaming.
25
6: If you don't already know to give your kids a healthy diet, or to set an example by having a healthy diet yourself, you DO need to be lectured on how to raise your kids. Sorry.
It's always horrible parents who use the cop-out "don't tell me how to raise my kids" defense. Well then STOP DOING A LOUSY FUCKING JOB RAISING THEM. Then I'll be happy to stop "telling you how" to feed your kids something other than pizza and soda, or beating them, or parking them in front of the TV 8 hours a day, or whatever other completely obvious parental mistake you're making.
It's always horrible parents who use the cop-out "don't tell me how to raise my kids" defense. Well then STOP DOING A LOUSY FUCKING JOB RAISING THEM. Then I'll be happy to stop "telling you how" to feed your kids something other than pizza and soda, or beating them, or parking them in front of the TV 8 hours a day, or whatever other completely obvious parental mistake you're making.
26
@ 10: This.
It's not just taxing junk food and/or soda, or eliminating corn subsidies, it's also about providing affordable alternatives. Especially in bigger cities like where I live (Boston), there's not always a neighborhood grocery store with fresh produce and organic products. And even if it is, it's too expensive for those people living just above the poverty level with kids to feed. Short term survival beats long term planning.
It's not just taxing junk food and/or soda, or eliminating corn subsidies, it's also about providing affordable alternatives. Especially in bigger cities like where I live (Boston), there's not always a neighborhood grocery store with fresh produce and organic products. And even if it is, it's too expensive for those people living just above the poverty level with kids to feed. Short term survival beats long term planning.
27
I am not obese, but I have noticed that Canadians are getting fatter, like Americans were, about 30 years ago. We used to laugh at fat Americans and marvel at the huge portions served in American restaurants. Now, we're just as bad; but, worse: the phenomenon has spread across the world. Why? Because, we marvelled at the great portions served at American restaurants. GUILTY, Canadians are guilty as charged! Obese, gross and all the rest. Hypocrites? Maybe, but those huge portions you serve in the US of A are enticing!
28
This is totally irrelevant, but, UncutRod, your screen name makes me ecstatically happy. That is all.
29
5280 is spot on about childhood obesity being a two-pronged problem. Kids hardly have recess at school, they're driven or bussed everywhere and then kept caged up. Just like their parents.
30
@9 I am very glad to see you've come around, Loveschild. You are absolutely right, adults do often adversely effect their children. If we can now convince adults that eating healthy is the right thing to do, that sexual expression is natural and should be respected, that there's nothing wrong with being gay, and that the Catholic church and other organized religions often have their own concerns on wealth and power placed above those of humanity the world will be a better place for children everywhere. I am THRILLED that you agree.
Now let's stop trolling online forums and get out there and bring some change we can believe in!!
Now let's stop trolling online forums and get out there and bring some change we can believe in!!
32
#17, #21, indeed, most of domestic corn production goes towards cattle feed, not HFCS, and 90% of cattle feed is corn.
34
For the record, people are getting fatter for lots of reasons:
1) Industry definition of single-person portion is too large
2) Healthy meals require time/effort, whereas junk food is ready now.
3) Junk food is cheaper
4) Junk food is everywhere and in bright colors
5) Television, video games, and internet rather than exercise
6) Crash dieting that ultimately backfires
7) Increasing loneliness
8) Continual grazing rather than specific meal times
9) Helicopter parents telling kids when they've ate enough undermine child's ability to monitor his/her own internal satiation cues
1) Industry definition of single-person portion is too large
2) Healthy meals require time/effort, whereas junk food is ready now.
3) Junk food is cheaper
4) Junk food is everywhere and in bright colors
5) Television, video games, and internet rather than exercise
6) Crash dieting that ultimately backfires
7) Increasing loneliness
8) Continual grazing rather than specific meal times
9) Helicopter parents telling kids when they've ate enough undermine child's ability to monitor his/her own internal satiation cues
35
"we're subsidizing the production of cheap, sugary... foods. Soda should be taxed"
Perhaps soda should be taxed. But the first fight is the removal of the subsidies. A tax on soda and other unhealthy foods would give corn producers a subsidy with one hand and take it back in the form of taxes with the other. Can you think of anything stupider?
And if the left started calling for the end of subsidies it just might work cause guess who hates subsidies, Republicans. The whole conservative rap is just an excuse to get populist support for free market economics (does anyone think that the tea baggers understand the nuances of the arguments between Keynes and Hayek? No, but you start bashing the gays and the 'coastal elites' and you can slip the free trade stuff in there also. Hell, they want to rewrite the Bible to highlight free market philosophy, what kind of "Christian" movement is that?) Of course the problem is that the subsidies go to swing states, and no one wants to piss them off. But if the free trade fanatics saw the left embracing their arguments they might just jump on board, and you might get enough broad based support to fight this very small but powerful minority.
Furthermore agro subsidies are the big stumbling block to Doha negotiations. The EU said that if the US gives ours up they'll give up theirs. Thus Doha gets signed, we stop subsidizing our obesity epidemic, $350b (WTO, I believe 2006) in new trade is created , the developed world economies become more efficient, and (over time) Africa, and other LDCs get to develop stronger export agro markets creating wealth and economic stability. And, no, none of this is an exaggeration.
The left and the right would see that working together can achieve each others goals better than blind antagonism, and the lion shall lie down with the lamb. (ok, maybe that was an exaggeration)
More...
Perhaps soda should be taxed. But the first fight is the removal of the subsidies. A tax on soda and other unhealthy foods would give corn producers a subsidy with one hand and take it back in the form of taxes with the other. Can you think of anything stupider?
And if the left started calling for the end of subsidies it just might work cause guess who hates subsidies, Republicans. The whole conservative rap is just an excuse to get populist support for free market economics (does anyone think that the tea baggers understand the nuances of the arguments between Keynes and Hayek? No, but you start bashing the gays and the 'coastal elites' and you can slip the free trade stuff in there also. Hell, they want to rewrite the Bible to highlight free market philosophy, what kind of "Christian" movement is that?) Of course the problem is that the subsidies go to swing states, and no one wants to piss them off. But if the free trade fanatics saw the left embracing their arguments they might just jump on board, and you might get enough broad based support to fight this very small but powerful minority.
Furthermore agro subsidies are the big stumbling block to Doha negotiations. The EU said that if the US gives ours up they'll give up theirs. Thus Doha gets signed, we stop subsidizing our obesity epidemic, $350b (WTO, I believe 2006) in new trade is created , the developed world economies become more efficient, and (over time) Africa, and other LDCs get to develop stronger export agro markets creating wealth and economic stability. And, no, none of this is an exaggeration.
The left and the right would see that working together can achieve each others goals better than blind antagonism, and the lion shall lie down with the lamb. (ok, maybe that was an exaggeration)
36
We used to laugh at fat Americans and marvel at the huge portions served in American restaurants
Yeah, I remember Canada before Burger King and Wendy's too. Even last year we were ignorant enough to let the kid order A&W Root Beer and Coke because the Canadian nutrition info listed "glucose/fructose" rather than HFCS. I remember in my elementary and high school days the large kids having large parents. Now I tune in to an episode of Kids in the Hall's miniseries "Death Comes to Town" and find half the kids in the autopsy room scene are pudgy. No written gag called for them to be pudgy.
Yeah, I remember Canada before Burger King and Wendy's too. Even last year we were ignorant enough to let the kid order A&W Root Beer and Coke because the Canadian nutrition info listed "glucose/fructose" rather than HFCS. I remember in my elementary and high school days the large kids having large parents. Now I tune in to an episode of Kids in the Hall's miniseries "Death Comes to Town" and find half the kids in the autopsy room scene are pudgy. No written gag called for them to be pudgy.
37
@17 um, what are you talking about? Soda is not taxed like alcohol. You are a fool. Yeah, ending corn subsidies would raise the prices of foods that contain corn, or in other words, foods of which we should eat less. That is the point. We eat too much meat (that should be raised on corn anyway) and processed foods.
38
The subsidies most certainly need to end, but the six strips of bacon I just ate and I agree that you can kiss my fat ass.
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@33 - to piss of LC (and) because it's hilarious.
@23 - I always look forward to your excerpts from the Agenda. Hopefully one day you will publish the entire manifesto...
@23 - I always look forward to your excerpts from the Agenda. Hopefully one day you will publish the entire manifesto...
40
I have to say I agree. Education is the best way to get people to eat healthily, and the best education is to lead by example. I'm lucky to have had parents who raised me on a steady diet of fresh fruits and vegetables (lots of salad especially), whole wheat bread, soy protein, and the occasional chunk of fish or chicken. I don't know about anyone else, but I prefer bitter tastes to sweet, and I think a good portion of that is because of the way I was raised.
The main problem with eating healthily, as others have pointed out, is that American food tends to be ridiculously high in saturated fats and sugars. For example, the pasta at my dorm is often so greasy that I have to soak up the oil with a paper towel. And the sad thing is that this is a step above fast food.
The main problem with eating healthily, as others have pointed out, is that American food tends to be ridiculously high in saturated fats and sugars. For example, the pasta at my dorm is often so greasy that I have to soak up the oil with a paper towel. And the sad thing is that this is a step above fast food.
41
Skim milk? Fuck that shit, my kids drink whole milk.
"So if the fat people would quit having kids, this wouldn't be a problem."
Problem is you can't even tell with fat chicks.
Poor people know what they are eating is shit, they are just too fucking lazy to cook meals.
"So if the fat people would quit having kids, this wouldn't be a problem."
Problem is you can't even tell with fat chicks.
Poor people know what they are eating is shit, they are just too fucking lazy to cook meals.
42
Yes, people whose pay is so low that they are the most likely to be working two or more physically demanding jobs approaching 70 hours a week in total are "lazy." It's the middle-class white collar folks sitting at desks from 9-5 M-F with occasional trips to the water cooler who do all the demanding work in this country. Give me a fucking break.
43
Actually, i think there should be agricultural subsidies, because I do believe that we need to maintain a domestic food supply. THAT SAID, corn syrup is not a domestic necessity. The simple solution is to remove subsidies on any agricultural product that is not sold to the end user in its original form (or close to it). Subsidize the stuff that appears in our groceries as it does in nature (or that has been canned or frozen with minimal processing). And for the love of God, bring back home economics. Give kids hands-on classes on healthy cooking and eating. Do away with processed foods in school cafeterias and vending machines. I never considered myself to be a food Nazi, but when I was working at a bookstore chain, the number of times i wanted to step in and shake the parents I saw in the cafe there was limitless. No, your 6-year-old does not need a sugar cookie the size of his head. Why would you even buy him such a thing?
44
Just to clarify, if they start taxing soda at a higher rate like cigarettes, will the diet soda still be cheaper, since it has no sugar/lower calories/no HFCS? Or is it still going to be taxed because (according to Dan) drinking nothing but diet soda makes your come/cum taste bad?
45
Dan is spot on in this article. In what now seems like a lifetime ago, I owned several Dairy Queen franchises. For years customers bitched about having healthy alternatives on the menu. So, DQ added the grilled chicken sandwich. Great. However, I couldn't sell those stupid fuckers unless I put them on sale two for a dollar. The sandwich came with a lo-cal mayo but of course customers bitched that they wanted the "real deal" mayo.
Even better, customers would order a salad, but not with the grilled chicken. They wanted the "breaded" (in the industry we don't say "fried") chicken. Did they get the lo-cal salad dressing? Nope. They got the honey mustard dressing which had a ton of calories and fat.
But my all time favorite were the morons who'd get a salad and then finish it off with a large cookie dough blizzard. First, who needs 21 ozs of ice cream? Second, it had 1300 calories in it and over 50 grams of fat.
After five years, I couldn't take it anymore and sold my stores. The whole experience has made me understand three things about people:
1. Americans will always be overweight if they continue eating fast food like an asteroid is headed for us and there's no tomorrow.
2. Customers who will throw a blizzard at you because they didn't like the taste are fucktards.
3. Anybody who will scream at a 16 year old fast food employee and is then surprised when the 16 year old yells back is a dumb jerkoff. I posted a customer complaint phone number in all of my stores. It was my cell phone. I was happy to resolve any customer complaint. Yet, customers would stand there and yell at a 16 year old instead of calling me. 16 year olds by definition are stupid - that's why we don't let them vote, enter into contracts, or drink alcohol. So, don't be surprised when you yell at a 16 year old and they impulsively yell back at you.
More...
Even better, customers would order a salad, but not with the grilled chicken. They wanted the "breaded" (in the industry we don't say "fried") chicken. Did they get the lo-cal salad dressing? Nope. They got the honey mustard dressing which had a ton of calories and fat.
But my all time favorite were the morons who'd get a salad and then finish it off with a large cookie dough blizzard. First, who needs 21 ozs of ice cream? Second, it had 1300 calories in it and over 50 grams of fat.
After five years, I couldn't take it anymore and sold my stores. The whole experience has made me understand three things about people:
1. Americans will always be overweight if they continue eating fast food like an asteroid is headed for us and there's no tomorrow.
2. Customers who will throw a blizzard at you because they didn't like the taste are fucktards.
3. Anybody who will scream at a 16 year old fast food employee and is then surprised when the 16 year old yells back is a dumb jerkoff. I posted a customer complaint phone number in all of my stores. It was my cell phone. I was happy to resolve any customer complaint. Yet, customers would stand there and yell at a 16 year old instead of calling me. 16 year olds by definition are stupid - that's why we don't let them vote, enter into contracts, or drink alcohol. So, don't be surprised when you yell at a 16 year old and they impulsively yell back at you.
47
@17 - How much of feed-stock being corn is because of skewed incentives from subsidies? (I'm honestly asking, I don't know)
Much of the criticism for the corn ethanol programs related to corn being an inefficient crop for making ethanol (go go switch grass), and edible corn getting more expensive because farmers made more on ethanol corn. If we're not going to eliminate the subsidies and regulatory taxes, maybe we could manage them so they don't cancel out their intended benefits.
@44 - Great question.
Much of the criticism for the corn ethanol programs related to corn being an inefficient crop for making ethanol (go go switch grass), and edible corn getting more expensive because farmers made more on ethanol corn. If we're not going to eliminate the subsidies and regulatory taxes, maybe we could manage them so they don't cancel out their intended benefits.
@44 - Great question.
48
Wow, no fat shaming in a Dan obesity post! Incredible.
Anyways, you are spot on here. It is important to teach kids about nutritional eating and healthy habits, as for many it is the only place they will learn it, but the first place they learn is in the home. My partner and I endlessly talk about how our parents' eating influenced us and how their parents influenced them as we both work to find a balance and end our bad eating habits.
Anyways, you are spot on here. It is important to teach kids about nutritional eating and healthy habits, as for many it is the only place they will learn it, but the first place they learn is in the home. My partner and I endlessly talk about how our parents' eating influenced us and how their parents influenced them as we both work to find a balance and end our bad eating habits.
51
I'm waiting to see what happens when this committee realizes that the first and most important step in fighting Americans' terrible food health is to sack Tom Vilsack and replace him with someone who actually gives a shit about anything besides agribusiness money.
I'm guessing nothing. Nothing at all.
I'm guessing nothing. Nothing at all.
53
Why aren't we taxing soda yet? It really is time.
Nothing wrong with trying to recoup some of the massive medical costs the obese shove onto society.
Nothing wrong with trying to recoup some of the massive medical costs the obese shove onto society.
54
Agree with @15 - but there are ways to counteract this trend. The Safe Routes to Schools program is getting kids to walk/bike to school again and there's the whole Active Transpo movement to make the same choices avail to every American.
If you can't get exercise in your daily moving about, it's pretty hard not to get fat...
If you can't get exercise in your daily moving about, it's pretty hard not to get fat...
55
Where kids are concerned, what's to be done about fruit juice (even w/no added sugar)?
http://www.hookedonjuice.com/
http://www.hookedonjuice.com/
56
"We live in a world where a fast food burger and fries is cheaper than the ingredients needed to make a complete, healthy meal at home (i.e. something beyond just rice and beans), and that's the problem right there. I mean, I understand that some people will still eat fast food and drink soda every chance they get regardless of the availability and affordability of better choices, but our food system actively stacks the deck against people who do choose to make healthier choices."
What? It takes at least $10 at a McDonald's drive through to feed my family of three (two adult meals, one happy meal). I can make two meals at home for that price, both healthy. And I'll have leftovers to take to work the next day. Perhaps we need some education about how to shop and cook for a family. I'm a master of twenty minute meals on the table, and it takes me longer than that to go to McDonalds.
What? It takes at least $10 at a McDonald's drive through to feed my family of three (two adult meals, one happy meal). I can make two meals at home for that price, both healthy. And I'll have leftovers to take to work the next day. Perhaps we need some education about how to shop and cook for a family. I'm a master of twenty minute meals on the table, and it takes me longer than that to go to McDonalds.
57
Hey Dan, how did your son enjoy that BIG PLATE OF PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES you bragged about baking for him? I do believe you shared a photo of said cookies, as it was proof you're such a good father who is also into gay BDSM. Or whatever convoluted point you were trying to make in that post.
58
@57: Peanut butter cookies, as cookies go, are not that bad; peanut butter is rich in vitamins, protein, and polyunsaturated fats. And never giving your kid cookies or even anything approaching dessert will hurt your kid about as much as letting him eat whatever he damn well wants. Kids can have the occasional sweet without getting fat. It's like how I can have the occasional drink without getting cirrhosis.
59
Homo milk all the way! I myself drink whole goats milk and feel quite fine thank you.
Skim milk tastes like shit, and most of those vitamins are fat-soluble.
Skim milk tastes like shit, and most of those vitamins are fat-soluble.
61
@57
I think you might possibly be missing some important distinction here, perhaps something that might illuminate for you important distinctions between long-term dietary trends and one plate of cookies.
Or you might just be an illiterate homophobe, I don't know.
I think you might possibly be missing some important distinction here, perhaps something that might illuminate for you important distinctions between long-term dietary trends and one plate of cookies.
Or you might just be an illiterate homophobe, I don't know.
62
@59: By "most of" you mean vitamins A, D, E, and K, as opposed to the eight B vitamins plus vitamin C. Remember, though, the number one micronutrient that milk provides is not a vitamin at all, but rather a mineral: calcium. Skimming cream off doesn't take out the calcium.
That said, there's nothing wrong with whole milk, but you do want to avoid excessive amounts of saturated fats.
That said, there's nothing wrong with whole milk, but you do want to avoid excessive amounts of saturated fats.
63
@62- yes I did mean vitamins A,D,E and K. Thank you. I get my B vitamins from wonderbread and my vitamin C from copious amounts of "sunny delight".
64
@ 17
So we will have to eat grass fed beef and HFCS will be expensive so companies will either have to use healthier sugars OR processed foods prices will rise so we will have to buy whole foods. Yet you sound like all this is bad?
So we will have to eat grass fed beef and HFCS will be expensive so companies will either have to use healthier sugars OR processed foods prices will rise so we will have to buy whole foods. Yet you sound like all this is bad?
65
@61: Actually, Dan gave no indication in his post about the cookies for his son that it was a one-time event. Come to think of it, I've never seen this stellar, health-conscious father tell us what his son generally eats despite his pointing the finger at the diets of other families.
66
@65 Dan has made mention of what his son eats on more than one occasion. His fathers only drink water with their meals & the kid has a choice of water or milk. Terry cooks & the kid eats what they eat, rather than being raised on a diet of dinosaur-shaped chicken fingers & mac & cheese & whatever else kids eat these days. The kid gets cookies, candy, pop & that stuff as a treat, not as a mainstay of his diet.
67
#17 No disrespect intended, but too bad if removing subsidies would increase the cost of most foods. Those of us who don't buy cheap heavily subsidized food should not be taxed for it. Removing tax subsidies on corn is a step in the right direction. Most people who buy cheap food are not poor they are middle or upper class. They should pay what their food really costs and stop sticking people who make smarter food choices with the bill.
70
Very young children shouldn't be given skim milk; they need the fat. Around age 5 or so, they can switch to skim milk.
71
I thought the idea that kids "need" cow milk in their diet was an invention of the Dairy Farmers of America? I can't imagine there are American children who have a fat-deficient diet even if they're on skim milk.
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