 So, we live in the United States of America. A country known for a vast amount of choices available to us, and for over consumption. If something is available to us we will consume it, and consume it until there is nothing left of it. We like a t shirt then we must own all colors and all styles of that t shirt. If we like a coffee then we must drink it every day, and have that coffee house where we get it on every corner. We like clothes, and will pay hundreds of dollars on one item that costs maybe $20 (at most) to make and ship.
We are a country of abundance, and we are blessed or cursed with this depending on your view. So why is it that our children are at risk for obesity? Is it that they don’t have the knowledge to make good choices, is it a familial problem, is it that processed foods are affordable to the masses? OR is it that we’ve allowed fast food to penetrate our lives in a way that we can’t even begin to comprehend our lives without it?
Over the weekend I went to the movie Fed Up. It is a documentary about nutrition and children. It was informative in that it informed me to the facts as to what the truth is behind our choices to feed our children. According to this film Health Insurance companies are investing in fast food markets, and the school lunches that we offer our children are shameful! Even if you raise your children with good information about food, diet, and nutrition the minute they hit school you are screwed! School lunch is just another advertisement for fast food and processed food. Cafeterias don’t make anything, they are storage for the Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, etc that the fast food industry need to feed your children. Not only that, the people we employee to work with school lunch are simply people that re-heat and serve what the fast food industry provides.
Sure, you can send your kids to school with a sack lunch, and when they’re in grade school that will be fine BUT once they reach middle school and high school they will be perceived as nerds, and peer pressure will trash the rest of what they were brought up with, and the fast food industry has yet another consumer. Brilliant on their part! Brilliant.
We are starving our children. We are complicit in what is going on, and after seeing this movie I was outraged as to our governments duplicity on the matter. Everyone talks about childhood obesity, diabetes, childhood heart disease, and this movie uncovers something that we should be aware of, and not tolerate!
Again, I want to emphasize that this is just my opinion, and it is what I learned from this movie. You may learn something else. Whatever what you may think or your opinion; it is time that we take a stand on processed foods in our homes, in our schools, etc. The end to childhood obesity is within our reach BUT we have to educate ourselves, demand better from our government, and get fast food OUT of our schools. That will be a start. Our kids deserve it!
