So---yeah. Bizy. Backson.
All of this means stress because as many rewarding things that there are, change is coming fast and furious. The change in schedule is hard, but we're getting through it and I'm trying to be cognizant of all the go-go-going on the boy. So far, we're doing pretty well and yes, there are many rewards to all of this--it's just change. The trick is rolling with it and prioritizing. Oh, and forgiving yourself a few things along the way. That part I have a hard time with because I'm generally too busy beating myself into a guilty pulp over what I haven't done yet in a day. Let it go. Let it go.
So outside being overwhelmed, things are going swimmingly. I do feel bad as my friends and family as of late have had to watch the beliigerent look cross my face at any fad diet I hear about. (I have a whole post on hCg and how getting a shot that fools you into thinking you're pregnant and then limits you to 500 calories a day may *not* be the most prudent method to lose weight but hey-boy-howdy, I'm sure it does work---that is until you start actually eating again) however, I'm trying to keep my very developed opinion to myself as yeah, it can be obnoxious.
With that said, I was listening to the radio on the way in to work this morning and I heard this NPR story on added fiber in food. Now I'll chime in.
Every day, I am cognizant of the fact I am far from a perfect parent. Far from it. Most days, it's a miracle my son makes it to school prepared and ready to go and home at night in bed with his pajamas on. Our house isn't clean enough, we are always running from place to place, we've moved three times over the past six years and there have been a lot of big ups and downs for us. Even as we're slowing down into a new phase, life is still more general chaos than not.
However, since becoming cognizant of what is in the food we eat, I have been determined to pass this on to him; to teach him to know what real food is and how to identify it. This means my son and I have been having a recurring discussion whenever we go to the grocery that goes something like this:
Boy: Mom, can we get (insert cereal/packaged food/drink)?
Me: I don't know. You tell me
(Boy turns over the package to look at ingredients. I generally move in closer to look for myself. What we're looking for is generally there but sometimes not. He does tend to be a beacon for advertising.)
Me: What does it say?
Boy: There it is. High....fructose...corn syrup.
Me: So, should we buy this?
Boy: No.
Me: Why is that?
Boy: It makes you sick?
Me: (I want to say "Probably," but I do tell the truth.) Scientists don't know for sure. There's no long term study on how this stuff affects our bodies because its sort of a recent thing. But we do know it isn't good or nourish our bodies--it processes corn which isn't really high in vitamins to make stuff sweet and adds lots of calories we don't need. So, no. We're not going to buy it.
(He looks up at me every time at this point. He's waiting for me to ask the next part. So I do.)
Me: What could we buy instead? Something that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup that's still good??
Boy: Coconuts! We know what's in coconuts!
And so we do and he always has an alternative. That night, we buy coconuts and there is joy because coconuts mean tools and smashing and juice all over the kitchen. Coconuts are fun. And then we get to the Spaghettios and the conversation starts all over again, only this time it's not only about the HFCS because yes, it's there but also about my other favorite ingredient which can be either "Flavoring" or "Artificial Flavoring." Then the conversation steers more towards, "So if they have to add flavor to it or create fake flavor, what do you think it really tastes like?" Sure enough, back on the shelf it goes.
I know, I know. My poor boy.
Anyway, I have wondered for a while how he is receiving this. I figure there has to be a backlash of sorts--something like when he gets old enough to head off to college, he'll eat nothing but Doritos and Red Bull for about fifteen years. I do try to tell him that HFCS is in a lot of things we'd never guess and that reading is a way to be aware. Fact: it is nearly impossible to live a life free of the stuff in our society and its in the most unexpected things, like Kroger Whole Wheat bread. In fact, there seems to be a correlation between less expensive foods and HFCS content from what I can see. Anyway, where the boy is concerned, I figure all you can do is mitigate and hope he doesn't completely chuck it out the window when independence beckons.
But then there's this:
He went to the grocery with a family friend of ours the other day and as he went through the aisle, told her they should pick only food that contained, "vitamins". She said he was reading the labels. Thank heaven she wasn't offended at all--in fact found it pretty cool. "We're eating healthy," he told her. "We need to choose healthy things."
So he's trying. He's taking it with him and that's good. It got me thinking, though because he's reading ingredients, but for a long time, I know I focused on the information at the top and not the actual list of what was in the product. In fact, I had a conversation with an acquaintance recently who was considering going on the hCg diet (and I won't even start on that today, I just won't although apparently I want to) where they told me they always read the boxes when buying food. I asked them what part was read. The response was, "The carbs, the fat and the calories. That's all I need to know--I don't read the fine print."
Yes. Those things are important for sure. So are the actual ingredients--very important. And that's the point: READ THE FINE PRINT. The food machine devils lie in those details we scarf down so willingly. The carbs, fat and calories are important--but the actual ingredients of what we eat? They matter, too.
It wouldn't be my blog without a gross generalization so here we go: it seems a lot of people don't like reading the fine print. I don't. It takes time and effort and understanding. Apparently, I'm not alone, either. Elizabeth Warren can vouch for that in the world of credit card deals that state in pages of obtuse fine print the bank is going to hose you if you pay late or has the right to raise your interest as much as it wants. The new Consumer Protection Agency is working on simplifying those offers so that people do understand what they're signing on for through all the legalese designed to keep the banks rich and their borrowers hooked.
Well, it's the same with food.
Yet the food machine corporations who pay divdends to their stockholders, strive to keep food processing cheap with sometimes questionable production processes (ammonia in beef, the creation of chicken nuggets, ohohoho, it makes you shudder) made more palatable with shiny packages covered in buzz phrases like "whole grain" and "fiber rich" and "omega 3". These guys don't have any interest in consumers reading the fine print. In fact, they'd prefer it stayed fine. It's cheaper for them that way and they don't have to change.
In the NPR story, they state the latest food production buzz is to state your products are fiber rich. So, the manufacturers of highly processed foods up the fiber in their products through the techniques described in the story, which are far more unnatural than just throwing a handful of oats in the batter. When the newly "3 grams of fiber rich" product hits the shelves, the consumer, with the impulse to buy, sees the banner and says, "Well, see, it has fiber, it's not so bad!" We, like Fox Mulder in that show I used to love, desperately want to believe.
But, if we read the fine print (and I took the chocolate mini-wheats they have pictured on the blog that declare they contain "whole grains" and "fiber"), we see the following:
Ingredients are listed by quantity of what is in the product. So this has "whole grain" wheat. Which, by the way, is just wheat. The second ingredient in this cereal is sugar. The third ingredient is chocolate. Kinda negates the whole fibery goodness, doesn't it?
(In truth, this one isn't so bad on the HFCS front. It's got BHT, though, and for those who don't know, this is a nice overview of BHT. Yes, the jury is still out on its long term effects and it's in a lot of food.)
In comparison, some foods have nothing to hide. Here's a picture of McCann's quick cook Oatmeal which by the way, is both a real whole grain and contains fiber naturally. Here's the ingredients.
Irish Oats. That's it. Put some honey on it and it's sweet. (I was going to take a picture of the honey bear's ingredients, but there wasn't any listed because, well....it's honey.)
Corporations are interested in selling us things. They do that by packaging and playing to the taste sensors that light up our brains. In a real sense, the manufacturer is giving us subliminal permission to buy a product we know may not be good for us simply by adding a "whole grain" or "added fiber." It takes a split second to get us off that teeter-totter of indecision and put the item in our cart and they help us get it there. The statement of it potentially containing something that is supposed to be good for us, no matter how it got there, is enough to allow the consumer to feel *justified.* If we took the time to read the actual ingredients--to stop that impulse and educate ourselves--would we buy the product?
Perhaps. Sometimes what we want outweighs what we know to be in our best interests. I did it yesterday when I ordered a pizza instead of cooking. The fact the pizza tasted terrible didn't stop me from eating a slice. I wanted convenience. I chose it. In fact, I've been struggling lately a great deal with wanting to comfort myself with food again for lots of reasons, mostly stress related. Then I remind myself this is for life and move forward. I think about my son in the grocery, reading labels. I think about the coconut on top of the microwave I need to crack open and share with him for dessert tomorrow.
So here's a challenge, dear friends, from me to you: for the next two weeks, read your food. Read all of your food. Don't take the manufacturer's word for it that it's good for you. Read it and find out for yourself. Nutritional information is important, but so are the basic ingredients. If you don't know what the ingredients are, look them up. If you still don't know what they are, then make a decision if you want the food or not. You may and if so, that's fine. But then again, after a week or so of reading fine print, you may find it strangely compelling how delicious oatmeal and honey begins to sound.
