Growing up Hoosier, I vividly recall three bothers standing on tiptoe at Moms kitchen counter, intensely eyeballing three glasses evenly filled with Coke as if they were weighing gold. A single drop one way or another meant a cacophony of sibling squabbling.
All week we’d longingly eyeball the six pack of green-glass bottles of cola knowing well and good that it was futile to expect as much as a sip until the weekend.
When we were little Hoosier tikes, sugary colas, lard infused breakfast pastries, deep fried potatoes, White Castles, pork tenderloins as big as your head, were a rare treat, not a daily ritual. Proud Hoosiers, deeply rooted in tradition are shifting away from their old ways, and the further we get away from our old values, the further we get away from eating naturally.
Weekends were for family trips, staying at home to play with the neighbor
kids, and going to church to pray. We liked doing everything together.
Once a week, after Sunday evening church, Dad would take us to Lindner's ice cream on East Washington Street for raspberry sherbet or chocolate chip ice cream. Saturday mornings meant a trip to the Irvington Bakery to pick up several bags of warm yeast, cake and jelly doughnuts. That was our ‘happy meal.’ The rest of the week, we ate what was set before us and were told to be grateful. “Finish every bite, or go to our room and prepare your homework. No TV!” Dad would dictate.
A fate worse than death. My 47-year-old father died in 1964 from a massive coronary, I was seventeen. In those days, we knew precious little about the dangers of eating saturated fats, processed junk food, smoking, and inactivity. Store bought snacks were rare ‘cause Mom liked to cook, and nothing went down smoother than a Betty Crocker snack.
Is the difference that we're giving in to the incessant begging, whining and pleading just to have peace? Are we participating in a permissive popularity contest or are we practicing the sort of ‘tough love’ your children will thank you for later in life? Observing my five grandkids grown up, I get the idea that a newborn spends about 50% of it time eating and then as they transition to solid foods, they develop food neophobia: the fear of new foods. The remainder of the day, they sleep, burp, and dutifully fill their diapers.
It is during this period, dietary habits change more than any other part of their tender lives. A perfect opportunity for parental units to educate their offspring about the earths’ wide variety of foods; their flavors, textures, as well as proper manners, and social propriety from their only other influence other than TV: mom and dad. Studies indicate that through parental role modeling, expectations, or attitudes, mom and dad influence young children's intake and awareness of nutritious foods. Parents, setting a good example by making alternative foods within arms reach, can positively affect their households’ collective state of health, one loving forkful at a time.
Is disease caused when man eats against his nature?
As our culture drifts away from the traditional lifestyles of our parents and grandparents, our penchant for shortcuts are glaringly evident in our diet. Shortcuts profoundly alter quality.
The friendly local media can impact food choices by promoting health education and awareness through "healthier" food choice education. However, there is some concern that media exposure such as some television commercials may contribute to higher fat, empty calorie, and food choices. People tell me that it’s difficult to eat healthy since groceries grocery store shelves moan from the weight of overly processed, nutritionally bankrupt, trans fat laden products. It’s getting easier.
May the love of your family be your motivation? Live your life purposely. Plan your family meals with fresh, healing ingredients that will nurture the healer within us all. Your family deserves the best. Fast food is the fast lane to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Keep in mind, studies show that children will not willingly eat as adults, what they were not offered as children. Let us all contradict the fact that that strong, consistent parenting has become an oxymoron. It’s time to go back to the future.
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