Foodstuffed
Sunday, April 27, 2008Something has been bothering me for a while and the arrival of a certain zoo animal pasta kids meal from a certain giant, world-famous hamburger outlet seemed to epitomise the problem. So I thought a little photo project with the kids might be the go.
We live in an affluent society; there's the expectation that if you earn enough money you should be able to purchase a lifestyle for yourself that is commensurate with your wealth. This concept reaches all socio-economic levels: we don't just pay a fare price for what we need, we seem to be hooked on the idea that we must get some reward for paying for something other than the actual value of the goods. There's a distinct separation between the thing purchased and it's perceived inpact on one's status in society.
If nothing else, the fact that you can buy something someone else had to prepare seems to be its own reward.
Where this idea gets totally stupid is food. It may just be me but it seems like the labour of preparing one's own food is something people are more than willing to contract out. I wonder then if the following is really the desired result?
Here it is; under $5 buys you 620g of foodstuffs (yes, we put it on the scales), nicely packaged with all sorts of novelty features. It seems to be a great deal:
Well actually, that's only 510g of foodstuffs with very little nutritional value. Here it is depackaged:
It doesn't actually look that appetising does it? So what did you pay for? Nothing but the novelty.
And what can one do with novelty packaging? It goes straight into the garbage of course. Here's a photo that illustrates my point:
Paying less than $5 buys you a tiny, nutritionally bankrupt meal and some fleeting novelty. If all our fun experiences generated that much garbage, we'd be up to our necks in it.
Who buys this crap? How hard is it to prepare pasta at home? I'm ashamed that our country has welcomed and supported crap like this by buying it (my hypocracy for this project excepted :) ). Is this the sign of a successful society?
I'm hoping to teach my kids about respecting food and their own health. I also want to make them aware of product packaging and to be able to judge the real worth of what they are buying. This is something often made perfectly clear by simply removing the food from it's packaging.
My wife, Kristine, has a good take on the trend of junk food hawkers trying to healthy-up their crap. She reckons that pressuring them to make their food healthier is totally the wrong way to go. It's better to leave the healthy food production to yourself, eat more of it and teach your kids to control their own diet too. Junk food can remain junk food, it's safe to eat it like once a month, and frankly I'd rather kids see it clearly as 'junk' food. All the silliness like the pasta meal above just sends mixed messages to children.
Of course the kids enjoyed the project. As soon as we were done they scoffed the lot, the buggers!
But no one could stomach the disgusting pasta except the dogs :)
8 Comments
Go Dad!!!
go dad!
Great article!
I have a comment for your wife though:)
Our son has a weight problem mainly brought about by his father's love of junk food. It was virtually impossible to wean my son away from it when hubby is bringing the stuff home 3 times a week.
We recently moved house but my husband couldn't join us in the new home for a month. I made a deal with my son, no junk food, eat only what I cook and I don't buy in the junk cookies etc. When Daddy gets home to celebrate his arrival you can go out and get all the junk food you want.
I cook very healthy using grapeseed oil, lots of veggies, high protein low fat meat etc. Snacks were sunflower seeds, carrots, pure squeezed juice popsicles etc.
So the day arrived and Daddy came home and of course they rushed to KFC. Son complained of stomach ache and promptly threw up. Not that there was anything wrong with the KFC, his body just couldn't handle the fat content anymore. Next night they dashed to McDonalds (Son's favorite) whereupon son ate less than half the meal and gave up on it claiming it tasted awful. Said all he could taste anymore was the grease.
He has tried periodically to eat other fast foods but has since given that up too. Again his main complaint is they taste awful and greasy. And the minute he gets home he's raiding the fridge for mom's healthy leftovers:)
So it goes to prove when kids eat healthy they do end up preferring to do so.
These days it's a joke in my house that I threaten my son with fast food that night if he doesn't clean his room. And if his father brings the stuff home for himself, neither one of us can stand the smell of it even.
So tell your wife, kudo's to her, she can make a difference just with leading by example:)
Yummy!
And you've got really nice dogs.
Sam is foodstuffed! LOL
I used to say to the kids "What do you want to eat for dinner?" when we were eating out.
They'd say "McDonaolds".
I'd say "But what do you actually want to eat?
They had no idea. Or they'd say "McNuggets".
Then I'd say "So you want chicken. Well there's no chicken in McNuggets. Were going to Nandos."
hi its Liam, you know Sams friend Liam? Yeah well im on your blog and its pretty cool. i like the spaceship, its cool. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS double salt licorice is DISGUSTING!! thankyou and goodbye.
PPS DISGUSTING!!
Lol pasta, Sam looks so LITTLE!!
id rather cook pasta than get it anywhere like maccas
Rip and compromise!