Why is offering lots of unhealthy, processed foods considered a "loving" gesture? - Page 5

[hildare]

to answer the original question, though:

we are surrounded by media that enforces the idea that the unhealthy stuff is somehow better.  there aren't really ads on tv for homegrown tomatoes.  that's how capitalism works, you know.. to sell us something that we don't need and to separate us from the idea that we could do something/make something/grow something for ourselves. 

the fight for healthy food goes SO deep.  evil people are trying to patent seeds in such a way to remove the autonomy from farmers.. and pass legislation that makes it difficult if not impossible for people to provide sustenance for themselves-- neighborhoods that outlaw chickens, bans on raw milk, etc. 

there's a lot of money being poured into marketing the products that are processed.  some of it's not even direct marketing... there's much being done behind the scenes, such as placement in the grocery store of the crap cereal at eye level for kids, for example.  packaging and DIRECT advertising for children, who are incredibly susceptible to commercials.  they are advertised to and the ad companies call it the "whine factor," meaning the kids will whine for the product if they make it look good enough and the parents will usually give in.

because when it comes down to it, we as parents do NOT like to deny our children things. 

and again, that's part of our consumerist culture..  we are told again and again that love is expressed in the things we purchase.  work out of home mamas also are told repeatedly to assuage guilt by buying stuff. 

lots of times that stuff we buy turns out to be food. 

i guess in the case of your well-meaning relatives, they are probably influenced by the many factors that suggest things like kids LIKE the crap stuff.  kids will only EAT the crap stuff.  sometimes even the commercials and tv enforce this.. think of all those ads that suggest or imply that kids won't eat broccoli or spinach.  or that you have to force them to.  and obviously, when given the crap stuff... it's made so that we respond to it.  sugar is addictive and provides some brain chemistry altering reactions that initially seem positive.  to somebody who has limited interaction with kids, it's an easy way to provide happiness that is immediate and visible!

[Adaline'sMama]

What she said.

Also, I dont think that a lot of these people have a good idea of what "healthy" means. To some of my family members salad is what you eat for "diet food".

This happened to me the other day:

MIL (who everyone knows Im not a fan of) brought food to a restaurant for DD to eat. DD eats real restaurant food, she does not need "kiddie food" as MIL calls it.
Out comes the following onto the table:
Cheezits
Lucky Charms
yogurt drop bites (DD hasnt eaten these since she was like 8 months old)
frosted animal crackers

I wanted to kill her, but instead I say, "Id really like DD to eat some real food. And she responded, "well, I brought milk for her cereal." Vanilla Nesquick. We dont do non hormone free milk at all. Ive already had a huge fit about Chocolate milk. At any rate, I said, "well, something healthy- not cereal". And she said "everything here is healthy except the cookies."


And she really believed it. I think if she spent a week at our house she might understand what I mean when I say "healthy" but otherwise, she thinks that these pre packaged foods ARE healthy. Jeeze, they say "with calcium:" right on the front of the box, so how can that NOT be healthy?

[1love4ever]

hildare is totally right, she has some excellent points. 

PP, this reminds me of the time a friend was giving her 11month old Chef Boyardee raviolies from a can for lunch.  She said to me "I love these things, they are so easy AND healthy!"  I asked in what way are they healthy, and she said "Well look!  It says they have 1 serving of vegetables per can right here!  A whole serving!"  I thought WOW you seriously believe that the overly processed garbage in that can is as good as giving your kid some real tomatoes. 

It cracks me up when I see packages of animal crackers that say "excellent source of calcium, vitamin D, Vitamin C" etc.....  I think to myself "now how could that package have the claimed 100% DV of those things if its made of bleached wheat flour and sugar?  Who believes that?  Who is dumb enough to think "Oh, I'll give my kid this package of crackers and then I wont have to worry about giving him milk for his calcium needs, taking him outside for some vitamin D or giving him any fresh fruits or veggies for his vit c because that is all covered by this package of crackers"

Anyway, our society is ridiculous. 

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

What she said.

Also, I dont think that a lot of these people have a good idea of what "healthy" means. To some of my family members salad is what you eat for "diet food".

This happened to me the other day:

MIL (who everyone knows Im not a fan of) brought food to a restaurant for DD to eat. DD eats real restaurant food, she does not need "kiddie food" as MIL calls it.
Out comes the following onto the table:
Cheezits
Lucky Charms
yogurt drop bites (DD hasnt eaten these since she was like 8 months old)
frosted animal crackers

I wanted to kill her, but instead I say, "Id really like DD to eat some real food. And she responded, "well, I brought milk for her cereal." Vanilla Nesquick. We dont do non hormone free milk at all. Ive already had a huge fit about Chocolate milk. At any rate, I said, "well, something healthy- not cereal". And she said "everything here is healthy except the cookies."


And she really believed it. I think if she spent a week at our house she might understand what I mean when I say "healthy" but otherwise, she thinks that these pre packaged foods ARE healthy. Jeeze, they say "with calcium:" right on the front of the box, so how can that NOT be healthy?

Sounds like my MIL! She thinks fruit gummie snacks are actually a fruit group selection. She actually yelled at dh once a couple of years ago for getting more salad (that I brought) because "there is Meat Lover's Pizza here!". There really is no coincidence that dh is diabetic.

[McGucks]

I have posted several times about similar issues with MIL--the same stuff that Holly deals with.  And Holly--good for standing your ground.  She probably looked at the nutritional information on the Lucky Charms and said "Well, it says vitamins and minerals."  Of course, Snickers bars also have peanuts, so they're healthy, right?   We've talked with MIL about our feelings about sugar, food color, additives and organics (which we don't do a lot of, but try to do stuff like pick blueberries from spray-free farms), and she honestly just doesn't get it.  She's from a generation, I think, that was probably glad to have food of any kind available.  That said, many grandparents (she's in her 70s) also had "organic" gardens...they just ate what they could plant in their backyards.  That has actually been a good conversation we've been able to have with her since she has a garden.  She knows if she grows it and doesn't spray it, we will be so happy to serve it to our LO (whether he'll actually eat it or not is another issue, but we make a big deal out of saying how much he loves her strawberries and that kind of thing).

Honestly, my feeling is that there is just kind of a lot of rampant ignorance about nutrition.  The folks on this forum know better because, for whatever reason, we have been exposed to books or articles or research or what have you.  We've learned more about what constitutes healthy food than many other people.  We weren't born with the knowledge about nutrition that we have.  I didn't know nearly as much about real nutrition as I thought I did until I got GD with my children (and, for the record, I have always been slightly underweight--I had two obese grandparents and two very slender ones--and 3 out of the 4 of them were on insulin).  I learned though that GD experience, some good books, some documentaries, some MDC.  Not everyone has access to these resources and not everyone would choose to learn more even if they did have access.

I definitely agree that media has a ton to do with it.  This is one of many reasons we haven't had a t.v. since '99.