Watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution was enlightening, sad, nauseating, and frustrating all at once. Did you see it? This might not get me many fans, but while watching, I honestly wavered back and forth between feeling sorry for the people of Huntington, WV because they didn’t even know that the food they were eating/feeding their children was pretty much toxic and thinking. . . well if you want to eat crap, be obese, and die young, go ahead. I can understand where the fists would come out if someone comes into your community trying to say that their way is better, but all these people have to do is look around at each other and at the statistics that got them on the show in the first place. I felt bad for Jamie as the attitudes flared and as the school principal and lunch women seemed to WANT him to fail. Don’t they want better for their children than they have for themselves?
I plan on continuing to watch the show because I adore Jamie Oliver and think he is doing a good thing, but there will likely be more cringing.
Anyway, the show got me thinking about my own past eating habits and things that used to pass my lips without a second thought. Disclaimer: I am not judging any of the foods presented nor am I judging people for eating them. In fact, there’s a chance that on occasion they might make their way back into my life. The point of the post is more to explore how our norms change over time.
I used to think nothing of polishing off a bag of Cinnabon Stix with a large MochaLatta Chill and an extra side of frosting. Going to the mall with my friends inevitably meant eating food court food, and it doesn’t get any more food court than Cinnabon. Looking back, its not even the calories or fat that gets me, its the fact that they really weren’t that good!
Pixy Stix! Why didn’t I just sit down with the sugar bowl and a spoon?
My college friends will recognize Tostitos Salsa con Queso as one of our main food groups, I am pretty sure. And when I said above that these foods might make their way back into my life on occastion, I mean you Salsa con Queso.
It’s bright orange and doesn’t need to be refrigerated, but its still pretty tasty, especially after a night out! 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/ / CC BY 2.0′>Source
I used to loooooooove Coke. I drank it all the time. Now I have it a few times a year, usually just when we have Sales & Marketing meetings that are several days long and well stocked with sodas and snacks. But even then, knowing what I know now about what’s in Coke and how bad it is for me, I don’t enjoy it as much. This is one habit that is hard to break, but it totally baffles me when I see people downing 4 or 5 of these a day. It makes my teeth hurt!
I do remember school lunches being pretty awful, but I brought lunch pretty often. In high school I brought every day! And then there was dining hall life. . . soft serve ice cream and salads every day. Throw a few Cokes on top of that, and I wonder how any of us accomplished anything!
Ok, your turn! What foods or drinks did you love at one time. . . and now the thought makes you cringe?
Tags: Food, health, Jamie Oliver, Junk Food
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I had the same feeling as you. I just couldn’t believe those kids didn’t know ANY of those vegetables! But of course they knew what the french fries and all the processed food was. I think we are all guilty of eating sugary processed foods at one point (or alot) in our lives, but the important part is that we educate ourselves and learn! I used to love lunchables when I was younger, but my parents hated buying it for me.
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I am LOVING food revolution. I couldn’t believe the way these people live, and it is hard not to judge. It really made me sad! I can’t wait to see what happens.
I used to love, love marshmallow Peeps. Now they gross me out. Most candy actually, which is just gross to me now! -
I had a similar mixed reaction to Jamie Oliver’s show…I was disgusted and inspired at the same time. It definitely made me think, though, about what I will feed my future children and how I will teach them about food.
Sometimes I think about what I used to eat too…ok, and still eat on occasion…like drunkenly eating cheetos. I don’t even what to think about what’s in them…:)
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I’m the same, I never used to think much about what I ate but I’m very conscious now. It’s crazy how being educated on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can change the way we eat.
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I feel like I wrote this post with all that food talk! The show hits close to home for me because I lived in WV there and I think it comes to knowledge and education and what is good for you and what isn’t plus money. Some people don’t want to or can’t afford (in their mind) to spend money for the healthier option and choose something unhealthy for that fact and convenience.
I hope their show in the end does open their minds and eyes for them and others in the longrun. It’s just so sad hearing about these kids who already have Type 2 diabetes.
As for me, I love coke….Coca Cola 🙂 It’s is like crack to me and used to drink three + a day. I used to feast on Chinese buffet food, mcdonalds, Denny’s (Hello Moons over my hammy) and any kind of food you could get at a gas station. I am mad at myself now for all the crap I put in my body and then wondered why I was unhealthy, gained weight, etc. I think it starts at home though because my mom didn’t cook a lot and we always went out to eat. I never ate veggies and had to learn how to like them on my own.
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Fast food…To think I used to eat McDonalds, Taco Hell, KFC and the like. When you are a cook and you know how much love and care goes into producing good food, this distresses me.
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Some of the foods that I used to think were amazing…
Frozen burritos from 7-11. Yep, that’s right… bean and cheese!
Hash browns from McDonald’s.
Jalapeno poppers like they were going out of style. I still eat them a couple times a year now, I must admit. 🙂I applaud Jamie Oliver. As far as obesity goes: if adults want to eat unhealthy things and live sedentary life styles- go for it. But kids deserve the chance to make informed decisions about their foods. If no one is teaching them the options, they are set up to fail and don’t stand a chance to be active, healthy, and knowledgable about food! It’s not fair to them. Schools NEED to step up and TEACH more than social studies and math. They NEED to educate kids about FOOD, HEALTH and what it all means. Shame on the schools that don’t. I’m a teacher so I feel OK criticizing. 🙂
Ok, off my soap box for now. Thanks for the fun post (as always)!
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i completely agree with your assessment of the town people.
my first year of college i lived off of tortilla chips and cheese dips, but here the kicker…..i would consume an entire bag of cheetos that was drenched in a cream cheese & salsa combo. and I wonder why I gained 30 pounds!!!!
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oh man, where to start.
High school, I LOVED KFC popcorn chicken and a biscuit, Wendy’s chicken nuggets, milkshakes and fries from local diners, salami sandwiches, blueberry cake donuts… need I say more? Trust me, it wasn’t pretty!
Thankfully, I can honestly say I have no idea when the last time I consumed any of those things was and know I never will again!
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It makes sense to say that adults can go ahead and kill themselves with food until you remember that kids want to do what adults do. I suppose unless you are eating the junk in secret, it’s pretty hard to explain to kids why they can’t have something but it’s OK for adults. They catch on to everything!
Something I used to eat a lot as a kid was Cheetos puffs with French onion dip. Good lord. Oh, and lunches in high school involved a LOT of taco salad with nacho cheese.
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I had a very similar reaction when watching the first two episodes. The important thing, I think, is that it is getting people to really talk about what they and their kids are eating! After watching the show, I called my mom to thank her for always making me bring a lunch to school – even through high school!
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My friends and I were talking about the choices in our high schools last night. Mine had warm chocolate chip cookies, hot pretzels, french fries, and slushies, and most kids ate that every day! I too brought my lunch. I certainly feel lucky that overall I learned very young to have good eating habits!
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When I grew up, I didn’t have any of those that you listed, because I grew up in Singapore. But you betcha I ate tons of unhealthy junk food…deep fried bananas, the oiliest laksa, greasy roti prata, rice rolls drenched in high-sodium high-sugar sauce, etc. But at the same time, I also ate a lot of healthy food that my mom prepare for me, like sweet potatoes, rice, bean sprouts, etc. And thus overall, I was pretty darn healthy, with a good and moderated dose of “junk” food, too. And I was happy, and I did not even know anything about calories, nutrition, whatever.
I think it’s definitely the parent’s responsibility to make sure their kids are eating right. I’m not exactly sure about injecting information about nutrition and calories into the kids’ mind yet, because it can certainly end up with the opposite effect, and lead to very unhealthy thoughts and obsessions about food. I want kids to grow up as naturally and carefree as possible, but the parents definitely should take a role, being the more knowledgeable and responsible ppl, in making sure that the kids get enough of healthy foods, and try to bring them up to like it as well.
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I only caught a little bit of the Food Revolution the other night but my fiance and I are planning to DVR it and watch it more regularly. Working in schools I see first hand how gross the school lunches are- and sadly enough I bought lunch all the time as a kid.
Fortunately I never ate TOO horribly in general, but I did have this nasty habit of eating chips for lunch in high school. Yeah, not so much nutritional value in that!
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I didn’t have a chance to watch the first episode yet, but I plan on it! I used to eat pixy stix and Fun-Dip all the time as a kid. I even used to eat jello straight from the packet before swim meets for “energy”. I never got into soda really, but chips were on the top of my radar!
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I completely agree with your feelings about Food Revolution.
Age 11…before a gymnastics meet I would chow down on 2 cheeseburgers and fries from McDonald’s. Then go tumble and jump around. And I was little and muscular and tiny. And back then McDonald’s did not wreak havoc on my digestive system. Ohhh to be young and kinda stupid. 🙂
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o god. middle school and hs were pretty bad – i was notorious for lunching on fries and a white chocolate macadamia cookie. SICK! i too was into the tostitos queso during college – electric orange!!
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I did not see the show, but the commercials alone were depressing.
I still like a bit of junk food every now and then (I eat Peeps at this time of year – in fact, there’s a box sitting on my desk as I type this!), but as I learned to cook more creatively, I realized that much of the junk food offered today doesn’t even taste very good. My best friend and I still shudder when we think of the summer in high school when we ate a bacon double cheeseburger from Burger King almost EVERY day – what were we thinking? Ugh!
My mother’s mantra is “all things in moderation,” and I still stand by that rule: a little bit of refined sugar or fast food isn’t going to kill you. But if it’s the ONLY thing you eat – it will.
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That is definitely a mantra to live by! I absolutely still eat plenty of “junk”, but I do it a lot more consciously than I used to!
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