I am not actually rude enough to snap a picture of their groceries, but it looked almost exactly like this:
We all know my argument about "real" food vs. synthetic food. But these people did not have a single fresh fruit or vegetable on the belt. There were six cases of soda. They were returning their big ticket items, which were frozen lasagnas and frozen pizzas. There was no fresh meat. Everything was processed. One of the women was on an electric cart and was very overweight.
I won't lie. There was a time when I would have been disgusted by this. I would have judged them as lazy and incompetent. But today, all I felt was sad. Maybe they don't have the means to prepare food. Or more likely, maybe they really don't know how. Maybe no one ever taught them how to cook. And while in all likelihood, they are well aware of the fact that an apple is healthier than a Suzy-Q, when it comes right down to it, 8 Suzy-Q's are indeed cheaper than 8 apples.
I wanted to say, "Hey, instead of paying for your groceries, how about if I teach you how to shop and cook?" And even though I would have sincerely meant that offer, I figured it would come across as condescending and presumptuous. People make snide remarks about Michelle Obama's "interference" in the nation's diet and lifestyle choices. But I absolutely believe nutrition education is dying. Home Ec programs have been cut from most schools, and nutrition is glossed over in the curriculum because we need to get those math, science and reading scores up in time for testing! We are bombarded with convenient snacks and fast meals, and in our crazy on-the-go lives, they absolutely make things much easier. My concern is that people are not learning to differentiate between grabbing a couple frozen pizzas at the end of a hectic day, and buying 14 frozen meals to last two weeks' worth of supper.
Anyway. I felt frustrated and disappointed by this experience. Do I think the government should tell people how and what to eat? No. But I absolutely believe they should assume responsibility for ensuring that nutrition education is available to everyone, and that healthy food choices are an affordable option across the board.
5 comments:
Non-food is much cheaper and more accessible than "real" food. Especially when you want to talk calories and more bang for your buck. And the list goes on and on for reasons why it is becoming increasingly difficult to even understand what healthy eating is.
I include in my prayers everyday how grateful I am that I have access to (and the resources for) healthy food and have been given a second chance at health these days. I am a convert to diet as medicine and am so lucky!
I agree with all that you said. It really is such a shame that healthy food is more expensive. I remember my friend telling me that when her husband was still in school her kids were crying in the store for some fresh fruit and she was tempted to get them candy bars because it was so much cheaper.
You don't really know me (I'm related to the Bossy women, so you know who I know...) I just had to say AMEN! This is why I love programs like WIC- there is access to "healthy" (er) food and education.
At my kids school, where they all get free breakfasts and I'm guessing most get free lunch, they sell cheetos and ice cream bars with lunch. I've been there and seen the kids throw away their "healthy" free lunch and chow down on chips and ice cream... why are we giving them this choice??
Maybe you could have engaged them in some casual food talk? By carefully injecting some
"street language" into the conversation, perhaps you could have made yourslf seem like a pal.
Like, "Wow, have you ever used a wok? You can cook shit really fast with those." Or maybe, "Hey, wow, you know, those bags of veggies that you can steam on your microwave? They aren't half bad. You can melt cheese over that shit, too."
Hey, you never know. Maybe it would have worked. ;)
You wrote, "There was a time when I would have been disgusted by this. I would have judged them as lazy and incompetent. But today, all I felt was sad."
But the important thing is that you're still judging.
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