The Real Junk on Food

Photo credit: Chichacha at Flikr

A Facebook friend shared a New York Times article, "Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

This generated an interesting discussion. I was struck by the statement in the article, "The core problem is that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch."

Um, Newsflash:  Cooking is work, not just defined as work. You can take my word for it. I cook for my family multiple times per day, day after day after day after day. I also have expertise due to my old employment; I was an actor - oh, excuse me - waitress. I worked in an establishment where I was actually paid to serve food cooked by people who were paid to cook. Imagine that! Now I cook and serve for free and will not get any professional credit for my efforts (sometimes I do get appreciation, as well as hugs and kisses.)

Let's get right to the heart of this problem. Cooking takes time. Planning meals takes time. Sigh, cleaning up takes time. Heck, cooking meals that you haven't planned takes even more energy and time. Sure, this should be a shared deal. Partners should pitch in a little more. Oh, I know - there is someone out there reading this whose husband actually cooks most of the meals in their family or maybe even does 50% of the load. Please give me a moment while I pick myself off the floor and then go grab a hankie. I am happy for you, really I am. Let me take this moment to remind you of how very lucky you are and then get back to reality here. In most households women do the cooking.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

If my husband were to do most of the cooking, it would be meat and potatoes (probably fries) with nary a vegetable in sight. Maybe a salad once in while. But none of those dark, leafy greens. No whole grains. A definitely nothing tantalizing to the palate. This is just not my guy's strength or interest. Just like I have absolutely no desire to learn how to change the brakes on our car - of course, that doesn't have to be done as often as cooking - but you know what I mean.  He's also working his butt off to support our family while I stay home with the kids.

Photo credit to Jesper at Flickr

Which gets me back to the point that I wanted to make which is that staying home, cooking  and caring for your family is work. Real bonafide work - because if you aren't doing it, you are paying someone to do it. Or you are paying the price - like the price to one's health by not eating healthy, fresh foods. Throughout history women have traditionally been the experts in the kitchen - knowing how to cook and make fresh foods. But, I am sorry to say that the work of women has been devalued by our society on so many levels. Is it really surprising that stressed, over-worked women don't feel like putting in the effort? If the effort needed to healthfully feed our children, our partners, our families counts for nothing by society (and I am stating this because at this present time I do not think that this is something that can be put on one's resume) can we really be surprised by the serious health and behavior problems caused by eating junk foods? I think not.

Certainly, each of us bears personal responsibility for food choices. But I strongly believe that there is a societal responsibility as well to create the support and the environment that encourages the healthy eating of real food. Let's start by honoring, truly valuing the work of and creating real social support for those who do most of the cooking: Mothers.

My Mind's Overflowing!

My head's been buried in the sand of busyness. Yep, it sure has been. Nothing like a little trash talk to wake me me up. I mean literally talking about trash - not exciting gossip about hanky panky happening in the neighborhood.

For the past two Tuesday nights I have attended a community workshop by Sustainable Works about Green Living. I have been wanting to do more to create a more sustainable lifestyle, but it has seemed so overwhelming and I didn't really know what to do or what real resources there are. And since that majority of people I observe don't truly seem to give a hoot about their environmental impact, sometimes it seems unimportant. Life just seems too busy to deal with it.

Photo credit to Shira Golding at Flickr

Well, the sad fact is that the environmental crises we are facing just from trash, chemicals and pollution really and truly seems to be one of the most important and pressing issues facing us right now. I am really not understanding why people on the street aren't stopping in their tracks and saying, "Ewwww, gross!" and "Enough, already! The buck stops here."

After the talk about waste (last Tuesday), I just kept seeing potential trash everywhere. At a get-together with some other mothers we were supposed to bring food to share. I brought a homemade dinner of Moroccan lentils and a salad. Another woman brought these little chocolate covered  granola-like bars that were individually wrapped; said she got them from Costco (which means that there are a LOT of these individually wrapped little do-hickies in her kitchen alone.) Now, I really like this woman - she's awesome. Not to mention I have myself been a perpetrator of this very issue. But, my heart sank when I saw those little individually wrapped items. All I could see was little pieces of trash. Piling up. Landing in over-filled landfills that are soon to close. Not bio-degrading and send up poofs of toxic waste into the air. Or floating off into our beautiful Pacific and killing wildlife or washing up on our beaches.

I am depressed about this. And heck, I've been a culprit. Unwittingly. But, now that I know about the huge problem, how can I make choices that are responsible? That will create a better world for my children? And for others?

This takes effort. This takes time. This takes educating myself, because I am only just at the beginning of understanding. But I think it is worth doing. It must be done. I highly recommend the Green Living Workshop by www.sustainableworks.org if you live in Los Angeles; you get an incredible workbook called The Sustainability Primer - it's absolutely terrific. Full of great links and ideas. It's especially great for someone like me who really needs it at their fingertips - literally - as it's a bona fide real workbook that I can carry around with me to read and learn even as I schlep my daughters to their activities.

If only more people would care. And do something. What are you doing?

I Wanted to Save the World, but I Couldn't Find a Babysitter

"I wanted to save the world, but I couldn't find a babysitter."

I saw this quote as I walked out of the doctor's office yesterday -- now let's make that last week! I cannot believe it has been a week. I think I can safely change that quote to, "I tried to do something for myself, like post a blog, but I couldn't find a babysitter."

Trying to find time is so difficult. There are so many different things calling my attention. My children. Their education. Cooking. Cleaning. My husband. Phone calls from moms needing breastfeeding help. Call about new births. Teaching. Cooking. And cleaning it up. Laundry. Chauffeuring to activities. E-mails. The barking dog. Cooking. And cleaning it up, again!

This is my kitchen and it's not even 10 a.m. yet!

All day long I have thoughts in my head that I want to explore and write about. I've started four or five blogs in my head already. Getting here is...hard. So, heck, this is my small post. Hoping to add a photo if I can figure out how to download the damn photos from the camera into the computer and then maybe figure out how to upload it. Probably I can get my thirteen-year-old to help me. That's so lowering, isn't it? I gotta laugh.

So, maybe I am not going to save the world with my blog yet (I did mention that I am idealistic, right?), but I have to remember that each day I care for my family and meet their needs, and each time I support a mother or family I am changing the world for the better even though it may not being anything that anyone can really see; nor do these actions count in any kind of quantitative or qualitative way in American society. But it really is the little things - a smile, a touch, a kind word,  an encouragement -  that really count and can change lives and make the world a better place. What's the little thing (that's really not so little!) that you have done today?

Breastfeeding Makes You a Mama Bear!

Are you a Mama Bear? Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Photo courtesy of Harrynl at Flickr

New research shows that exclusively breastfeeding mothers are more likely to be protective of their infants than mothers who formula-feed or non-mothers. And, while defending themselves and their babes, these exclusively breastfeeding mothers keep their blood pressure down to boot. Here are two links about the study that I like:

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/like-mama-bears-nursing-mothers-213692.aspx

http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/9-2-2011-lactating-moms-react-with-more-aggression/

Let me say, I am not surprised. Breastfeeding moms are biologically different from formula-feeding mothers. Breastfeeding mothers respond to their infants with their whole body - a nursing mother has a strong instinct to respond to her infant's cue and cries by picking him up and nursing her baby at her breast. She doesn't need to think about this - unless culture gets in the way. The old "You'll spoil your baby" routine. Nursing mothers have good, strong instincts - let's encourage this. Protecting your baby and looking out for his survival is a good thing. Biological connection is essential for infant well-being.

These articles also make me think about how these specific hormonal changes that make mothers more aggressive could also contribute to mothers possibly feeling more empowered. I know this was my experience with mothering through breastfeeding. I believe that successful breastfeeding contributes to a strong sense of self for many women. Mothers gain confidence as they learn to respond to their baby and trust in their body's ability to nourish him physically, emotionally and mentally. The mother is all the baby really needs and wants. She is the essential one. She is irreplaceable. Formula makes it seem like the mother can be replaced. That someone else can substitute. No, they can't. Really. How can you not feel confident if you know that you are the only one who can meet your baby's needs the way you can by breastfeeding? It's incredible.

This is why it is so crucial to make sure women are given the support they need to successfully nurse their infants. We have a lot of work to do to make sure this can happen as a society. Formula-feeding mothers can be loving and protective mothers, of course - it's just a lot harder. No biology working for them. They've got to think about it because there are not built-in mechanisms that foster bonding and a protective attitude. Mothering is hard enough as it is - let's not make it any harder.