If I knew all that I knew about our food and how the industry manipulates our eyes to make it look good, I would do all that I can to stop myself and others from buying and consuming the foods that these companies are producing for the benefit of their wallets and not our health. Going back four years ago, I would be a freshman in high school. There wouldn't be much I could to influence our government to be more protective of what they're letting companies sell to people but I would influence my friends instead to stop eating junk food and to turn to healthy alternatives. For example instead of eating hot cheetos, I would offer them fruits or vegetables with tajin so it's still spicy but more healthy. Also a great alternative to making pancakes with the just add water batter would be a ripe banana and egg whites. Surprisingly if you mix that together and fry it like you would a pancake, it taste the same! It just taste much better and at least now you would know what is going into your body.
If I knew what I learned from this unit four years ago, I would stop myself from eating processed foods. This in turn would hopefully influence my family and friends to also do the same. A complete 360 change would not happen right away but every little thing counts. Like I would change my milk to almond milk or add more fruits and vegetables in the grocery cart. If I knew what I knew now four years ago, I would be so much healthier today.
To me it seems that changing the eating habits of others is easier said than done. Even if I knew about the food industry 4 years ago, I still think it would be hard to completely change even the way I eat. I like your idea of offering friends or family members fruits or other healthy alternatives, but most of the time they would rather eat something else. Even telling them what they are eating is unhealthy for them doesn't change their mind and they continue to eat it. Secretly mixing in healthy ingredients like in the pancakes you mentioned does help in making better choices though.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this. Especially for the kids in high school with busy schedules, we find ourselves buying Hot Cheetos to snack on throughout the day and buying fast food on our way home after or in between practices/rehearsals/meetings/events. We can get offered healthy alternatives and we may favor them rather than our unhealthy choices, but the fact is that as much as we may WANT to eat healthier, we don't always have the time to do so. I have always loved junk food and I still do, but sometimes I find myself just tired of it and I crave fruit or a homemade cooked meal from my mom. I wish I could have a lunch packed for myself every day and lots of healthy choices to go for in between all my activities, but in the end I go for a cheaper and faster choice. We can get offered a healthy alternative and take it here and there, but we will always fall back to our bad habit.
DeleteI agree with you Paula. Funny thing is I never liked hot Cheetos until my friends basically shoved them down my throat and made me enjoy them. I love eating fruit and then adding tajin on top of it. I have a lemon tree on the side of my house so sometimes I will pick a lemon then, squeeze the lemon juice on some chopped up cucumber, and finally add some tajin and eat! It's filling, healthy, and delicious. If kids found fun ways to eat healthy snacks then we could eliminate so many bad outcomes of eating poorly.
ReplyDeleteI see what you are saying and I agree with you. Fruits and vegetables are easy to make into good food now, because now of the new technology to blend them into a juice and you can add a little here and there to make it more delicious. Hot Cheetos are one of my addiction I can never stop eating them, I can stop once my stomach starts to burn. I need to cut back on the Hot Cheetos, because I can have major health problems in the future and also I will not be able to eat anything that is spicy because it can burn a hole in your stomach. My uncle ate so many spicy foods that now he has a hole in his stomach and can't eat spicy foods. He can eat it once in a while but not all the time because it can kill him. I would change so many things if I can go back 4 years.
ReplyDeleteJust like everyone I totally agree with you Paula. Before I had no idea what was in the food and I didn't care what was in the food as long as it was tasty to me. Now that we learned about all the things the food industry does to the food it makes me unsure if I want to keep eating those same foods. Even some of the healthy food have things like GMO's and I'm thinking is it worth paying more for the organic products when the food industry should already give us them for the benefit of the consumer. I love food and 4 years ago if I knew the information I know now I probably would of changed my eating habits.
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