When did junk food/sweets/fast food stop being just an occasional treat?
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KassLea22
Posts: 112 Member
Just a thought I've been having for a while, that I wanted to see other opinions.
Growing up, my family never really ordered in food or had fast food. We only ate that stuff if it was a special occasion. We also had cookies, candy, ice cream, and all those other foods at home but they were never a part of my every day diet. They were treats that we would eat maybe on a weekend or on family game night, or if we had friends over. My mom was a great baker, but she only baked cakes and sweets on birthdays or for bake sales, things like that....or if she wanted to treat us to something special on a weekend or for a barbecue.
So I grew up with a pretty healthy diet, and was not being deprived of sweets from time to time. I'm an adult now and that attitude has definitely continued with me. I don't eat that stuff on an every day basis and I don't really feel like I'm missing out. When I do have cake and cookies and things like that I consider it a treat and it kind of makes it more fun to have it since I don't have things like that a lot.
I've been on the site since 2011, but I didn't really start posting on here until recently. One thing I noticed when I started reading these forums years ago was that things like cookies and pop and cake were a part of peoples every day diet. I just kind of figured everybody viewed those items as treats. I realize now that many people think of those things as necessities.
Just wondering what everyone's view of this is. Is it better if cake and cookies are viewed as a special treat? Or should they be considered an acceptable part of an every day diet? Has anyone else noticed this change in attitude towards sweets or am I alone?
Edit: I suppose my overall question is, why do so many people have such different attitudes towards food? Why is food and emotional issue for some people, when for other people it's not? why do you some food items have different definitions for different people? All things that are just interesting to me, I like learning about other people and their attitudes.
Also want to clarify that my parents wouldn't have cared if we ate the candy and ice cream that was in our house as long as we asked first. I guess i just really didn't because I always viewed it as something special and not for every day.
Growing up, my family never really ordered in food or had fast food. We only ate that stuff if it was a special occasion. We also had cookies, candy, ice cream, and all those other foods at home but they were never a part of my every day diet. They were treats that we would eat maybe on a weekend or on family game night, or if we had friends over. My mom was a great baker, but she only baked cakes and sweets on birthdays or for bake sales, things like that....or if she wanted to treat us to something special on a weekend or for a barbecue.
So I grew up with a pretty healthy diet, and was not being deprived of sweets from time to time. I'm an adult now and that attitude has definitely continued with me. I don't eat that stuff on an every day basis and I don't really feel like I'm missing out. When I do have cake and cookies and things like that I consider it a treat and it kind of makes it more fun to have it since I don't have things like that a lot.
I've been on the site since 2011, but I didn't really start posting on here until recently. One thing I noticed when I started reading these forums years ago was that things like cookies and pop and cake were a part of peoples every day diet. I just kind of figured everybody viewed those items as treats. I realize now that many people think of those things as necessities.
Just wondering what everyone's view of this is. Is it better if cake and cookies are viewed as a special treat? Or should they be considered an acceptable part of an every day diet? Has anyone else noticed this change in attitude towards sweets or am I alone?
Edit: I suppose my overall question is, why do so many people have such different attitudes towards food? Why is food and emotional issue for some people, when for other people it's not? why do you some food items have different definitions for different people? All things that are just interesting to me, I like learning about other people and their attitudes.
Also want to clarify that my parents wouldn't have cared if we ate the candy and ice cream that was in our house as long as we asked first. I guess i just really didn't because I always viewed it as something special and not for every day.
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Replies
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I think how people eat is their own personal business.10
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.3 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.7 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
Oh of course I'm not saying there weren't. I guess it's just interesting how different peoples attitude and thoughts about food Are. And I think peoples attitudes towards food probably stems from how they were raised and the household attitude they were raised in. It's interesting to me because until I started talking to people in my personal life about the food and started reading discussions on here, I never realized that food was such an emotional, personal issue to people.
Not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.4 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.2 -
I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm 37 and I knew lots of children growing up who did have candy, cookies, sweetened cereal, fruit drinks, etc daily. My family didn't, but I felt as if we were the exception.2
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IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.
On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.1 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
Oh of course I'm not saying there weren't. I guess it's just interesting how different peoples attitude and thoughts about food Are. And I think peoples attitudes towards food probably stems from how they were raised and the household attitude they were raised in. It's interesting to me because until I started talking to people in my personal life about the food and started reading discussions on here, I never realized that food was such an emotional, personal issue to people.
Not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.
I dunno. I have seen people who grew up in households where certain foods were "forbidden", only to turn around and go crazy when they get to college. Or start hiding food wrappers and such from their parents.8 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm 37 and I knew lots of children growing up who did have candy, cookies, sweetened cereal, fruit drinks, etc daily. My family didn't, but I felt as if we were the exception.
I'm almost 27. But I also suppose that cultures differ State to state, and I grew up in one of the healthiest states in the US.
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I'm 56 and we only had cake, candy, ice cream and sodas on our birthdays. I believe that our moms may have spent more time at home, had time to home cook, and felt less guilt and consequently feed us fewer treats.5
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cwolfman13 wrote: »IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.
On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they out frequently.
We definitely ate like that when we had friends over to. I guess I never felt like I was missing out because I didn't eat a lot of junk food and I don't feel that way now that I'm an adult and can make my own choices. I'm not saying either way people choose to run their household is good or bad I just think it's interesting seeing how it affects people's attitude towards food. That's all.
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One set of my grandparents had 'junk' regularly. Not take out, that's a newer thing. Both of my parents remember the first take out place opening in their town, but ice cream, candy, chips, pretzels were staples in her family. My mother fondly remembers Sunday dinners when she was a kid: a bucket of ice cream from the local dairy and Charles' Chips.
She's modified that tradition to a once-per-year banana split for dinner.2 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.
Totally. That's what I think is the most interesting part really. I just think it's interesting that so many people have so many different views towards food, and towards different kinds of food.
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Why do these items have to be occasional treats? How often is occasional? What's wrong with having them daily?
I didn't have a lot of fast food growing up because I lived in a small town that didn't/couldn't support fast food places. My parents were working and raising 5 kids. I generally had free time on my hands and my folks didn't give much care about what I ate as long as I was quiet while Mom was sleeping and came home when it got dark out. I ate plenty of junk food, probably 90% of my diet was candy bars, beef jerky, soda pop, and potato chips.
Eating dessert twice a day keeps me from getting stabby. Apologies that that doesn't fit in your world.7 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.
On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.
Sounds a bit like my experience (only synagogue instead of church). Mom baked on Fridays, but she did limit portions. Candy was just at Halloween. But when it came time to trade lunches in school, I discovered that nobody wanted to change my apple for a bag of potato chips or a Mars bar. Going to a friend's house meant cookies during the week! Made me jealous too.0 -
Why do these items have to be occasional treats? How often is occasional? What's wrong with having them daily?
I didn't have a lot of fast food growing up because I lived in a small town that didn't/couldn't support fast food places. My parents were working and raising 5 kids. I generally had free time on my hands and my folks didn't give much care about what I ate as long as I was quiet while Mom was sleeping and came home when it got dark out. I ate plenty of junk food, probably 90% of my diet was candy bars, beef jerky, soda pop, and potato chips.
Eating dessert twice a day keeps me from getting stabby. Apologies that that doesn't fit in your world.
To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the hostility. I don't think that I'm being rude or judgmental, in fact I have said that I am not advocating towards any persons diet. And I never said my way was the right way. I just think it's interesting that while one person can view cookies as a treat, another person can view cookies as something that is needed every day. And maybe it was the culture of the neighborhood I grew up in, or my state, or just the people I was around but those things were always considered treats so when I realize people didn't consider them treats it was just interesting to me.
It's also interesting that one person can view food as such an emotional personal issue, while someone else just views it as a non-issue.13 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.
yaasss! going to kids houses that had poptarts was amazing! or just going to houses where they had free range to access the fridge. my mom would always monitor access to food and i felt like it was so cool when kids could make their own food decisions. except for my one friend who used to eat raw cheese filled hotdogs out of the fridge after school.
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jessiferrrb wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.
Totally. That's what I think is the most interesting part really. I just think it's interesting that so many people have so many different views towards food, and towards different kinds of food.
I think you have genuine curiosity, but I think your original post kind of backed you in to a corner that you are trying to get out of. I think you originally thought that most people shared the same view, and there has been a fundamental shift in "how" people view treats. Having heard that that was not the same for a lot of people, you have kinda shifted toward saying you are more just surprised about different views on food. Definitely not a hater, because I grew up with families from both sides of that argument. Personally, we always had "treats" in the pantry; I just did not choose to eat them "too" frequently
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My mom was into health food so some of the stuff I see promoted now she was doing way back in the day. Stuff like flaxseed, spirulina, carob, natural herbs like echinacea... she used to made her own butter spread blending real butter with canola oil when everyone else was eating margarine. So it's crazy to me to see all the crazy stuff she used to do now commonplace.
As healthy as she tried to be we still had some junk and treats. Two homemade cookies after dinner, there was always ice cream in the freezer because my dad enjoyed it. She was adverse to sugary cereal but was ok with pop tarts (weird).
The funny thing is that most "junk" she bought was usually generic to save money. Back when shopping at warehouse clubs were not popular. We had generic mayo and ketchup from gallon tubs, generic tubs of ice cream, potato chips from a box (yes box)... I hated the chips from a box! So while we had some junk around it never really crossed my mind to eat much of it. I loved when we actually got to eat name brand stuff which wasn't very often.
Now I'm grown enough to buy my own junk. I wouldn't say how I grew up affected how I eat now. I try to eat healthy, but I'm a mindless nighttime snacker. It's why I'm here constantly battling 5-10 pounds.
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I grew up in the 60's and 70's. We had sweets every day. There was never a time that there wasn't a homemade cake or pie or cookies available. And we always had ice cream or ice milk (what low-fat ice cream was labeled back then) in the house. We drank Kool-Aid a lot too. And we almost always had sugary cereal for breakfast.
We had these things daily, but other than breakfast cereal they weren't meals. They were dessert and you didn't get them if you didn't finish your meal, which was usually meat, potatoes and a vegetable.
There wasn't much fast food in our area when I was young other then KFC and that was real treat usually saved for special Sunday dinners.3
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