Food Myths, the Media & Lawyers (Oh My)

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  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    It doesn't matter if Disney stops advertising. Kids see that crap in the store and beg mommy to buy it or mommy sees the bright colors and health claims and thinks its kid food.

    The only, ONLY thing that will ever help is for parents to educate themselves on what their kids should be eating.

    On second though, I bet if you couldn't buy that crap with food stamps sales would plummet.

    I'm not a fan of food stamps. They taste horrible.

    It may sound insensitive but... these companies have a huge base of uneducated parents subsidized by the government. If all of a sudden the government teat was taken away and FS money could only be spent on food that meets certain nutritional standards, the food companies would follow.

    That is why WIC is a great program. Milk, cheese, juice (although juice itself is pretty sugary), carrots, beans or rice. Its been years since I was on it though. I've heard now that they actually allow whole grain bread, other vegetables and real fruit instead of just juice as options.

    And they take the time to teach nutrition classes too. I think that's the best part of all... they literally make you take the class.
  • redcat17
    redcat17 Posts: 267 Member
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    You know what infuriates me more than Bad business practices? When people stop thinking for themselves and start looking every other place to put the blame.

    Really? You really thought that a food packet that had over 9000 chemicals was bad for you? Really?
    Really? You didn't knew that eating 6000 calories from McD's drive through would make you fat? Really?
    Really? You wanna suit tobacco companies even though on the 5 packs that you smoke daily it clearly tells you of health complications? Really?

    Yeah, well, I know people (not poor people or uneducated or whatever) that never think to look at nutrition labels and have no earthly idea that eating unlimited quantities of alfredo sauce can contribute to weight gain. Call it delusion or denial if you want, but there are plenty of them out there.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
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    Playing Devil's advocate for a moment...

    cocoa krispies has fewer g of sugars per serving than 6 oz. of yogurt or 5.3 oz of Greek yogurt...

    That being said, I'm of the mindset that just about anything can be PART of a healthy, balanced diet. All things in moderation...

    ps. I don't think that this has anything to do with food stamps. I also don't think that just because someone has food stamps, they're automatically "uneducated." That's a little harsh (and a gross generalization), IMO.

    Thank you. For the year that we were on food stamps it wasn't because we are stupid. (Actually I'm 15 credits shy of a physics degree) It was because my hubby went from making almost $3000 per month to 1500/mon (if we were lucky that mon) because his company made him "on call" instead of giving him regular hrs. It saved our butts immensely, I don't know what we would have done in that time without the little bit of help we got. Eventually we moved 2500 miles away from family and the place we grew up for him to work full time with a transfer. Even then we couldn't afford to move out here right away so we were paying rent and buying groceries in 2 places while trying to save up money to move across the country for 9 months.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    Cook at home as much as possible. The ultimate clean eating. You have no idea wtf is in those pre-packaged things. Same for restaurant foods. You don't know what kinda sanitation those places have.

    Now I can understand the need/want for some of the stuff. I drink Ovaltine daily and it probably is loaded with chemicals but thats in such a small amount that I can ignore it. Most of my meals are hand cooked (including bread) and I don't have to spend hours and hours doing this.
  • BandedTriaRN
    BandedTriaRN Posts: 303
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    i'm going to skip through the hurling of insults and someone else may have mentioned this already but what really irks me is the advertising of these cookies

    http://whonucookies.com/
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    Playing Devil's advocate for a moment...

    cocoa krispies has fewer g of sugars per serving than 6 oz. of yogurt or 5.3 oz of Greek yogurt...

    That being said, I'm of the mindset that just about anything can be PART of a healthy, balanced diet. All things in moderation...

    ps. I don't think that this has anything to do with food stamps. I also don't think that just because someone has food stamps, they're automatically "uneducated." That's a little harsh (and a gross generalization), IMO.

    Thank you. For the year that we were on food stamps it wasn't because we are stupid. (Actually I'm 15 credits shy of a physics degree) It was because my hubby went from making almost $3000 per month to 1500/mon (if we were lucky that mon) because his company made him "on call" instead of giving him regular hrs. It saved our butts immensely, I don't know what we would have done in that time without the little bit of help we got. Eventually we moved 2500 miles away from family and the place we grew up for him to work full time with a transfer. Even then we couldn't afford to move out here right away so we were paying rent and buying groceries in 2 places while trying to save up money to move across the country for 9 months.

    Yes, it's a good thing she stuck up for poor people against... oh wait, nothing, because NO ONE SAID THAT POOR PEOPLE ARE STUPID.
  • Meggeler
    Meggeler Posts: 42
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    Thank you all, very enjoyable thread. :smile:
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
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    It doesn't matter if Disney stops advertising. Kids see that crap in the store and beg mommy to buy it or mommy sees the bright colors and health claims and thinks its kid food.

    The only, ONLY thing that will ever help is for parents to educate themselves on what their kids should be eating.

    On second though, I bet if you couldn't buy that crap with food stamps sales would plummet.

    I'm not a fan of food stamps. They taste horrible.

    It may sound insensitive but... these companies have a huge base of uneducated parents subsidized by the government. If all of a sudden the government teat was taken away and FS money could only be spent on food that meets certain nutritional standards, the food companies would follow.

    That is why WIC is a great program. Milk, cheese, juice (although juice itself is pretty sugary), carrots, beans or rice. Its been years since I was on it though. I've heard now that they actually allow whole grain bread, other vegetables and real fruit instead of just juice as options.

    And they take the time to teach nutrition classes too. I think that's the best part of all... they literally make you take the class.

    Actually I wasn't required to take a class. They gave me some pamphlets with the healthy food pyramid guidelines and sent me on my way. I never did get formula with WIC though, I breastfed so they gave me the after formula stuff from the beginning.

    I knew about nutrition anyways though took a few classes in HS and college.
  • LesterBlackstone
    LesterBlackstone Posts: 291 Member
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    Yes, it's a good thing she stuck up for poor people against... oh wait, nothing, because NO ONE SAID THAT POOR PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

    Why do you hate poor people? Is it because you think they're stupid?
  • nataliefamily3
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    Just want to add on the food stamp discussion...when I got food stamps for a few months when on maternity leave they gave me way more than I ever would have spent on groceries otherwise. I was much more willing to spend 6 bucks on ice cream money on frozen meals, etc. when it was not really coming out of pocket. I do not think poor people are un educated I do think there should be some sort of nutrtion requirement for which foods you can buy with food stamps. Everyone knows obesity is a issue in our country this would be an easy way for the government to help families make better choices. just my take.....ps sorry for any bad grammar or spelling I am on my phone
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    Actually I wasn't required to take a class. They gave me some pamphlets with the healthy food pyramid guidelines and sent me on my way. I never did get formula with WIC though, I breastfed so they gave me the after formula stuff from the beginning.

    I knew about nutrition anyways though took a few classes in HS and college.

    You're lucky! I was mad at first, but then I realized it was probably a good thing overall and a half hour of information wouldn't kill me. It was pretty good, considering.

    Maybe it's a state by state thing? I got WIC in TX. There is actually a poster on the wall saying that french fries don't count as a vegetable to WIC, so the classes are good lol
  • melbaby925
    melbaby925 Posts: 613
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    i'm going to skip through the hurling of insults and someone else may have mentioned this already but what really irks me is the advertising of these cookies

    http://whonucookies.com/

    The front of that package looks like a gift...and then you read the back and get completely and utterly horrified. It's appalling at what the industry gets away with.

    I think everyone who creates this crap should have to eat it exclusively for a year and then let us all know that it's safe and healthy.
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    Yes, it's a good thing she stuck up for poor people against... oh wait, nothing, because NO ONE SAID THAT POOR PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

    Why do you hate poor people? Is it because you think they're stupid?

    Do you ever wish there were an emoticon for "headdesk"?
  • LesterBlackstone
    LesterBlackstone Posts: 291 Member
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    Yes, it's a good thing she stuck up for poor people against... oh wait, nothing, because NO ONE SAID THAT POOR PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

    Why do you hate poor people? Is it because you think they're stupid?

    Do you ever wish there were an emoticon for "headdesk"?

    :lol:

    I think your sarcasm meter is broken. You must be poor.
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    Yes, it's a good thing she stuck up for poor people against... oh wait, nothing, because NO ONE SAID THAT POOR PEOPLE ARE STUPID.

    Why do you hate poor people? Is it because you think they're stupid?

    Do you ever wish there were an emoticon for "headdesk"?

    :lol:

    I think your sarcasm meter is broken. You must be poor.

    Oh no, it's working. I knew you were being sarcastic, you can tell because I didn't use all caps at you to try and make my point :)
  • Pomoch325
    Pomoch325 Posts: 63 Member
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    Nutella also had to pay out for false advertisement, when they tried to market their product as healthy.

    Food Stamps can be used to buy all the candy you desire. Seriously, Easter bunnies... halloween candy??? There needs to be limits, and certain items need to be banned from qualifying.
  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
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    I'm just wondering why my profession got mentioned in this topic. We get blamed for everything. LOL.
  • jessgrey2
    jessgrey2 Posts: 88 Member
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    Food stamp debate aside, companies are going to continue to push their products in every way they can within FDA guidelines.

    This Pom juice ad is amusing : http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/pom_cheat_death

    Seriously I don't think it is a matter of intelligence with poor food choices, just apathy. (maybe with a little laziness mixed in, it takes some work to prepare meals without a barcode)
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    It may sound insensitive but... these companies have a huge base of uneducated parents subsidized by the government. If all of a sudden the government teat was taken away and FS money could only be spent on food that meets certain nutritional standards, the food companies would follow.

    Some programs already are - like the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. You even sometimes get vouchers for farmer's markets.The majority of the items are actually pretty healthy!
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    Options
    It may sound insensitive but... these companies have a huge base of uneducated parents subsidized by the government. If all of a sudden the government teat was taken away and FS money could only be spent on food that meets certain nutritional standards, the food companies would follow.

    Some programs already are - like the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. You even sometimes get vouchers for farmer's markets.The majority of the items are actually pretty healthy!

    WIC is an amazing program! They actually try to educate.