What do you think of the obesity epidemic in the U.S.?
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Or, based on daily visitors on MFP, there's a whole lot of people who don't know how to cook. Or critically evaluate health claims.Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
The older I get the liberaller I become. Let's help low income people lift themselves by their bootstraps. I do think that the poor have more gumption than we give them credit for. Surely if asked, they could come up with a whole bunch of ideas on where they could use support.0 -
Or, based on daily visitors on MFP, there's a whole lot of people who don't know how to cook. Or critically evaluate health claims.Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
It's possible, but I don't believe that. IMO, an awful lot of people believe whatever they need to believe to justify that one-more slice of pizza or cake.
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Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
Can't force 'em to do otherwise, if that's what they want to do.
Either we believe in personal responsibility and the right to make choices, or we don't.
Or we believe in mutual obligation between citizens and the state and consider that absolute freedom doesn't exist anywhere and that all of these are negotiations weighing collective and individual goods against each other0 -
Lemurcat12 You are right. Even here the prices vary significantly from one city to another. I asked if fruit and veggies are affordable for most people because here I often get told that people don't eat healthy because they can't afford it and that healthy food is too expensive. Here some fruit and veggies and specially what people called "super foods" are expensive, and not everyone can afford to keep their home fully stocked with produce all the time but there are always offers on. I tend to buy what's on offer/cheapest or that I can buy in bulk and last, something like apples, that will bring the price down.0
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Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
Can't force 'em to do otherwise, if that's what they want to do.
Either we believe in personal responsibility and the right to make choices, or we don't.
Or we believe in mutual obligation between citizens and the state and consider that absolute freedom doesn't exist anywhere and that all of these are negotiations weighing collective and individual goods against each other
Of course.
But that means no "heavy hand".
And a "heavy hand" is the ONLY way you're going to get through a policy that makes food more expensive or limits portion sizes in restaurants or gets widespread adoption of CSAs.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »4 decent-size sides of broccoli=59 cents at my grocery store right now (if you don't insist on organic). Add the same amount of cabbage and it's 88 cents for a huge side. I think it's weird to compare that with chips, as the broccoli has nutrients and the chips have essentially none, but a 14 oz bag of Ruffles is $3.50, even without the extra tax I'd get on it.
hmm, yeah. i think leisure time is a thing, too, people need time to cook.
People have plenty of time to cook...I'm the primary cook in my home...I'm also a busy professional, I make time for exercise, I make time to play with and do things with my kids...I make time to spend with my wife, etc...and somehow I manage to cook most meals and get everyone fed.
Excuses are abundant....people would rather reach for a "junky" snack and sit their *kitten* on the couch and do nothing...people make choices and many of them are *kitten*. Most people i know are just really lazy, and that's what it boils down to.
Yep. It doesn't have to be an elaborate meal. A chicken breast or some fish and some veggies is quick and easy0 -
Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
Horses and water. You can tell them but it's up to them if they do it.0 -
Lemurcat12 You are right. Even here the prices vary significantly from one city to another. I asked if fruit and veggies are affordable for most people because here I often get told that people don't eat healthy because they can't afford it and that healthy food is too expensive. Here some fruit and veggies and specially what people called "super foods" are expensive, and not everyone can afford to keep their home fully stocked with produce all the time but there are always offers on. I tend to buy what's on offer/cheapest or that I can buy in bulk and last, something like apples, that will bring the price down.
From talking to people on MFP, my impression is that one reason fruits and veggies are perceived as expensive is that there's waste when they go bad. Once upon a time that was a problem for me too, but it's just a matter of learning to cook what's on hand in your refrigerator (and getting in the habit of doing it). This is one reason I rail against making things so complicated with food plans and so on--you (uh, not you, general you) don't need specific veggies with specific meals. Just roast or pan fry a few veggies based on what you have and add them to the meal or eat them on the side.
CSAs are ridiculously expensive, but I learned from mine to make dinner out of what is on hand, and I do that now and never, ever have veggies go bad.
Perhaps this is a slight diversion from the topic.0 -
Holy thread resurrection.
So we are comparing apples to apples, @urloved33, how much does it cost to buy eight potatoes? (This would equate to consuming one eight ounce bag of potato chips every day). It scares me to see low-income posters claim that they cannot "afford" to eat healthy. Cooking from source is nearly always cheaper than pre-packaged. Frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh and just as nutrient rich. There's dried beans and lentils of all kinds. So where do they get this idea that healthy eating is the exclusive domain of the rich? Whole Foods?
There's lots of opinion. I am not so interested in opinion as in finding the root cause(s). Otherwise a whole bunch of people (policy makers included) will be wasting their time chasing rabbit trails. I think it is a mistake to lump the entire US in to this epidemic. Obesity is regional.
What is happening in these regions that is different than the rest of the country? One factor does stand out; stress (i.e. higher proportion of lower income families). This is a map of the GINI index (income inequality). In many ways the US is on top of the world. But for such a wealthy nation, the income disparity is alarming.
I am Canadian but we are by no way spared from this epidemic.
where i live in the us south and in the north...its .99 a lb for a potato so are they expensive. yeah.
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Evolution, survival of the fittest (I only half mean that)
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The question is how do you feel about the obesity epidemic in the us. and my answer is...im not surprised by it.0
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We have more access to information today than ever before. To get instant access to information from anecdotal evidence to medical studies is a touch of a button away. Yet people claim ignorance, don't take responsibility and think they are entitled to everything presented to them.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
I buy 10 Lbs of apples for about $7.50...that usually lasts me two weeks at an apple per day...that's like $.54 per day...that's cheaper than a candy bar. I buy 25 Lbs of dried pinto beans for around $18.00...I go through about 1 Lb per week with my family of four as a dietary staple in my home...that's $3.64 per week. I like to rotis a couple of chickens on Sunday for quick lunches and what not...cost me about $8.00 and makes a solid 8 meals...that's $1 per serving...cheap.
I get so sick of this nonsense. People choose what they choose. It is incredibly easy to eat healthfully on a budget...people are just lazy and favor convenience.
really add three or four kids (That all want you to buy those things for them) in the mix.
I had re read this...I am sorry I don';t believe you.
I raised two athletic daughters and all their friends so...I know how much it cost to feed a family well.
Its not1.00 a meal. sorry And for a lot of americans 1.00 A MEAL PER PERSON..is too expensive.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
I buy 10 Lbs of apples for about $7.50...that usually lasts me two weeks at an apple per day...that's like $.54 per day...that's cheaper than a candy bar. I buy 25 Lbs of dried pinto beans for around $18.00...I go through about 1 Lb per week with my family of four as a dietary staple in my home...that's $3.64 per week. I like to rotis a couple of chickens on Sunday for quick lunches and what not...cost me about $8.00 and makes a solid 8 meals...that's $1 per serving...cheap.
I get so sick of this nonsense. People choose what they choose. It is incredibly easy to eat healthfully on a budget...people are just lazy and favor convenience.
really add three or four kids (That all want you to buy those things for them) in the mix.
I have kids.
They don't decide what goes into the grocery cart.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
I buy 10 Lbs of apples for about $7.50...that usually lasts me two weeks at an apple per day...that's like $.54 per day...that's cheaper than a candy bar. I buy 25 Lbs of dried pinto beans for around $18.00...I go through about 1 Lb per week with my family of four as a dietary staple in my home...that's $3.64 per week. I like to rotis a couple of chickens on Sunday for quick lunches and what not...cost me about $8.00 and makes a solid 8 meals...that's $1 per serving...cheap.
I get so sick of this nonsense. People choose what they choose. It is incredibly easy to eat healthfully on a budget...people are just lazy and favor convenience.
really add three or four kids (That all want you to buy those things for them) in the mix.
I had re read this...I am sorry I don';t believe you.
I raised two athletic daughters and all their friends so...I know how much it cost to feed a family well.
Its not1.00 a meal. sorry And for a lot of americans 1.00 A MEAL PER PERSON..is too expensive.
I have two boys...I don't buy them things just because they want them...that's not how it works...they are the kids, I'm the parent. You should stop talking out of your *kitten*.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »ok so a weeks fruit only purchase. one piece of fruit a day/ one banana, one apple, and three strawberries for five days is 7 dollars+ a large bag of chips is 1.97 and it will last for five days of snacks. do the math.
I buy 10 Lbs of apples for about $7.50...that usually lasts me two weeks at an apple per day...that's like $.54 per day...that's cheaper than a candy bar. I buy 25 Lbs of dried pinto beans for around $18.00...I go through about 1 Lb per week with my family of four as a dietary staple in my home...that's $3.64 per week. I like to rotis a couple of chickens on Sunday for quick lunches and what not...cost me about $8.00 and makes a solid 8 meals...that's $1 per serving...cheap.
I get so sick of this nonsense. People choose what they choose. It is incredibly easy to eat healthfully on a budget...people are just lazy and favor convenience.
really add three or four kids (That all want you to buy those things for them) in the mix.
I had re read this...I am sorry I don';t believe you.
I raised two athletic daughters and all their friends so...I know how much it cost to feed a family well.
Its not1.00 a meal. sorry And for a lot of americans 1.00 A MEAL PER PERSON..is too expensive.
I have two boys...I don't buy them things just because they want them...that's not how it works...they are the kids, I'm the parent. You should stop talking out of your *kitten*.
Agreed. I have 3 kids. If my 2 eldest had their own way they'd eat jacket potato and tuna for dinner every day, followed by chocolate or ice cream. However, I'm in charge (well, my husband too haha) and they eat what they're given.0 -
I started out losing when I hit the obese category. I also got scared when I moved from NJ where I was obviously heavy to rural Michigan where I am normal/trim in comparison and saw where I could be headed. Yeah, the food culture out here is much different -meat and potatoes. I didn't grow up like that. We had tons of veggies and 5 homemade meals a week. I wasn't allowed to buy school lunch. I'm 30, so this wasn't the good old days, but fairly recent. My mom didn't want me eating that stuff. I was still overweight but I would have been way worse off if we ate poorly at home. Losing weight hasn't been that hard because I know how to cook from scratch and am familiar with what you can do with different veggies. Makes a huge difference. Didn't grow up ever drinking soda, so never had to fight that habit. What you grow up with matters quite a lot. I can't imagine not having a mom forcing veggies onto every meal plate, but there's tons of parents who don't eat them, so their kids won't either. I don't know what the way out will be for future generations0
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Okay, now that we've all expressed shock, horror and dismay about obesity in developed nations, what's to actually be done about it? I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't see the situation improving in the future. Rather, we'll have more accommodations for the overweight. Because frankly, it isn't about "cheap enough" foods - we have already established that one can shop cheaply but not eat McDonald's four times a day. It's not about "education" - please, spare me, show me ONE person who can't tell you, "If you eat way too much, you get fat." It isn't about "not knowing" that moving around is better than sitting and staring at electronics; everybody knows that - but sitting around and staring at electronics is obviously way more fun. It isn't even necessarily about working parents not having the time; I was a single parent for 13 years, and coming home each day and literally just throwing some veggies and a protein into a pan along with a tablespoon of butter and some spices for stir-fry was faster than sitting in my car in a long line waiting for the drive-through. (So that's what I did...pretty much every day...cooked something up quickly at home, in comfort, with my son sitting beside me in the kitchen doing homework.)
We have all the tools, we have food programs for the hungry (and the poor are by no means the thinnest category in developed nations anyway), none of us lives in a cave with "no access" to "information," yet we're still choosing to be fat...in fact, we're choosing to be fatter every single day (overall). Because doing the things that make us fat is much more fun than doing the things that make us thin. That's really the bottom line here.
Individually we can make our own choices, sure. And we do. Every single day. A few of us choose to get healthier. The majority, by the numbers, do not and that's literally in the face of ability AND information.
I just don't see this situation improving in the future. For me, personally, I do (I'm losing weight). For my family, I do. But for the majority? Look at the majority. The majority is fat and getting fatter.
Sorry to be depressing, LOL.0 -
Cooking healthy is CHEAP and QUICK. It takes a couple of bucks a day and 30 minutes to load up a crockpot with a week's worth of nutritional goodness. I'm with WolfMan...world is full of people who just don't give enough of a **** to do it.
so let them eat cake, is what you're saying.
Can't force 'em to do otherwise, if that's what they want to do.
Either we believe in personal responsibility and the right to make choices, or we don't.
Or we believe in mutual obligation between citizens and the state and consider that absolute freedom doesn't exist anywhere and that all of these are negotiations weighing collective and individual goods against each other
Of course.
But that means no "heavy hand". And a "heavy hand" is the ONLY way you're going to get through a policy that makes food more expensive or limits portion sizes in restaurants or gets widespread adoption of CSAs.
No, it means the state is within its rights to impose limitations on freedom to the individual if that freedom comes with too great a cost to the many; further, a heavy hand would actually be protecting citizens' welfare and would mean the state would be holding up its end of the deal.0
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