Take Responsibility and Be Accountable..............

Options
http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=ccafecf9-541d-44e1-8ba5-2e84e3d969d9&ocid=msnfacebooktwitter

I just read this article and I can't believe the lack of Responsibility and Accountability we are lacking now days.

It is ridiculous that we are blaming the food manufacturers and the stores that carry these foods.

S-T-O-P blaming Wal-Mart and the Food Manufacturers for what we should be blaming ourselves for.

WE (each one of us that is overweight) are responsible and accountable for our own actions. WE decide what goes in our own shopping carts.

Enough is enough!! Please take the accountability for your own actions. Stop blaming these companies. They are doing what is in the interest of supply and demand.

Bring back the American Farmer by purchasing WHOLE foods (aka fresh meat, fruits, veggies). The more we demand fresh, whole foods, the bigger the supply - which means the American Farmers will be able to go back to growing our food again instead of it being manufactured in a factory!!!

Bring back the old days!!!

We as adults and consumers decide what to buy. Stop buying the chips, cookies, frozen foods and hamburger helper. Get in your kitchen and cook from fresh beef, pork, chicken, fish, sea food, fresh or frozen vegetable...s and fruits. Stop relying on Stouffers, Sara Lee, Kelloggs, General Mills, Kraft to half prepare your meals. We need to slow down our lives and go back to the way our ancestors lived.


It doesn’t take that much time to prepare healthy, wholesome foods. I can prepare a whole meal for my husband and myself in the amount of time it takes to do any frozen or packaged food item.

Eating healthy also doesn’t have to be expensive either. Anyone can eat healthy on any budget!!!

These packaged, frozen and boxed foods (or franken foods) were never meant to be a mainstay of our diets. They were meant to be the occasional, in a pinch, meal.
«1

Replies

  • jessieinblue
    jessieinblue Posts: 287 Member
    Options
    "In short, the cause is unknown. The study authors speculated that it could be the other groceries Wal-Mart sells -- the processed foods that fill most of the shelves."

    ^ offered without comment.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Options
    "In short, the cause is unknown. The study authors speculated that it could be the other groceries Wal-Mart sells -- the processed foods that fill most of the shelves."

    ^ offered without comment.

    I know...........I thought......."Well Duh, do ya think???"
  • lookinggreat
    Options
    Quote from article: "The in-store plan involves taking unhealthy salts, saturated fats, trans fats and sugar out of Wal-Mart store-brand products under the Great Value and Sam's Choice labels. The retailer also has pledged to lower prices on fruits and vegetables."

    Grokette, you started an interesting conversation. I applauded the other day when I heard Walmart will lower prices of fruit and veg and so on. But you are perfectly right: fighting obesity can only happen if people make the right choices. Demonizing Walmart as the main source of obesity does not work: Walmart is a big coroporation, their goal is to make money, not to make people healthy.
    Now I heard a story somewhere (sorry I don't have sources it was a while ago) about a single mom with many kids and a very low income who was interviewed about why she would not feed her kids healthy food (for example veggies from a nearby farmers market. Her asnwer: she had tried, but kids would not eat healthy food. They would always manage to get junk food from their friends or buy their own and the mom had to throw the healthy stuff away, which she does not want to do because that food was paid with her hard-earned money. So she was back in a cycle of feeding her kids junk food.
    Making the right choices is tough, especially for people in situation of poverty and with so many jobs that they lack the time and especially energy to cook and shop right. I think there is a much larger social issue around the question of good/bad choices and I really apreciate you bringing up this subject.
  • Clew
    Clew Posts: 910 Member
    Options
    Looking has a valid and very real point. Sadly, healthy options are more costly. But so is cancer, diabetes, arthritis, etc ... and yes, of course kids would rather eat fun neat junkfoody things. But parents need to be in charge. Whenever they can if not 24/7. The "oh the kids just get crap at school anyway" is a copout. Maybe lunch will be a wash - but two healthy meals then are better than zero.

    It is about supply and demand though. Remember back in the 80's when salads were THE THING? Everyone, EVERYONE had a huge salad bar. And when Atkins was hot, pizza joints were offering CRUSTLESS pizza? Their interest is to make money and they will morph into whatever that means. If we demand quality, and will it with our wallets and our shifting patronage if there's no response, we will get it.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
    Options
    Totally agree OP - "I" am responsible for my fat, no one & nothing else is. Some people can eat anything due to their high metabolism - that is NOT me.

    That's why I love this site, it's the best one out there for taking charge of your food choices.
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,311 Member
    Options
    Bring back the old days!!!

    We as adults and consumers decide what to buy. Stop buying the chips, cookies, frozen foods and hamburger helper. Get in your kitchen and cook from fresh beef, pork, chicken, fish, sea food, fresh or frozen vegetable...s and fruits. Stop relying on Stouffers, Sara Lee, Kelloggs, General Mills, Kraft to half prepare your meals. We need to slow down our lives and go back to the way our ancestors lived.

    I couldn't have said it better!
  • Kminor67
    Kminor67 Posts: 900 Member
    Options
    Bottom line is that stores stock what people buy. If not enough people buy it, it doesn't stay in the inventory. Stores stock what sells. If we want the stores to stock healthier options, we have to buy them, and encourage others to do so.
  • mamaleo1976
    mamaleo1976 Posts: 21 Member
    Options
    Grokette, I just have to say that I totally agree with you.
    If we don't buy it, they won't sell it. I make homemade meals 4-5 days a week for me and my family and I don't get home from work until 6:30pm. I make the time to do it because I know it's better for me and my family.
  • choley222
    Options
    I totally agree with you. I am tired of hearing people blame McDonalds or Wal-Mart for their issues. Nobody forced them to put the food in their mouth. My family loves shopping at the local farmers market and every week the kids love picking out something new to try. They have always loved their fruits and veggies because that's what we feed them. These people that say well my kids would never eat that aren't even trying to make their kids eat it. We have a rule in my house that my kids have to try everything on their plate. I read an article in parents magazine a few years ago about picky eaters and it stated that if a child tried something several times they would start to acquire a taste for it. I will tell you this is very true. Even I have learned to love new things. Parents are just lazy in so many areas of their childrens lives, which really makes me fear for the future generation.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    Options
    its the same as when people sued mc donalds for getting fat.I mean come on who dosent know mc donalds will make you fat!
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
    Options
    You bring up an interesting topic. The less processed foods we eat, the better!:smile:
  • MsPitt
    MsPitt Posts: 78
    Options
    It doesn’t take that much time to prepare healthy, wholesome foods. I can prepare a whole meal for my husband and myself in the amount of time it takes to do any frozen or packaged food item.

    Devil's Advocate: Preparing the meal is only part of the equation. There's also the clean-up afterward. It's so much easier to toss a pre-made Stouffer's lasagna in the microwave and just throw the little tray away when you're done eating. In the end, you only have to wash a fork. Convincing people to cook might not be all that difficult. Convincing them to cook AND clean afterward is more of a challenge.

    I'd say the clean-up part of the process is 80% of why my husband and I go out to eat and have pre-packaged food so often. It's not as healthy, but it does free up a lot of time for things that are more fun than cleaning.
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
    Options
    It doesn’t take that much time to prepare healthy, wholesome foods. I can prepare a whole meal for my husband and myself in the amount of time it takes to do any frozen or packaged food item.

    Devil's Advocate: Preparing the meal is only part of the equation. There's also the clean-up afterward. It's so much easier to toss a pre-made Stouffer's lasagna in the microwave and just throw the little tray away when you're done eating. In the end, you only have to wash a fork. Convincing people to cook might not be all that difficult. Convincing them to cook AND clean afterward is more of a challenge.

    I'd say the clean-up part of the process is 80% of why my husband and I go out to eat and have pre-packaged food so often. It's not as healthy, but it does free up a lot of time for things that are more fun than cleaning.

    And that's ok too. A lot of us make the trade-off of convenience for healthier choices. My only objection is for those who make the choice but refuse to acknowledge that it was a choice and try to place the fault on the restaurant. It's insane for someone to sue McDonalds for making them fat.
  • cclala
    cclala Posts: 190 Member
    Options
    Thank you for this, truly. I love what Michelle Obama has done to get fruits and veggies back into the school system, for just this reason. Education about food leads to smarter shopping which may in fact lead to more whole foods being available instead of the chemically laden stuff we're inundated with now.
  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
    Options
    Thank you for posting, and bringing this issue up.
    Fast food chains, and giant mega-marts aren't in the business of making us healthy, they are in the business of making money. It's like the thread on here about Taco Bell and their 35% meat... it's like, OBVIOUSLY its not 100% beef, your paying a $1 for a taco, what do you expect it to be? If you don't like it, don't eat it.
    Don't blame the supplier for making you unhealthy.
    Be in charge of what you buy, and what you eat.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Options
    It doesn’t take that much time to prepare healthy, wholesome foods. I can prepare a whole meal for my husband and myself in the amount of time it takes to do any frozen or packaged food item.

    Devil's Advocate: Preparing the meal is only part of the equation. There's also the clean-up afterward. It's so much easier to toss a pre-made Stouffer's lasagna in the microwave and just throw the little tray away when you're done eating. In the end, you only have to wash a fork. Convincing people to cook might not be all that difficult. Convincing them to cook AND clean afterward is more of a challenge.

    I'd say the clean-up part of the process is 80% of why my husband and I go out to eat and have pre-packaged food so often. It's not as healthy, but it does free up a lot of time for things that are more fun than cleaning.

    Well the clean up part brings up another part of the issues with this country. The waste of the tray, versus doing a compost pile for fruit and vegetable peels and rinds.

    My meat is purchased and and wrapped in butchers paper by the local butcher. I use mostly fresh fruit and vegetables.

    Our trash can is set out 1 time every 3 weeks, versus our neighbors who have overflowing trash containers every week.

    I recycle and re-use too.

    I would rather know I am doing my part to be healthy and make our world a cleaner, less polluted place to live by taking the time to do natural things.

    There is always time to do fun stuff.
  • lookinggreat
    Options
    Thank you for this, truly. I love what Michelle Obama has done to get fruits and veggies back into the school system, for just this reason. Education about food leads to smarter shopping which may in fact lead to more whole foods being available instead of the chemically laden stuff we're inundated with now.

    Interesting: the food at my kids' school changed recently. Even my kids noticed it was healthier. Definitely more fruit and vegetables and less greasy stuff.
    If it comes from a federal mandate or from our school board, I don't know. It is a good change.

    Grokette: I also find the overuse of wrapping revolting.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Options
    Thank you for this, truly. I love what Michelle Obama has done to get fruits and veggies back into the school system, for just this reason. Education about food leads to smarter shopping which may in fact lead to more whole foods being available instead of the chemically laden stuff we're inundated with now.

    Interesting: the food at my kids' school changed recently. Even my kids noticed it was healthier. Definitely more fruit and vegetables and less greasy stuff.
    If it comes from a federal mandate or from our school board, I don't know. It is a good change.

    Grokette: I also find the overuse of wrapping revolting.

    I am so glad to see others that are becoming more conscious.

    My sister makes our soaps and shampoos and I make our cleaning supplies. We use soap nuts for washing our clothes. That way we are not creating waste.

    We both eat local and sustainable foods through our own gardens and a CSA membership. My husband isn't on board as much as I am, he just goes along with the flow of things because it is less work for him, LOL..........

    So I guess he is living more natural without him having to do the work.
  • Sweet13_Princess
    Sweet13_Princess Posts: 1,207 Member
    Options
    Well, I'm not sure I entirely agree with this post.

    On the one hand: Yes, we need to stop making excuses for cramming our faces with processed, high sodium, high sugar, high fat foods.

    On the other hand: Economically speaking, those very same foods are the ones that are the cheapest and easiest to buy at your local grocery store. I think there does need to be some change on that end. Either, price the healthy foods cheaper (after all, they take less money to actually make!), or get more healthy choices in.

    I saw a documentary a few weeks ago... I can't recall the title. But basically it was saying that every time you make a choice to buy organic (not that I'm a tree hugger advocate for it), it's telling the grocery store that you care about your health. The more you buy, the more likely the store will begin offering similar products. Stores keep track of those types of sales!

    Shannon
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Options
    Well, I'm not sure I entirely agree with this post.

    On the one hand: Yes, we need to stop making excuses for cramming our faces with processed, high sodium, high sugar, high fat foods.

    On the other hand: Economically speaking, those very same foods are the ones that are the cheapest and easiest to buy at your local grocery store. I think there does need to be some change on that end. Either, price the healthy foods cheaper (after all, they take less money to actually make!), or get more healthy choices in.

    I saw a documentary a few weeks ago... I can't recall the title. But basically it was saying that every time you make a choice to buy organic (not that I'm a tree hugger advocate for it), it's telling the grocery store that you care about your health. The more you buy, the more likely the store will begin offering similar products. Stores keep track of those types of sales!




    Shannon