Old news is the soda tax . New news is the potential socialism fears.

Whether or not it will reorient the role of soda from staple to treat, interests me most. Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/opinion/09tue3.html?th&emc=th Our country has a seemingly rich-man’s problem of too many fat people. Yet, when you delve into the stats, the fat people aren’t the rich people, they’re the poor or ignorant.  [CUT-TAG="More Here..."]

Poor

Making food the right way takes time, and I can totally empathize with busy working people who do not have the time to chop their own veggies or go grocery shopping weekly. While we know that the actual math of making your own food is cheaper than buying processed or prepared food, many people are intimidated by this process. Microwave meals definitely seem to feed a family at a decent rate and fast food restaurants assuredly out-price most sit-down places. It may seem obvious to thin people that the convenience and price is not worth the poor-health trade off, however, those living paycheck to paycheck think only in terms of immediacy. They pay the immediate bills and then look at what is left. Often, this is not enough to actually go out to a warehouse store and buy the bulk items then, skip over to the farmer’s market and get your weekly fresh foods. It’s enough to go right now and buy a $12.99 extra large pizza for the family for dinner tonight. Then they have enough left to get 4 chalupas at taco bell. So they do it over and over until the next paycheck when they pay the immediate bills and look at what is left.

To be honest, this is not the way I grew up (my parents were frugal and pretty smart with budgeting) so I did not realize this mentality until I met my now-husband. His father and his brother’s family live this exact way. They are never caught up and they never feel like they have enough to go grocery shopping.  While financial analysts can lecture on the flaws in this mentality, it doesn’t make the situation less real. Which leads to the next point...

Ignorant

From caloric intake to basic cooking tools, many Americans aren’t educated in food health. We don’t have home ec classes or cooking classes in our schools (at least not as requirements). When I think back on my childhood specifically, the only exposure I had to cooking, diet and lifestyle choices where when my mom was ill for a short period and she taught me how to plan meals, make grocery lists and cook. It wasn’t anything fancy but she did sit me down and explain that every meal needs a vegetable. One of the biggest things she stressed to me before I moved out was “make sure you get enough fiber”.

 At first, I thought it was a silly, mom-ish concern. Then, as I surveyed the meals that my friends, dates and coworkers consumed, I realized that even something as essential as fiber is overlooked. Every single year, I had a roommate who would eventually end up in a bind, literally, where they hadn’t “gone” for days. Popcorn for breakfast, pizza for lunch and burgers for dinner… you got your cheese, carbs and meat but no veggies and nothing that can actually help you pass. The most desperate would turn to me because they thought I was some sort of health-nut (I’m not really) because I had whole wheat everything, and spent my food allowance on fresh fruit and veggies. To be honest, I just wanted to be able to poop. (This was just to balance out what the school served)  All this is to say, that the fundamentals of healthy eating must be taught. People are not born with this knowledge.

 Just as you would teach your child how to run a load of laundry or make their bed (before moving out), you should teach them how to shop for groceries and make food. Even now, I have a few coworkers who decided they want to eat out less (to save money because they read it somewhere) and then they are frustrated at the wasted ingredients and expensive grocery bill. They don’t plan the meals in advance so, they must go to the grocer every day. Then, while they are there, they buy the finest, organic ingredients based off of one recipe. Often the recipes they see on TV have obscure specialized ingredients that expire quickly yet cannot be used interchangeably for another meal later in the week. Thus they end up with a fridge full of wasted food by the end of the week because the leftover ingredients don’t fit together.

It is no surprise that later as children come and schedules get busier, the completely difficult system they have for preparing food is abandoned for takeout and microwave meals.

All this to say, that I am curious if there are an sort of institutions out there (free clinics maybe) for people to learn these basic skills.

If there are…

Do you think it would be too “big brother” to require people in low income brackets to attend courses on basic household management?

Pica is the want to eat something that is not really "edible."  A few of the more common picas are ice, paper and clay picas. I suppose I have the more normal of the three. At least it's only water.

I was introduced to crushed ice when I was 9 years old. I don't know why I remember it. I just remember being at the nursing home my mom worked in at the time and she filled a cup with some little tiny pieces of ice. Cool! Then I noticed that she chewed on them after drinking all her drink....so I did to! The rest is history as they say.

It's 12 years later now, and I'm lucky I still have teeth. More Here...