Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

[Homemama2]

I've had my vegetables mocked.

 

Mothers have handed their children balogna and oreos while sneering at my child's roast chicken and green beans. "He'll never eat that!" (Hello. He is eating it, and asking for more.)

 

 

 

I've had this as well. Our next door neighbor use to always make a point to laugh whenever my kids were eating a healthy snack outside. (things like carrot sticks, fresh fruit, cucumber slices all come to mind). She actually asked me, "What's wrong with them? Don't they ever eat cookies or chips?" Grrrr.:glare: Sure they do, but as a parent, we need to help them make good choices! And since my kids weren't even school aged at the time, it irritated me even more.

 

I'm just glad my kids don't have to eat those horrible lunches. I remember at my high school, we had all kinds of choices (salad bar, taco bar, regular line, ala carte line etc etc) Didn't stop one of my friends from buying a pop and package of hostess cupcakes EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch (nothing else, mind you!). Even high schoolers, when given a choice, won't necessicarily make good ones.

[LibraryLover]

I haven't seen the show yet, but part of the deal is creating drama and conflict, and if the British press is feeding the frenzy, the ratings are higher. Nothing in TV is without motivation. Which is not to say the people they are interviewing are not real and/or are lacking important information. They are. They represent issues that exisit, but there are plenty of people-- lots of us here-- who have had had much of this information for a long time.

 

At my kids' old school there is an organic garden and small green house, and the kids there know their veggies. But where is the sport in that? Who would watch prime time reality programming about healthy, appropriate-weight kids who know what a purple eggplant is?

 

 

I watched the UK version--and he pissed people in the UK off quite a bit. He got hate mail.

Edited March 28, 2010 by LibraryLover

[nova147]

I've never known anyone that is 'morbidly obese and likes it, and encourages others to be the same'. Completely beyond my experience.

 

Any obese person I've ever known was ashamed of their weight. The guilt and self loathing led to more self medicating with food. Its not a simple matter of diet for many people...the need for counseling is huge, so that they see themselves as worthwhile, worthy of the work.

 

One of my best friends, I've known for over 20 yrs now. She's morbidly obese. She's been on one diet or another her entire life, starting as a young teen. She's been on fat blockers, has a small gym in her house, you name it.

 

Problem is, despite being married, having children, she has incredibly horrid self esteem. Do anything for anyone, is a wonderful person, but sees herself as completely worthless. A big part of it stems from being sexually abused as a child.

 

She hates her weight, which leads to hating herself, buying into the whole 'You must be stupid and lazy to be so fat' mentality.

 

Counseling would have done her far more good than her mother dragging her to Weight Watchers at 12. Now, she's afraid to go, because there must be something wrong with you if you need counseling, you must be a head case. (That would be from her husband and his family, btw.).

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

Obesity isn't a simple problem. It's not just that people are too lazy to exercise and cook healthy foods. It's not that they just aren't willing to give up junk food. There is definitely an emotional component. But there is also a physical one. When we eat junk foods, it causes a whole number of physical changes that mess with our ability to know when we are full. In addition, some people have too much or too little of certain chemicals that help us know when to stop eating. These people are usually obese -- which came first? Hard to say. But the point is, most people don't CHOOSE to be obese. Most spend lots of time, money, emotional energy trying to lose weight. But "everything" is stacked against them, even their bodies and minds. Dr. Oz does a great job of explaining this in YOU: On a Diet.

 

I suppose I'm extra sensitive about this because I am obese. And I'm NOT happy about it. But I have been on and off of diets for most of my adult life. And despite my good intentions and efforts, I always gain back the weight. I pray that the information I gained from Dr. Oz will help me change that pattern. Mostly because I don't want my kids to suffer the consequences. But change is hard -- the people in Huntington prove that.

[Mrs Mungo]

What do you think? American husband thinks there might be something in this.

 

 

I think there is something to this. The people obviously have a huge chip on their shoulder.

 

I've got a question.....Is America the only country who has such an obesity problem? Or does England, France, Italy, Germany, etc also have a high obesity rate - esp among children?

 

The UK is gaining on the US but they are still at 23% of the population being obese compared to the US at 30%. Germany is 12%, France is 9%, Italy is 8%.

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

 

I think the people in West Virginia are stubborn and close-minded. And I think the family he is working one-on-one with are big liars!! They did not follow his plan exactly and they had those fast food drinks all around!!

 

I don't think his accent has helped his cause. I think in a town like that, it makes him more of an "outsider".

 

:iagree:

 

Do you think that people who chose to be unhealthy will really accept any advice?

 

Some people will. Some people will accept change once they know better.

 

How do we get a proper look at healthy weight across the board. It was only a few years ago that TV was doing exposes and informative shows about anorexia. Hollywood gives us unreal expectations about beauty and body image on the one hand. On the other, the obesity rate is through the roof. Not picking on Huntington WVA by the way. My state is in the top 3 for obesity in the nation. (We are also the bottom 3 for education in the nation).

 

In some other thread I said that I think the unrealistic expectations of Hollywood are actually causing people to give up and do whatever they want. I think that's true.

[LibraryLover]

[quote=Mrs Mungo;1593272

 

 

 

In some other thread I said that I think the unrealistic expectations of Hollywood are actually causing people to give up and do whatever they want. I think that's true.

 

 

This is so true, it makes me sad.

edited for TMI

Edited March 29, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Julie in CA]

"people who chose to be unhealthy"

"people who are morbidly obese and like it"

"encourage others to be the same"

"She doesn't want to change"

Yikes, Holly! Does your "friend" know how you really feel about her? :confused: I hope that came out sounding harsher than you meant it to...

I think I might understand your frustration about what you see as the issue of overweight, but it might be helpful to do a bit more reading about the other causes/issues that affect the morbidly obese. There is still a lot of research to be done regarding things like genetics and brain chemistry, etc. It may not be as clear-cut as you've concluded.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Julie in CA

[momof4boys]

It certainly does make our bad days of eating here look a whole lot better!

[momof4boys]

Sorry, the last comment was supposed to post to a March discussion and I can't move it!:001_huh:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

This never should have happened. We should not have let go of these skills, because they are too hard to get back on a national level.

 

We didn't just lose the skills of growing food (My mom grew up in a very poor family that used a garden and chickens they raised as food for the family table. My dad's family had the most amazing gardens.)

 

We've also lost the ability to cook food from scratch. Beyond the horrid campaigns like Mom Bakes that asserts that a tray of premade, pre shaped cookie dough is easier than just making cookies, we have lost the ability to make soup, sauces, vegetables etc.

 

We are on a broadcast delay here, so I've just seen the first episode. The mom of the overweight kids from the episode obviously loved her kids and was looking for ways to provide for them. But I would bet that her mom could cook, probably with few resources. How easily that is lost.

 

My grandmothers were both very good cooks. But I've had to learn almost entirely from books and experimentation because those skills didn't get passed down.

[momof2jb]

I've been watching this too. Isn't it sad what disrespect JO gets for trying to help our children. Thank goodness that my kids are home and get to eat what I put on the table. We try to cook/eat from whole foods in their natural state. Kids don't really have a choice in it - and really enjoy being part of the cooking/planning state. The only way that the FDA/Govt. will change is if enough people see the light. Overprocessed, non-nutritional food is what is causing soo many health issues to be starting in childhood.

 

But - I could eat pizza for every meal of the day. I love the stuff!!!

 

You can catch all the episodes online at HULU.