You're Not Allowed To Be Self Sufficient

[sunsaver]

I've lost 40 pounds since i watched those films. I still eat whatever i want, whenever i want. Its just that once you get used to cooking and eating good food, all the processed stuff and fast food tastes terrible. All those weird artificial flavors and chemical odors! Yuck!

 

[savingdogs]

I really really really need sound on my 'puter. Can't hear a daggone thing! Subscribing anyway so if I ever get my computer fixed, I can "watch" them.

Any of them available on DVD? Like from netflix?

If only I could "turn up the sound", can someone summarize it for me? I can't hear it (deaf). I don't see that closed captioning is available, if someone sees it there please point it out.

 

[freemotion]

If you read The Omnivore's Dilemma and a few of Joel Salatin's books you'll get the idea...the film seemed to be based on those books.

The only thing I strongly disagreed with in Food, Inc was the thought that poor people cannot eat well. Hogwash. Sure, it is difficult to eat the best food on a very tight budget, but the poor family was shown eating fast food and buying soda over fruit and veggies. If you skip the soda and fast food and buy a loaf of wheat bread and a jar of natural peanut butter and drink water from the tap, you will be able to afford grass-fed beef and good veggies on the same budget.

 

[abifae]

Yeh, that part rather offended me. "you have no choice but to eat like crap if you are poor"... um. really?

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[sunsaver]

Im dirt poor, lived on less than $5,000 for the last couple years, but i eat quality food that i grow. I have no bills because i own my own home. Studies have shown that most poor people do not own land on which to grow healthy food, and instinctively turn toward calorie dense foods. This same behavior occurs in mice that are faced with scarcity. Mice that are given a bounty to choose from, choose their natural diet and keep a constant weight. Those faced with repeated starvation, seek out calorie density and sweets, and bulk up on body fat in anticipation of further starvation. Have you seen the price of fresh produce lately? Around here, poor people with food stamps usually load their carts with frito-lay and little debbie products. Most of modern obesity epidemic has been shown to be an instinctive response to poverty, or a result of over-eating to compensate for emotional insecurities. I've lost 40 pounds just by getting rid of fake food and fast food. I still eat as much as i want. That means, in my mind, that the corn and sugar products are causing obesity. My emotional insecurities and poverty are still firmly in place.

 

[Maggies Pop]

Another "dirt poor". We are a low-income family right now. <sigh> But, we are managing, somehow! Between our stockpile of food, garden, etc at least we eat well!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I think what they were trying to convey was that it was harder or less convenient for the average American busy family to eat healthy. I agree they did a poor job though, because nobody shoves fast food into your mouth or forces you through the drive through. I think they should have focused more on WHY healthy food costs more (it's not subsidized) and how the food industry can make more money processing crap than it can selling whole foods like apples or broccoli. Maybe they could have shown how to prepare real food ahead of time so they can "grab and go" if they needed to, instead of stopping by a fast food joint.

 

[garden pixy]

I was a little put off by that part too, it's not a matter of poor people can't afford to eat right, its a matter of poor, uneducated, busy families don't know how to eat right.

Wake up 10 minutes earlier, make an egg sandwich for each member of the family, 2 slices of wheat bread and 2 eggs with a glass of water or cup of tea, even add one serving of an in season fruit and you will still be ahead. Taking the time to cook for your family is the easiest way to eat healthier and save money.

The younger girl wanted pears and they broke it down to 50 cents a pear, so for 4 family members, $2 in pears, $3 for a decent no HFCS wheat bread, $3 for a dozen eggs, that's the same cost as 2 dollar menu items per family member, put 2-3 eggs on each sandwich and that is one hell of a filling meal. If you want to add juice pick up a container of 100% apple juice at the dollar tree, cut it with 50% water and serve (or if you are a bubble junkie a 50 cent bottle of seltzer). Problem solved. Take it one step further and get 4 chickens in your backyard, dry your own in season fruits for the winter and you are set.

I am annoyed when people complain that they 'can't afford to eat healthy' when they really mean 'I am not willing to take the time to prepare a healthy meal'...

 

[valmom]

I have to say, I still have a long way to go to get rid of my cravings, but I started slowly a few years ago by just cutting out everything with HFCS. This was before the real start of the healthy food movement. Back then there was NO bread or rolls that didn't have it except for organic or hand baked breads. My SO doesn't like bread from the bread maker that I raised my kids on- and I really don't like making bread by hand. Something about having my fingers glued together with flour and water makes me squirmy :/ Now there are a lot more choices of non-HFCS bread products but still no hamburger/hot dog rolls that I can find.

Unfortunately I haven't gotten over the craving for sweets- that's why I decided to learn to make my own jam, tap my own maples and now have my own bees. I am seeing a pattern of my eating habits here