I found this article through Amy’s Humble Musings. I enjoyed it because I like snark and because the organic, whole food movement gets on my nerves from time to time.
For instance, a local chiropractor came to our MOPs meeting the other week. We all thought that the title of her talk was going to be building a healthy pantry. Instead, when the power point slide went up on the big screen, I was jarred with this title: “Poisons in Your Pantry.” She was a lady who’d grown up in Colorado in a family that did a lot of juicing, and she threw around words like “big business” and “feeding your children poison” like hand grenades.
There was a very long list of things we shouldn’t eat and a very short list of helpful suggestions. If you gave your child a donut, it was implied that you were making a very bad choice for your family. Vitamins were useless because they were nothing but “very expensive urine.”
I left the talk pretty angry. Instead of empowering the women at my table, arming them with good recipes or alternative suggestions for easy snacks other than fruit rollups, she just left them feeling stressed out and guilty and like there wasn’t much healthy that could be put in their children’s mouths. Or like they’d have to spend many hours slaving in the kitchen that they already don’t have…
I wished I could’ve given the talk instead. At least I wouldn’t have done harm by making the other stay at home moms feel lousy. There are so many great resources out there for feeding a family well on a budget. It can be as simple as learning how to pop your own corn with a little canola oil in a pot instead of using the microwave kind. Or a recipe for easy homemade pizza sauce that you can make in bulk. A healthier pantry doesn’t have to be oppressive and stressful… and you don’t have to do EVERYTHING from scratch to feed your family well.
Oh yeah, I like this website for healthy recipes on a budget. And you can buy your ingredients at Walmart and not the local farmer’s market if you don’t have the time or gas money to trek out there…. =)
3 comments:
This is what I despise about the whole green/organic/healthy living movement. I really think this is an attempt to redefine sin. It distracts from real sin by calling other things sin--things like using a plastic bag at the grocer's or eating a donut.
This doesn't mean there isn't a place for healthier foods--I think there is--but I love what you say you would have done. Actually help people instead of crush them and discourage them.
A lot of good scratch recipes taste better and are more filling. That alone is a good reason for making them. And kids can help make them. And when they are cooking the house smells so good. Snacking or eating in general becomes more home-centered and family-oriented when you do it that way. It can be a beautiful thing.
But is it really a sin to go get a donut with your kid? No way!
I really think that when churches start having health conferences--I have heard about these from time to time, hosted by churches and attracting a lot of the women--we are risking a type of syncretism, and the result is a works-righteousness. It encourages us to judge what others eat, feel superior if we eat well, and so on. And yet the New Testament's teachings on food have a resounding theme that we are commanded not to allow food to be a divisive issue.
Ack!
Sorry for hijacking your comments. This sort of thing just drives me crazy. I love good food, and I really think this attempt to narrow food into some sort of nutrient-transporting device is to miss the point of food.
Amen, Brandy. I love to cook... but NO GUILT. The thing that gets me about the healthy cooking thing is that there is always some reason why what you're cooking isn't healthy enough. You're using regular whole oats? Not good enough. They've been processed too much, etc. etc. There's just always something else to be doing or using... and it's like there's no end in sight. So I'll cook pretty healthy, and I'm not going to feel guilty about all the numerous things I'm not doing... =)
Oh, yeah, and David is me. For some reason, one of our browsers has me (Ellen) signed in as my hubby. =)
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