I started this blog thinking I was going to write a lot more about food and diet and the basic theory that groundbreaking study upon earthshattering discovery seems to consistently confirm: that a balanced diet and some decadences in moderation are good for you. This shocking study has found that unsaturated fat is better for you than saturated fat. Whoah! Okay, so the big discovery is that small amounts of saturated fat have an impact quickly, but the big picture remains. Don’t eat processed food. Got it. It turns out that MSNBC is rife with this stuff. Another study has revealed that people who eat more vegetables get more vitamins, and that (I’m paraphrasing here) if you don’t eat a lot of rich food, but rather eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains, you can eat more with out getting fat. Whoah again! Vegetables have vitamins? Rich food is more filling? I’m shocked.
Meanwhile, I think I have Tracie McMillan to thank for the recent appearance of 2% milk at the New Millenium Grocery and Deli. She’ll say she only writes about it, but the truth is that without reporters who actually follow nutrition access nothing will ever change. Bodegas will continue to stock only whole milk. Now that she’s got a bit of a blog herself, on the Huffington Post, I am hoping that lettuce is just around the corner. Okay, that might take a while. but I’m ready.
For those who missed it the first ten times I told this story (I’m not even sure it isn’t lurking on the blog someplace), one of the most shocking awakenings I’ve every had in NYC came one day in the laundromat, where a young boy, not more than six, was sobbing hysterically and getting snot all over himself. I don’t remember what set it off. I was having a hard time ignoring the scene, and it was clear that he wasn’t stopping anytime soon so I sat down next to him and asked how he was doing. He looked at me bewildered and hiccuped. I asked if he was into pokemon (it was on his shirt) and he said no. I asked what he had for lunch today, since he seemed to be easily distracted from crying, I figured I’d just keep asking him questions until he calmed down. For lunch today, he told me that he’d had a cookie and a chocolate milk. And his friend? Fritos. For lunch. Granted I’m sure the caloric intake was more than adequate, but WTF? No wonder he couldn’t stop crying. He was having a big ole sugar crash. This is why nutrition access is a problem.
The Ecologist ran a great story a few months back about the role of sugar and nutritional deficits in violent crime. One study they looked at, from 1983(!) found that when incarcerated teens were given healthier snacks (primary feature: less refined sugar), there was a 75% reduction in the use of restraints and a 100% reduction in suicides; another study found a 77% drop in assaults among incarcerated teens put on a better diet. This stuff isn’t even news. 1983?
I don’t have a good solution for you. In prisons, okay. I do: feed prisoners healthier food. But beyond prisons? I’m not so sure. You’ll have to look to Tracie for the answers.
Comments
Schools could offer decent healthy food too. The visibility the Super Size Me guy gave to that issue, I think, is the biggest contribution that film made. I wish I’d had a better food education coming up — I’m still learning how to improve my diet. I noticed that when my office moved to a part of town that had more “healthy” options than not, I began eating crazy healthy breakfasts and lunches because it was easier. I really need to figure out how not to eat out as much, but it’s a start, and access is the first step!
Just heard this morning that there is a push (finally) to remove fruit juices from the WIC programs acceptable food list to be replaced by whole fruits, vegetables and whole grains which of course have more fiber and nutrients, as well as less sugar. It continues to amaze me that there is as much, and sometimes more sugar (we’re talking an average of 30 – 50 gms) in juices than in soda (last time I checked, Coke Classic was at 42 gms). A great example is that a 4 ounce glass of orange juice is the equivalent in sugar to 5-6 oranges. Now what 2 year old could sit down and eat 5-6 oranges? There is of course the question of limiting access and the choices of poor folks by restricting their dietary choices, but without taking time to comment on that, I’m glad that the sugar content of things ouside of cookies and candies is starting to get some media play.
I’ve been contemplating this for two months now, my thoughts on fruit juice. Yes, OJ is pure sugar, but in my world getting people to make the leap from soda pop to actual juice is a huge accomplishment. Maybe I’m wrong and actual juice is no better for you than sugar water? I won’t claim to be an expert on that, certainly I wasn’t allowed to drink much juice as a kid.
But I worry that if the starting point is “no juice” and we haven’t done anything about the fact that you can’t get anything else in NYC grocery stores, we’re just punishing people. I suppose that you did say that at the end, but that is the first thing on my mind. At least you can buy juice. You can’t buy oranges.
The Green Guerillas mailed out copies of Eating In, Eating Out, Eating Well, the DOH’s recent report on access to healthy food in North and Central Brooklyn. Anyone who follow’s Tracie McMillan’s will be unsurprised by their findings. This is a serious public health issue in New York City in particular (though it has parallels across the country: I’ll never forget how hard it was to get a salad of more than iceburg lettuce in mid-missouri). In Bushwick and Bed Stuy, where the vast majority of food stores are small bodegas, fruit is rare (leafy green vegetables are rarer).
And so I’m thinking a lot more about food choices and options and what is actually available to people.