Last night, I was watching the news, ranting away about this topic and Will invited me to share my thoughts on his blog, so here I am. Perhaps he will be so kind as to add a link later on to my rant, I honestly couldn’t be bothered, I am a photographer, not usually one for writing, he’s the one with the talent and skills in this area.
Now back to the purpose of this blog/rant:
The world getting fatter!
What I don’t understand is why it is so difficult to understand why the world is becoming fatter by the day, especially in North America. Well, its simple to me- TIME!
This day in age you have two working parents for the most part, or a single parent trying to run a household on their own. Who has the ability to spend time cooking three meals a day like we used to??? Years ago, I spent the majority of time in the kitchen; cooking, preparing, freezing, yes even canning. Now I do well to prepare a base meal with the main ingredient consisting of something like canned cream of mushroom soup, and call that a home cooked meal. Gone are the days when I prepared home made cream of mushroom soup the day before to use in the recipe.
Now, I run to McDonald’s on my lunch break, throw a frozen pizza in the oven. Rather than preparing a fruit smoothie for my husband and children, I find myself spreading jam on bread or scooping ice cream from the freezer.
To me the “fat epidemic” is a result of an over worked society with no time to cook, prepare and go to the gym, we walk around exhausted and stressed just wondering how we will get from appointment to appointment the following day, what we will actually consume rarely crosses our minds, we just grab and go.
Maybe this sounds pretty backwards to all those feminists (Uh oh there I am using that word!) out there, but I for one miss the days of being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, doing what needs to be done, making a home. I wish sometimes I had the nerve to join an Amish community, since popping my whole family into a time machine is much less likely, so many mock their lifestyle, but maybe, just maybe, they are the ones who really get it.
Alison Rhodes
All Images designed by Alison Rhodes (LastingExpressions)
5 responses so far ↓
Godfather // May 15, 2008 at 9:01 am
Great Post. I think we will all be writing a lot more about this in the future!
Godfather (theslowbleed.com)
McBloggenstein // May 15, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Yes good points.
Has anyone ever seen a fat Amish kid?
Janet T // May 15, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Alison- I still blame most of it on high frutcose corn syrup- it is almost inescapable here- it is even found in loaves of bread- and yes time is a serious issue- when I’m pressed I try to just do quick protein, like a chiken breast and a salad and call that dinner- but popcorn and ice cream dinner nights once in a while will keep you sane.
thebeadden // May 15, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Great Post, Alison! I think there are many women out there that would agree with you. We have a Mennonite community not too far from us (we buy their vegetables and some meat) and those children seem so happy. I too, think they are the ones who have it right!
We are able to take the hour or two to prepare our meals because we don’t have children waiting to be fed the instant they walk in.
I don’t have children but can see how hard it is for people who do. It makes me tired just watching my sister run around trying to pack everything into her day. In the end, there is not a drop of time left for her. I feel bad, because everyone needs some time to do something for themselves. It seems like holidays are the only time families can gather, but then the commercialism of those holidays cause so much stress. It’s a no win situation.
P.S You can write! I’ve never been to your blog. I’ll check it out in a bit.
Jens // May 19, 2008 at 3:02 pm
the problem is not lack of time, the problem is lack of will of making time. i am working a pretty high stress job (science), try to get my butt into the gym, AND cook almost every evening for my wife and myself. When i am saying cooking I MEAN cooking. marinating meat, prepare fish, use fresh vegetables, whole grain food. I have virtually no preprepared food in my home. OK i use canned tomatoes for a tomatoe based sauce, but I started to even fade this out. My wife was almost pre-diabetic and I change all our food to whole grains and banned any refined food. No processed grains at all, be it pasta rice etc. Not only has she now a normal sugar level, but we both lost over 20 pounds in less than 4 months. Cooking is not difficult, if you want brown rice put it on the stove an let it cook for 40 min. in the mean time prepare your proteins, veggies and salad after 40 min all is ready to go. it is 40 min spend well, since it tasts good and is healthy. just think how long it takes to drive to and back from the big M……
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