+10

As a family, we rarely ate out when I was growing up. My dad would take me to McD's occassionally, or after church on Sunday's we would go to an all you can eat seafood place...otherwise, my mom cooked on her days off and stored the leftovers for all of us to eat. BUT, neither did she take the time to teach me how to cook. Once I was married w/ DD13, when I would call to ask her for help, she was more than willing to give me advice, but I had to decide for myself to cook - and like HappyLC, in my early 20's, going to school full time, working part time and living off of barely more than minimum wage REQUIRED us to learn how to fend for ourselves. There is something to be said for self preservation.

The government can't even call meat meat. "Have 2 servings of PROTEIN blah blah". I don't know anyone except immigrants from traditional cultures who didn't buy into this in their 20's. I pretty much didn't know anyone my age in the States who ate meat in the 90's. Our local natural food coop still won't sell meat.

Hi Karen, speak for yourself. YOU expect the government to educate the people.

At some point in this conversation--like all others we have here about the government--is that we have no policy model anywhere to effectively allow a government to "educate" people about health. The only model that has any evidence of working is the regulatory model. Varying degrees of regulation. We have hundreds of years of hundreds of countries worth of data.

You might even agree with me that any education along these lines would be futile, especially in America. If the government educated us that we should eat less sugar (it does), would we (we don't)?

Why does the government need to educate the people when it has the power to regulate? Why do food corporations advocate diet education the same way you do?

So, why doesn't the government do something? The food corporations that have selected your government don't want the government to do something.

Why did everyone ignore this?

Carne, what is "future time orientation"? Is it anything like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discounted_cash_flow , where it is a presumption of human behavior that the future is heavily discounted to the present? (Folks: "I can't resist this cupcake, even though I KNOW it will make me fat." "Impulse control", etc.)

Can you name five massive food corporations that would rather the government advise "protein" servings instead of "meat" servings?


Ouch. Our local natural food coop sells the best meat in town!

It is the capacity to anticipate and plan for the future.

Do you think this is a defect exhibited generally in poor people, or is this a feature of the behavior of all humans? What makes you think this, either way?

I think there are causes and effects, not all of them being external factors. I understand what you are trying to do. Not biting.

"Can you name five massive food corporations that would rather the government advise "protein" servings instead of "meat" servings?"

I think anyone promoting soy and soy fillers. Kraft cheese? There is much more money to be made off of cheap ingredients that cost as much as meat (imitation cheese product or protein bars).


"Ouch. Our local natural food coop sells the best meat in town!"

It makes me so mad. They are still stuck in 1975 Veganville. But that is what the 20 year olds who live here are exposed to - it's that or buying crappy meat from the supermarket.

There's something about our society that makes it important to have just about everything you can possibly have. Even if you can't afford it.

It's gotten so that I don't know - and haven't known for a long time - any couple or family that has just one car, for example. Why anyone ever complains about bad public transportation, I don't know, since the only people I ever see on the local bus look like they crossed the border and are here illegally!

If I were poor, would I spend my money at McDonald's instead of buying meat at the supermarket? Probably. I'm looking at tags on packages of meat that say, 16 plus dollars, not for a huge amount. Requiring preparation and time and delivering not all that much.

You can eat more cheaply if you cook at home, and you will eat healthier food. But you will eat a lot of beans if you are on a budget. McDonald's will look mighty good to you after a steady diet of cheap home food.

I see your Kraft and raise you...
*Monsanto
*ConAgra
*DuPont
*General Mills

I get what you're saying but can't say I agree 100% (except for the bus problem- if you're intersted you should read about GM and other car companies buying up the subways/trolley systems in San Fran and other places in order to destroy them, not to mention the incessant lobbying to make this a car centric country).

Anyway...i digress. My family, especially when I was younger was fairly not well off, not to mention we lived in Peru. However, the food my mom and grandma cooked was delicious. It was very carb heavy (potatoes and rice are staples in Peru) but it was definitely much tastier than McD's and a whole lot healthier too.

I nice cheap cut of meat, tenderized and fried...a good serving of long grain white rice with a fried egg on top. YUM!!!

It takes at least 2x as long to get where you're going on public transit versus by car, even during rush hour, in my city.

Yeah, but San Diego is a very special case. We are car-free in Philly and make it around all kinds of places on public transportation and by walking. But I know people who live right near us in an eminently walkable part of the city with wide sidewalks and safe intersections who drive their kids to the park 2 blocks away (seriously, and it's not an isolated thing - it's a lot of people we know).

It's just a pet peeve of mine. I hear people complain all the time about wanting to get rid of their burdensome second car or just live in a walkable area. I try to point out it's all about making choices but it falls on deaf ears. We made a choice to only buy a house on public transportation routes where we could walk to work if we wanted to. It just involves making that kind of commitment. Most people would rather complain and gnash their teeth not because of family ties or anything, just because they like such and such school district or such and such house. In some places like Southern California, it's not viable at all, but there are plenty of places where it can work if there is commitment. Even small Worcester, Massachusetts has car share for when you really need wheels.

I've always enjoyed vacationing where the public transit is good. Paris, San Francisco, Vancouver, etc. It's really a pleasure to take it when you can!

That's my other pet peeve - Americans who enjoy it so much abroad and then eschew it at home when it's available. I always tell people we live a Parisian lifestyle. We get our meat from the butcher, our food from farmer's markets, we walk everywhere and never have to worry we can't drink a little wine because we are driving. I love it!