America’s Eating Habits are Un-American
Years ago I read the book, A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 and it was one of the very few books I have kept. I recently saw it again on my bookshelf and started reading it again. As specified in the title, the book is based on a diary of a woman who was a midwife during colonial times in what is today the State of Maine. There are many interesting things in the book but one thing that sticks in my mind is the variety of foods the colonists ate. They ate an incredible variety of vegetables and grew most of them themselves.
As a child growing up in central Maine, we had a vegetable garden and also ate a variety of fruit and veg. I’m not sure it was as varied as in colonial times but it was certainly more varied compared to now. I am often shocked at how little modern-day Americans eat fresh produce. According to the USDA, Americans today eat very little fruits and vegetables. If we consider what early Americans ate as being ’American’ then we can conclude that our diets today are ‘un-American’…right? It may sound very Aristotelian but it seems that since 9/11 Americans are really into ’being American’ and spend an inordinate amount of time trying to define what that really is. At any rate…
Today in cold States like Maine, much of our fruits and veg are now trucked in from warmer States which makes them expensive at certain times of the year. People now eat more meat, fried or fatty carbohydrates and some children of today don’t even know what a tomato is. That’s just plain wrong AND the thing that tops it off is that people don’t want to know, don’t want to be healthy, don’t want their children to be healthy even to the point where they allow laws to be made to keep themselves and others unhealthy.
In the America I grew up in during the 70′s, we were taught in school about vegetables and the 4-4-2-6 idea of eating a variety of foods. That same program was subsidized by the same U.S. government that today does just the opposite. Talk about living on Mars!! It’s not just un-American – it’s un-earthly.
I don’t think that it’s that we don’t want to be unhealthy–maybe some, but very few–I think it’s more that we either just don’t care or (what I see A LOT more of) that we don’t know what actually IS healthy. People have argued so long about what is and isn’t healthy that the majority of people don’t actually know, even if they claim they do. I see it even worse in the world of child-rearing. So many people say, “do this, don’t do that” when it comes to child rearing that the majority of new parents I don’t think actually know, they’re just going off of what other people say. Same with the food. I see it all the time. “Oh! Olive oil is SOOOOO good for you!” while they dump it on their otherwise healthy salad. Yeah, maybe, but let’s be honest with ourselves: oil is oil. “Healthy” oil is really only “healthIER” oil.
maliemoe
August 24, 2010 at 1:43 am
In the link I’ve provided on school lunches I was surprised that there was no color in the food. It was all white, beige and brown – no green, red, yellow or purple. But those kids didn’t even know what a carrot, potato or lettuce was. Those school lunch ladies didn’t even want the kids to know. That’s messed up!!
earthling
August 24, 2010 at 5:58 am
Mal is right, in the fact that Americans do not understand the concept of being moderate. They can’t seem to do it in any aspect of life, family, shopping, government, food, whatever.
In Maine I think a lot of the public are very educated on the importance of eating locally grown vegetables year round. Unfortunately there is a very large poor population that just are not interested. I really do think that it is a money issue now. People who are poor want what is easy, not what is healthy. I say this being poor myself, and trying to get interest in a community garden for the impoverished village I live in. We offered help planting, a free plowed plot, free seeds, and nobody took us up on it. Why bother when one can go blow food stamp money on dried cereal and soda pop.
ave
August 24, 2010 at 11:29 am
I still have that book about Martha Ballard, too…a different world for sure. Many people today are just so spoiled with their time. They’d rather watch tv, feed their virtual social lives on the internet, shop, workout, anything but work in a garden and labor to put the good, nutritious food by.
sis
August 24, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I don’t like to get my hands dirty so I can’t see myself gardening. I like to buy local produce and I’m glad so many people are demanding local produce now. Granted, it’s easier and cheaper to eat seasonally here but I did it in MN. Frozen vegetables have a higher nutrient content than the “fresh” ones trucked in from other states.
People of low eco-soc status in the US are different from the poor in Europe. The poor in Europe come from Africa and Latin American where they are used to cooking from scratch and eating healthy. In the US, poor people are used to chips and soda. And all Americans, for sure, could do better by their children in the school lunch category. I was appalled by what they served for lunch at my children’s schools in our wealthy, highly-educated suburb.
andalucy
August 25, 2010 at 3:16 pm
The poor here in Europe also eat more carbs and fried food but they often complain that they want their children to have more fruit and veg but can’t afford it. In the States they don’t seem to care one way or the other. They would rather spend a dollar on a burger at McDonalds than a dollar’s worth of canned or frozen veg. which is quite cheap. I don’t think this is just a socioeconomic problem. It’s an educational and modern-day-cultural problem.
I agree with Sis… they are spoiled for time. They are just to lazy.
earthling
August 26, 2010 at 8:29 am
Years ago when we lived in Florida I had a friend who was telling me about another lady we knew feeding her kids oatmeal for breakfast. My friend said…and I quote…”If I fed my kids that slop they’d shoot me!” I didn’t say anything–I guess I was too ashamed back then to admit I fed my kids oatmeal for breakfast. Hahaha!
I’m a firm believer that the less processed (or at least the smallest ingredient list) the better when it comes to food. My practice doesn’t always match my belief and you’re right–those times are almost always due to laziness.
ML
August 27, 2010 at 2:13 am
Well, your comment about the poor Dutch eating more fried food, etc. but complaining that they would like more fresh fruits, etc. seems the same to me. I mean, the Americans may not complain about wanting something they don’t have–at least not food wise–but why don’t the poor Dutch spend that money on what they want? I’m having trouble seeing much of a difference.
maliemoe
August 27, 2010 at 9:55 pm
In both countries items such as pasta and rise are cheap foods so poor people tend to eat too much of that but if you look at the link I provided in my post you will see that many American poor do not want fresh food. Some do, of course, but many do not. When I lived in Florida I would regularly see people with a whole shopping cart full of cola and pay with food stamps. There are parts of New York City where there simply is no fresh produce at all. Here, the Dutch poor ask for fresh produce and they make a big deal out of it. When they are given the opportunity to buy it cheap, they buy it. Americans do not. There is a cultural difference and an education difference. I think education is the key.
earthling
August 28, 2010 at 8:28 am