Eating real vs. junk food

A co-worker (and fellow foodie) sent me a link recently to this New York Times article about whether junk food was really cheaper than real food. It was a great read and I think the author considered many of the points about why people choose junk food over healthier options (though he never came out and said “it just tastes better to some people”. Last year I had the privilege to see Bryant Terry speak at the Denver Botanic Garden. He is a vegan and author of “Vegan Soul Kitchen” (which I promptly bought and have made numerous recipes out of and have been quite pleased!). One of his main goals is to teach low-income families that good food can be healthy. His goal is to get families with little access to grocery stores to start growing some of their own food, realizing that cooking a healthy meal doesn’t have to be expensive, etc. The one thing it always comes down to, though, is the time to cook. I think a lot of low income families are doing all they can to hold down a couple of jobs and just provide food, but the idea of spending any amount of time to cook is overwhelming. So how do we overcome this? In my opinion, the crock pot is one way. Taking 10 minutes at the beginning of your day to brown a couple of things and throw them in a pot together is an achievable goal for everyone. It certainly takes longer than that to drive to McDonald’s and wait in line. And by teaching your children that this is a normal thing to do, and even getting them involved in helping will keep their interest level up in eating real food vs. the junk they get at any fast food restaurant. I’m a firm believer that kids just want to help cook vs. just come home and ask “what’s for dinner?”. By involving them early in their lifetime, they will learn whatever you teach them. If that’s that every night the family drives to a fast food restaurant, those habits will be hard to break. However, if it’s that every morning the family spends 15 minutes getting dinner ready, that will become a habit as well.

The author of the article talked about a lot of cheap dinners to make, but one he left off (which is fairly cheap and very quick to make) is just a sandwich or a salad. If you don’t mind washing your own lettuce (vs. buying the bag of pre-washed lettuce), it’s a very cheap thing to get and goes a long way. Sandwiches are easy as well. Some lunch meat and a loaf of bread also can go a long way to feeding a family (certainly cheaper than McDonald’s). I think starting with some of these quick and easy meals will make the transition a little easier for parents. Invite your kids to come up with fun combinations of what to put on a salad or sandwich and then name their creation. These are things that make that process fun for everyone and allow your kids to take pride in what they made (and hopefully that pride will make them more interested in eating it!).

I have a personal passion around eating good food, and I continue to find ways to get involved. I hope that sometime in the near future more of the low income kids in my neck of the woods find ways to eat healthier. Until that time, I’ll continue to cook up a storm in my own home and invite my nephew to join in the fun of cooking. Maybe someday soon he’ll choose some new “exotic” foods like chicken that isn’t fried, salads that aren’t just pasta, and fruit that doesn’t come rolled up.

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