FORKS OVER KNIVES & THE STATS ON OBESITY

FINALLY, I got to view the documentary, Forks Over Knives.  It was very timely for the posting of this blog I've been writing on OBESITY.  RENT THIS VIDEO!!!!!

Grocery shopping in the south has become a real challenge.  Most stores don't even carry the ingredients I seek . In many cases, I drive way too far looking for certain staples, only to find they don't carry them, are currently out of them and/or never heard of them.  Frustrating! 

It appears to me, stores are catering to high profit food items and sabotaging any attempt at educating the population on healthy eating.  Snacks and colas abound.  Obesity is worse than ever, particularly in the south.  The map below shows the obesity rates of our states.  Mississippi  has the distinction of placing first, 2 years consecutively.  SC is 8th.

I recently blogged about a new fair food, the fried stick of butter.  Can you imagine?  Frying / eating, a stick of butter covered with a batter and dipped in oil?  Fried butter on a stick is only the beginning.  Other obscenely unhealthy and outrageous fair foods being offered include:  (you can't make this up)

fried jelly beans

Krispy Kreme hamburgers (the donut encloses a quarter pound hamburger, bacon and cheese)

fried Pepsi (where else but SC?  fried dough is injected with Pepsi syrup and topped with sugar and more syrup)

the muddy pig (chocolate-covered bacon on a stick)

Kool-Aid pickles, fried beer (beer is injected into a pretzel pocket, then fried)

deep-fried White Castle Burgers, bun and all

deep-fried avocado (avocado spears dipped in corn-dog batter and fried)

pineapple on a stick (chunks are coated in a mixture of funnel cake batter & cake mix then fried)

The Elvis (a deep-fried peanut butter & jelly with banana)

fried club sandwich

fried lemonade

Recently one of my food magazines featured an article on FUN COOKING, the Fry Guide.  (What's the message here, be a good mom and create these fun foods with your kids?  Fatten up those little kids!)  The article highlights with pictures, many foods including:

peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, Oreo cookies, strawberries, bacon, mixed nuts, cheesecake, mini-muffins, poached eggs, olives, brie, mashed potatoes, snickers bars, bananas and mac and cheese

Get real!  We need to stop this madness.  Why ruin good food by frying it?  What happened to the concept of eating from field to table? 

With the lack of good choices at stores, fairs and yes, even home, we don't stand a chance.  Our children don't stand a chance.  Illness will prevail.






see the full article on obesity in the states:  http://calorielab.com/news/2011/06/30/fattest-states-2011/