America's Obesity Epidemic...well gee I wonder why!!!

Last night I watched the CPTV episode on Obesity, and I got a few of my questions answered.....again Betty, please tell CPTV that I am so glad they made that program, good job!!!! I have always always always said "why the heck is everything that is good for me (lean meats, seafood, fruits, veggies, WATER, whole grains) so DAMN EXPENSIVE????" "And things that are bad for me (Mcdonalds, Dominos Pizza, white bread, white potatos, pasta, soda, chips...the list goes on) so DAMN CHEAP???" It makes me soooooooooooo mad that the government says there is an epidemic BUT they will not help the farmers who produce fruit and veggies etc or the fisherman who work so hard to get our seafood......................IT IS SOOO BACKWARDS!!!!! In college, I had no money to fill my fridge with fruits and veggies, so it got filled with soda, left over pizza, Ramon noodles and cheap beer!!!! Which made me.........well ummm to where I am today It is so easy to go into McDonalds and order a double cheeseburger, fries and soda for under 5 bucks, but order a salad and a bottle of water its more expensive..... I went to my local farmstand this morning and spent $17.00......I would rather support my local farmers than the goverment regulated grocery stores.....too bad they are only open in the summer/fall I think the Government should stop saying there is an epidemic and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!! Thanks for letting me vent!!! I hope I didnt offend anyone, this is just my opinion I would love to hear what anyone thinks about this issue~ ~Bethany hoping to have surgery this fall

Bethany, I'm hopping right onto your band wagon! I totally agree with you. I spent a fortune at Bob's market on the Berlin turnpike to get the healthy stuff. For $27.00 I got enough veggies and fruit just for a couple of days for myself and the family. For that same $27.00, I could have bought a ton of pasta and carbs to fill up on for a week. It's crazy. Tammy

I agree with you, Bethany! Some politician/dumbass was questioning (about a year ago) why so many "poor" people in the US, especially those on welfare and food stamps, were so overweight or obese (as if the well-to-do AREN'T!) Well, duh. Let's go to the blackboard, Sherlock, and see if we can puzzle this one out. When you're feeding a family of, say, four on a couple of dollars a day, you have to buy as much as possible on that dollar. What do you buy? What's cheap, so you can get a lot. What's cheap? Pasta, potatoes, mac and cheese, Beefaroni, white rice, hot dogs, "juice drinks", processed cheese (or worse, "cheese food".) Stuff that's overprocessed in general and loaded with corn syrup from those subsidized corn folks at ADM. Certainly not things that are "good for you", like lean cuts of fresh meat, fresh fish, most fresh veggies and fruit. Fish at SEVEN to TEN DOLLARS (or more) a pound? FIVE dollars for tomatoes (crappy ones at that) and green peppers last winter! Milk is five dollars a gallon; REAL juice is almost as bad. Contrast that with mac and cheese at five for a dollar, pasta at 4 POUNDS for a dollar, Chef Boyardee 10 for $10, little bottles of fake juice drinks for about a quarter. You can go to Taco Bell and, literally, get an entire sackful of food for under twenty bucks. A dozen choices at McD's for under a buck. Want some Chinese food? How about an entire quart of fried rice for under $3? If you were making 5 or 6 dollars an hour, and had to feed your family on that, what would YOU buy?

Bethany, You go girl!!!!!!!!!! I agree with you 100% on this whole issue. We need more healthier choices for reasonable prices. Never mind all this quick meal, quick fix fast food. That is why all our children are becoming unhealthy and don't know how to eat right. My great grandparents and grandparents grew all of their fruits and veggies. They all lived to be in their 90s. They all came from the depression era and knew how to save their money and spend it wisely. All these fast food, quick meal, prepared meals are for the lazy people out there who don't want to cook like our parents and grandparent and great grandparents did. I feel more fruit and vegetable stands should be around and lots more butchers with fresh meat again like when I was a kid, with much more reasonable prices for families today. It would make this world a healthier place and a happier one too. Maybe I am nieve and looking for magic out there but I came from an old fashioned family and my parents worked very hard and we had very little. I just things are getting out of hand out there and this epidemic they talk about is society's fault. Alot of us don't choose to be this way, its genetic and we have all tried to change in some way. We need more help out there from others and more exposure to the schools and the world about all this junk out there too accessible to the future people of the world. BETTE, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR INTERVIEW AND EXPOSING EVERYONE TO WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE. YOUR AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL. YOUR THE GREATEST!!!!!! Hugs KimC

I am so glad you girls feel the same way!!!!! I wish there was something we could do about this!!! YA We can write to our fellow congressman, but where will that get us??? I wish at the obesity walk we could have a petition or something that people could sign and we could send to the whitehouse.... anyone have any experience in this, or ideas? ~Bethany

Unfortunatly there is much more than meets the eye on this one.... First of all, ther are financial incentives given to farmers of all kinds. Some to plant crops, others NOT to plant certain crops. Depends on the item, In some case, the work necessary to have, say an apple orchard, takes 5+ years before they can produce enough to start to recoup any investment. In 5 years time, the goverment can change their policies and recommendations AGAIN and the farmer find himself with a worthless investment. BTW, do you know in spite of all the information on smoking, there are still incentives provided to tobacco farmers?? Getting pissed yet? Second, the items you suggest providing additional funding for are more likely to be underplanted because when they have a good year, the flood of extra produce to the marketplace causes a slump in prices which has typically causes smaller farmers to go out of business. When production levels are kept lower, then the free market trade system allows them to make a reasonable profit. Not great but reasonable. Fishing has been an issue for years. We outstrip the resources available every year, and there is no way to get them back. The use of radar to track schools of fish have made them more profitable, but the risks of going out to sea with nothing to catch is still there. Add the cost of fuel, insurance and labor and you can quickly imagine what happens to an empty boat. Almost instantly out of business. No one forced us to be overweight. No one can legislate or otherwise force us to lose it. Education is still our best source. One thing which can and should be done is the reutrn of exercise to schools at all grade levels. Add the stinking .5 hour to the cost of the school and get the kids some form of movement other than from sitting at the keyboard to the couch to play a video game every day. (kicks soap box to the side... next up) Peter

Thanks Peter for your response, and you are right exercise is the key, and they HAVE to, NEED to, put it back into schools!!!!!!! The kids get 10 minutes for lunch and 10 for recess...............ya lets eat in 10minutes then run around for 10 minutes!!!! How does the stomach feel then?? And Gym class once a week for 25 minutes??? Come on!!!! I guess next Spring Im going to start my garden indoors and then plant it in MAy/June so I am saving money on my veggies.............. Any ideas on how to save money on Seafood?.... BTW, can any of you RYN Post-Ops eat lobster, steamers, crab etc?? I love these things and am wondering how I will handle them post-op... I know I have read the Salmon is dry and hard to get down for some..... Thanks everyone!!! ~Bethany

I had salmon when I was 2 - 3 months out at a restaurant. It was pretty easy to get down, I had no problems at all.