Monday, June 18, 2012

Jamie Oliver

Today I was watching Jamie Oliver's TED Talk, and there was footage showing school age children not knowing the names of basic vegetables. Honestly it kind of broke my heart, how can we expect children to grow up into healthy adults when they don't even know basic vegetables or how to feed themselves? The rampant obesity of the first world is reaching a ridiculous point. When will people learn that these so called 'cheaper', fast foods are killing them and their children at an alarming rate?

I never realized that it was such a large(pardon the pun) issue in the states. When I was in school our parents packed our lunches, my mom made dinner pretty much every night, and while it was nothing fancy there was always vegetables included. Yes, we sometimes went to McDonalds and sometimes my school had Pizza Day. It was nothing like the extremes in the States! While I agree with most of what Jamie Oliver says in his speech, the one thing I have issue with is his stance on milk. Milk does nothing for you, especially the sugared up chocolate type. It leaches calcium from your bones, is pumped full of hormones, and creates an acidic environment in your body. It's due to advertising and lies from the Dairy industry that has caused everyone to think you need it to survive. This is a lie I'd like to see be exposed sooner rather than later! Almond or Soy milk is an easy switch, and much better for everyone.

I guess I'm lucky that one day in 8th grade I decided I wanted to be a vegetarian. I remember my Mom taking it in stride, she told me point blank I'd be learning to cook for myself since she wasn't going to cook two meals separately. Which I'm eternally grateful to her for. It ignited a passion for making food in me that's been going ever since. It forced me to think about what I was eating, and to learn how to obtain proper macro and micro nutrients. It taught me to be self sufficient, to experiment, and to not be afraid to try things that are a little different. Her and my Dad always willingly ate their way through many a strange experiment, and always told me whatever it was tasted good(even though many times I think this was debatable).

I totally admire Jamie Oliver's cause, and the message he is trying to portray. However I do think it could be improved upon by being a little more plant focussed and a little less meat. Meat, regardless of being organic, or hormone free, is still an incredible strain upon our planet and our health. It's a source for heart disease, cancer, and doesn't come anywhere close to providing as many nutrients or antioxidants for your body as fresh vegetables do.

I can't imagine living a life of just eating fast food, not knowing how to feed myself in a way that would provide optimal health. This is such an incredibly urgent issue, since kids are so impressionable. I admire Michelle Obama's crusade to teach kids how to eat in a whole food based way. Hopefully this is the start of a new beginning, that companies are going to wake up and start noticing that they need to stop adding so much crap into food. Hopefully people will be able to change their eating habits, and realize that what is cheap food now will be extraordinarily expensive in their future. The primary cause for death is disease related to diet. Heart Disease, Diabetes, and even types of cancer can be prevented if people just take steps towards eating a plant based diet. Why would you not want to give yourself the chance to live a long and healthy life?

If you want to check out the TED talk I'm referring to, go here:http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

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