So I'm watching Food, Inc. a couple months ago (a film which I highly recommend and encourage you ALL to see... and don't worry, it won't leave you with the feeling that you can never eat again, just maybe the feeling that you don't want to eat certain things again) and there is this segment that profiles a low-income Hispanic family.  They are rolling through some unnamed drive-thru and while the two daughters glumly eat their crappy cheeseburgers, the mother explains that their limited budget doesn't entitle them to eat any other way.  Meanwhile, this family of four has just spent $12 at said drive-thru. 

Now I agree, $3-per-head-per-meal is a tall order to work out when you're cruising the aisles of your local Whole Foods but alas, EVEN AT WHOLE FOODS, you can eat economically AND eat well.   Trust me.  I am on a tiigggghht budget at the moment and our bellies are still full.  It's that "will and a way" thing....

I am sorry but I am so effing tired of the "it's too expensive" argument.  Now, time on the other hand?  That is another issue and one that I certainly respect.  It's fair that many of us don't have the luxury of time to cook healthy, balanced food every meal of the day.  But I think it's rare that someone in a household is not off work at least one day of the week (especially in these times), and if basic strategies are worked into the system for how your family operates, I really don't understand why we can't all feel "entitled" to the basic human right of good nutrition.

EVERYTHING -- and I REALLY believe EVERYTHING -- that is failing in our system today can be traced back nutritional deficiencies.  Our health care system is about to implode thanks to... obesity-related health problems that have over-extended our ability to pay.  Thanks to bad nutrition.  Our schools are performing at their lowest levels in the last 25 years.... because kids are on meds and can't focus... because they are malnourished.  And their parents aren't there for them because they are just struggling to get through the day themselves... thanks to a vicious cycle of consuming calorie-rich, nutrient-starved food and chasing it with a soda.

After I wanted to cry for this family that was clearly just trying to do the best they could I wanted to wring all of their necks I was so angry.  Cut to the next shot of them comparing produce prices at their grocery store and dad can't justify the $1.29 price for a head of broccoli because he's convinced himself that the dollar will go so much farther on the processed food aisle... or even better, it could buy him a hamburger!    A poop-infested, ammonia-filled, ecoli burger.  That's right, it could! We simply cannot play the ignorance -- or cost -- card anymore and expect to have quality of life.

Shit is seriously broken when you can't safely go to the grocery store and fill your cart with "food" that will "feed" you.  Once I began to read labels to see what was in my food, I began to make changes that have, years later, had a profound impact on my life and the lives of the people I share a home with. 

I would challenge this family and any other to buy that head of broccoli, plus a bag of brown rice, a block of cheese, and some nuts, and see how their $12 makes them feel after a meal made from those 4 items tossed together and cooked a bit. 

Bad meat, bad calories... they all cost way too much in the long run.  I implore our nation to regroup and fight the assumption that we are already too far gone to change things.  Eat. Good. Food.  PLEASE. 

Sorry for the rant...I’ve just had this on my mind a lot lately for some reason and that’s what writing should really be for, right?  Expressing your thoughts?  Anyway, thanks for indulging me.  I'll go back to recipes in the next episode...