I watched "Forks Over Knives" and "Fat, Sick, and Dying" yesterday. They were both informative and eye-opening documentaries. I have been sort of gravitating toward a whole foods diet, having morning smoothies that contain nothing but whole, mostly organic foods, and a couple of natural supplements. The smoothies are filling and delicious and not difficult to keep as part of my routine. I am interested in learning more about the connection between diet and health, and the more I learn, the more I realized how much I don't know about food.
Last night I dreamed that I was over-the-top hungry and went to a drive-through. I ordered and wolfed down a giant hamburger without thinking about it. After, I was sitting there feeling sort of sick and I realized I had eaten red meat. I didn't feel shame or guilt or anything like that... it was more like, why the hell did I do that to myself? Now it's going to take at least a day before I feel normal again. That dream is a good example of how my food dreams are changing, along with my attitudes and beliefs about nutrition.
Walking along the back wall of the grocery store yesterday, where the juices, eggs, and dairy are stored, Jessica pointed to the juice drinks that are put in cartons and marketed as nutritious. She said, "I remember when I thought that was juice." It started me thinking about where my children learned about nutrition. I never explicitly taught them about nutrition. I believe this is because of ignorance on my part. I am guilty of feeding them the same bullshit I was fed about certain heavily-subsidized foods that are a large part of the American diet. "Drink your milk. It will give you strong bones and teeth." "Eat your meat. It has the protein you need to make you strong." I also told them the one thing that has always been true: "We need to eat more fruits and vegetables. They are good for us." Words are only words, and all three of us have struggled with weight, although my children not near as much as me.
That statement about fruits and vegetables is just about  the only thing that all of America seems to agree on regarding nutrition. Well, everybody except for maybe Dr. Atkins, and perhaps after death and in hindsight he agrees now, too.
What I realized yesterday is that, unbidden and without permission, our education system has taken on the task of teaching our children about nutrition. That doesn't seem like such a bad idea, in and of itself. Where else would our kids learn about food? Like me, most parents do not set out to teach their children about food. They teach by example. This would not necessarily be a bad thing; in fact, if the curriculum were science-based, it might even be a good thing. This is where it gets scary, though. The agriculture industry in general is heavily lobbied in Washington. Our public schools, without being checked, are teaching our kids about food. They are teaching about food in the classroom, and they are teaching about food in the cafeteria. The food in the cafeteria is crappy, and the lessons in the classroom are based on what the government tells us about nutrition. I'm beginning to be convinced that everything I thought I knew about nutrition is just plain wrong. There is proof all around us. As a nation, we are fat, sick, and dying. It's our food. I think Bill Maher had it right when he said something to the effect of, "There's no money in healthy people. There is no money in dead people either. The money is in the middle, where the sick people are. Somebody has got to say that pills are not the answer. Somebody has to stand up and say the answer is spinach."
There are a whole lot of people making a whole lot of money off of the fat, sick, and dying American population. It's something to think about.