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Not at all. We do teach people how to eat decent food, but many choose not to.
by finnw 15y ago
Not at all. We do teach people how to eat decent food, but many choose not to.
- swombat 15y agoWe do? Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYs4KS_djg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYs4KS_djg Most people have no clue what constitutes a healthy meal. Moreover, they are strongly incentivised to eat crap by the fact that crap food is (much) cheaper than healthy food. Combine the two, and you have vast numbers of people who basically eat sausage rolls, pizzas, burgers, chips and chinese takeaways (probably not the worst of the bunch), along with epic-size sugary sodas and mega-calorie coffees on a pretty much daily basis.
- warfangle 15y agoI had to stop watching this show after 4 or 5 episodes. It was just too depressing.
- zacharycohn 15y agoMany people complain that healthy food is "too expensive." However, a more accurate explanation is "crappy food is cheap." There's definitely an important difference.
- xyzzyz 15y agoWhat do you suggest, making them both expensive?
- zacharycohn 15y agoEr, no. But there's an important psychological difference between "X is expensive." and "Y is cheap." Honda Civic's aren't cheap. A Lexus is expensive.
- lunarscape 15y agoAgreed. I find it hard to believe that so many people can be so ignorant of the very basics of healthy eating despite all the public health initiatives and mandatory classes in schools (at least in my country). I think people have the knowledge but just not the incentives to eat healthily. Convenience generally trumps everything else.
- orangecat 15y agoConvenience generally trumps everything else. And taste. Pizza is really good.
- potatolicious 15y agoCareful, this is a very dangerous path you're walking down. This is the same thing as "why don't those homeless people just get jobs?!" - it's a failure to understand the complexities of the situation. It feels nice though, because their failure is not on us (society as a whole), but wholly on them. Moral responsibility defeated! swombat nailed it on the head: crap food is way cheaper than good food, to the point where a lot of this country does not have reasonable access to healthy foods. There are also other angles - e.g., single mother of two juggling two jobs - do you find something microwaveable or do you cook something healthy with the time you don't have? In any case, this whole thing is way more complicated than just "hurr durr stupid plebes".
- finnw 15y agoBut swombat specifically referred to obesity, which suggests that you eat too much, not just that you eat the wrong foods. If you are already eating too many pies, you can afford to replace some of them with cabbage or sprouts (at least here in England; Maybe it's not as cheap/easily available in other parts of the world?) Don't confuse it with malnutrition, which is a real (but different) problem.
- potatolicious 15y ago> "obesity, which suggests that you eat too much, not just that you eat the wrong foods." It suggests no such thing. The obesity epidemic is all about eating the wrong things.
- ekianjo 15y agoObesity is not only a problem of quality of food, it also IS linked to quantity. You will never get obese if you only get a small amount of crap food everyday, but eating lots of it will surely put you on the right way. There are some genetic exceptions (some people get fat even when eating reasonably) but this is a tiny minority. Most of the obese epidemic is lifestyle related (no or not enough exercise / too much food ). There's no way you can get away from personal responsibility there. It is nothing like homeless unable to find jobs. You are directly responsible of what you put in your mouth everyday, and how much of it.