super sized

[MomOnBike]

As for teaching your children to eat the veggies, somehow I managed. Having an enormous garden helped. I told the girls that they could have anything at anytime from the garden, so they helped themselves. I did, of course, point out which parts to eat, and what, like tomato leaves, are bad for them, but other than that they had free rein.

As a result of this, my (then) 3 year old asked if we could get cauliflower plants for the garden because "I like cauliflower every now and then."

The other result of this policy is that I never managed to serve peas at the table. We (I was not entirely blameless here, either) just ate them standing in the garden.

All that aside, fresh veggies take TIME, something that a person working multiple jobs just does not have. I do wish it were easier to eat well.

[papaver]

I'm longing for my vegetable garden... hmmm... as from next week, I can start planting stuf... for the very first time in my new garden... yahoo!

[Crankin]

I didn't eat fresh veggies until I was in my 20's... Not that my mom didn't serve them, but the ones I could eat without gagging were rare. My older son, as an adult finally eats salads and a lot of veggies, but as a kid, he actually would puke if he tried to swallow a vegetable. I tried hiding them in other foods, but that didn't work. I quit worrying about it, since he ate fruit. It took some vegetarian friends to introduce him to new things.
Huge ice cream scoops are a tradition in New England, particularly at local farm stand ice cream places. This is not a new phenomena. I always order a kiddie size, on the rare occasions I eat regular ice cream. Usually I go for soft serve, made with skim milk, kiddie size.

[Selkie]

Just my opinion, but one does not have to clear off one's plate. The solution is to eat what you want and then, either ask for a doggy bag or let them toss out the rest.

People have to be responsible for taking care of themselves. I've been part of the working poor - worked retail management, long hours that precluded cooking "healthy" meals, on a tight food budget, etc. However, I didn't eat a bunch of junk food.

[smilingcat]

I read somewhere too that we are predisposed to eating certain food. Study of children who were adopted out and comparing the adopted child's eating preference with their sisters and brothers in their new home. Adopted child's eating habit did not necessarily match with those in his new family. The family may prefer lots of junk food and sweets and the adopted child may prefer fruits and vegetables.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't have the vaguest idea of how to dig up that article.

Things I hate list are much shorter than things I like:

hate thousand year old egg (chinese), natto (fermented soy beans Japanese), stinky, stinky cheese from France, menudo (mexican), big hunk of steak and potato (too heavy American), survival food as in C-ration, K-ration, MREs...

off to fix up my veg. garden out front.

[redrhodie]

I

Things I hate list are much shorter than things I like:

hate thousand year old egg (chinese), natto (fermented soy beans Japanese), stinky, stinky cheese from France, menudo (mexican), big hunk of steak and potato (too heavy American), survival food as in C-ration, K-ration, MREs...

I'm with you on Menudo...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Menudo_2007.jpg

Not my favorite boy band

I have to admit, I don't know about the other menudo. I'll have to google it.

edit-- ick, tripe. I'm a veggie, so that doesn't help the issue.

[Biciclista]

Just my opinion, but one does not have to clear off one's plate. The solution is to eat what you want and then, either ask for a doggy bag or let them toss out the rest.

People have to be responsible for taking care of themselves. I've been part of the working poor - worked retail management, long hours that precluded cooking "healthy" meals, on a tight food budget, etc. However, I didn't eat a bunch of junk food.

Of course you don't have to clear off one's plate. But on a planet with limited resources, with babies and people starving all over the place, and habitat being destroyed to grow food for us, the thought of millions of americans throwing good food away kind of makes me sick. Best to not put it on the plate in the first place.

[jobob]

Just my opinion, but one does not have to clear off one's plate. The solution is to eat what you want and then, either ask for a doggy bag or let them toss out the rest.

People have to be responsible for taking care of themselves.

Perfect ... +1

[Crankin]

Agreed! When I was a poor, young teacher, I still ate healthily. Of course, I had knowledge of healthy eating, time to prepare food, and parents who lived nearby to supplement my cooking with their home cooked meals.
I ate very little meat, bought things in bulk and froze them, and joined the food co-op. I even entertained, though I remember serving people veggie lasagna and eating sitting on the floor of my studio apartment. This was also during the time I lost 25 pounds, which had accumulated from too many happy hours and lack of exercise when I first started working. Thankfully, those habits stuck, because I never gained it back, except for when I was pregnant.

[Trek420]

You know what the problem with veggies is? You have to clean and cook them. For a lot of people it's a waste of time. It's easier to open a pack and throw the content it in a frying pan...

What? Besides being fun to do (I <3 to prep vegies) opening and disposing of all the packaging takes me longer than almost any prep. Give me a French knife and a cutting board and I'll make salsa almost as fast as you can open the jar

Have you ever been given the hairy eye-ball by the waitstaff for sharing a dessert after a meal? The arched eyebrow of:
"we'll split the cheesecake"
"we'll bring you two cheesecakes"
"no, no, just bring two plates, we'll fight it out who gets the last bite"
"but don't you both want ..."
"do we look like we want two desserts"
"well no but most people"
"do we look like we neeeeeeed to cut back on dessert"
"well no, it's just ..."

[Selkie]

Of course you don't have to clear off one's plate. But on a planet with limited resources, with babies and people starving all over the place, and habitat being destroyed to grow food for us, the thought of millions of americans throwing good food away kind of makes me sick. Best to not put it on the plate in the first place.

Give your doggy bag to a homeless person or just don't eat out.

[Biciclista]

Give your doggy bag to a homeless person or just don't eat out.

you clearly don't get it, do you. It's not about me. I have an efficient system (I take doggy bags) for meals. I'm talking about the revolting over consumption happening in this country. Me giving a doggy bag to a homeless person isn't going to change the way we waste and consume.

[Trek420]

you clearly don't get it, do you. It's not about me. I have an efficient system (I take doggy bags) for meals. I'm talking about the revolting over consumption happening in this country. Me giving a doggy bag to a homeless person isn't going to change the way we waste and consume.

I get it. I've always "got it". I was one of a group of kids who founded what was probably the first recycling center in Somoma county when I was in Jr. High and I'm 53. Do the math I've always got it that there is no "away" . But what is going to change it?

How do you get the message out that small is good? Is it enough to talk diet and portion control or greener choices? Is it enough that lots of us are living simply and well and looking fabulous when you have corporations such as fast food running ads making it seem that they are the friend of the poor and harried busy people with mega portions for less.

The perfect heirloom tomato or the local gelato shop doesn't have a budget for a Superbowl ad. So how do you get the message out?

[Softie]

It is really sad that every meal served needs to be huge. Also, I personally think the ingredients in most of them are designed to prompt you to eat and crave even more, not feel better. Now days, healthy food is considered specialty food, and supposedly healthy alternatives at quick easy restaurants include things like salads with half your daily calorie intake! When it comes to a lot of whole grains and items without sugar or chemicals added, I find it's way more expensive for less processed and artificial foods, than a box of the usual unhealthy mainstream choice (e.g. a whole grain cereal with nuts and very little added sugar).

It's a pretty shocking reflection about the food views in our societies that, healthy foods, foods with reasonable fat or calorie content, reduced portion, or low sodium, is specialty food, light sized, diet food, or viewed as for people who already have diabeties/heart disease/obeasity/etc!

[crazycanuck]

One can always make a full meal & freeze the other half...oooo genius

Ian remembered something about a meal we asked for when we were in Canada or the US.. He just wanted a ham sandwich. Period. Do you think we could get it through to the servers etc that we didn't want chips or salad with it? Also, he didn't want butter etc on the sandwich...confused the poor folks..

I'm still shocked at the portion sizes in the US..Then again, we only eat out at our favourite Japenese place & wouldn't have a clue about the portion sizes elsewhere.

When we were younger we had to eat our veggies. Period. I remember not being allowed to drink more than one glass of milk at the table & having a timer because we'd just fiddle faddle around ignoring the food. I still say blech to brussel sprouts. UGH...