Sugar

Have you seen Jamie Oliver's TED talk? (http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html)

First, who is Jamie Oliver you might be asking.  He's a chef who has made a name for himself by not being flashy, but very down to earth and cooking food using produce right from his own garden in his backyard.  He's English.

Second, you also may be asking, what is a TED talk?  "TED (taken straight from it's website ted.com) is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

We Americans have a problem with sugar.  Maybe our context about sugar is that it makes problems go away...to quote Mary Poppins "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down"...don't like the taste of regular milk?  Just add some sugar and chocolate to it and kids will drink it.  My philosophy, if they don't like the regular taste, just skip it and give them some yogurt instead (for the vitamin D, etc)...good concept initially, but then you have to contend with the added sugar in the yogurt!!  Sugar is in everything we touch.

I'm trying to be a good mom, by staying away from sugar.  But it's hard...there are the looks and comments to deal with from other parents and strangers.  People don't know how to deal with it.  We decided to not get Hunter hooked on juice.  He's a milk (yes, he drinks the real thing...organic, not sugared) and water kid.  No juice for him.  I don't make a big deal about it if he has some occassionally but his teachers know not to give it to him.  Also, he's a no sugar kid...except on special occassions is he allowed to have a cookie, cup cake or ice cream.  Sometimes the special occassion is that we are at a friends house and their daughter is eating ice cream as her after dinner treat.  So Hunter will get to have a small tiny amount.  He knows it's a special thing.  He announces it to the world if he gets to eat a cookie, cupcake or treat of any kind. 

Really, I am doing this because by today's standards, the level of sugar usage in our lives is unnecessary and out of control.  And, I think it's really bad for us to be exposed to it at the high levels that we are.  Have you ever read the ingredients on all of what you buy?  I keep being amazed at what I am NOT buying because of sugars, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (which is just awful for you, seriously bad, and it seems like it's in everything).  I believe in "sugar in moderation".  For example, in the cake you bake (and make from scratch, not from the box) so you know how much sugar (and can cut down on the suggested amount) you are putting in.

Now I see as I write this, the cascading effect of all of this.  I could write a post just about baking...which I probably will...and how no one bakes from scratch anymore.  We are blind and oblivious to the ingredients we are putting in our bodies because we don't make anything that doesn't come out of a box anymore.  The art of cooking is going by the way side.  People are buying mash potatoes in a bag, ready for you to pop in the microwave and steam.  DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THAT IS FOR YOU?  First, there's the microwaving that is, in itself, controversial regarding toxicity and killing any nutritional value in food, then there's the microwaving plastic which is a huge no-no in the "that's toxic" world...and I could go on and on...but it leads me to the question of "why does one need to do that?"  Can't you just make mashed potatoes?  They aren't all that hard to make.  So you eat 30 minutes later than normal. 

I'm with Jamie Oliver on this one...we, Americans, need a food revolution!  First order up:  cut down on the sugar!!!