Saturday, March 28, 2009
Unnatural Childhood
The other day I was in the local grocery store and I saw two women with a group of 4 and 5 year olds, touring the grocery store with a store employee. I quickly realized that they were there on a daycare tour and that this was meant to educate them on the things they would have learned on trips to the supermarket with Mom. The store employee asked the children, "Do you know what this is?", as she held up various fruits and vegetables. The were able to recognize the apple. Beyond that, blank stares that were clearly indicative of the prepared food frenzy these children were likely served when their parents rush home to get them from daycare, feed them and send them off to bed. That thought haunted me as I continued shopping -- the majority of children don't recognize foods in their natural form. I caught up with them in the meat aisle as I unsuccessfully looked for ground turkey that did not have added natural flavoring. The store employee held up a package of beef. Do you know what this is? Its beef. Beef comes from a cow. Blank stares. Is beef healthy for you? "Probably not with all those antibiotics and hormones in it", I thought.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Wow I never though about that. I am openminded enough to know that some parents just gotta do what they gotta do. But it's still sad.
Wow ... yeah, I wouldn't necessarily blame the parents, we all gotta make a living, right? But still, yet another sign of an insane culture that has gone on too long.
My daughter, homeschooled in a gardening family, can identify various edible weeds, not to mention veggies & fruits we grow, but would she EAT them, that's another story. :)
@ Kelly -- I was a single mom and did have to work for my eldest daughters first two years. That doesn't mean that I fed her mass marketed processed foods. Its a choice that parents make and the food/chemical manufacturers unfortunately make it look all too appealing. Just because a parent or both parents work, doesn't mean that they should feed their children substandard food. I really believe that parents can be educated and make appropriate changes, even if they work full time.
@donald -- Yeah we all gotta make a living but apparently some of us gotta make that living at a much higher standard than others and the children apparently are the victims of it. Sadly, these are the parents that want to provide the best of everything for their children, yet they are so influenced by culture they are overlooking the essentials.
Post a Comment