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.

What Else Did you Bring Home from the Grocery Store?

With headlines touting BOTULISM and ECOLI does one even know what they are bringing home from the grocery store? In the several weeks I have found:

• a twig within a loaf of bread, the only affordable brand of bread my grocer carries that does not contain high fructose corn syrup
• an inidentifiable foreign object in a package of raisins
• and finally this morning, my daughter comes to me with a 2" long piece of what appears to be nylon fiber found in the national brand of jam that claims its got to be good.

I will tell you this -- its so not good.