Food Politics

My children are aged 22, 32, 36 and 40. They all grew up as you and I did except that not all came home for lunch all the time. The youngest was home schooled in a rural area and so probably got the most outdoor time as we did nothing rigid (he turned out fine). What has changed so much? Partly, the increase (real or perceived) in crimes against children, but partly the same attitude shift that makes people own and drive useless SUV’s–affluence and associated status. It is widely perceived that “nice people” drive their children everywhere (in a “safe” SUV). Of course, everyone tries to emulate this and so Mom has to work (HAS to, not chooses to) to pay for all this, so no one is home to say, “go out and play til dinner is ready”, so they sit inside playing video games til someone comes home to put them in the car and go to the fast food joint for “dinner”. This is somewhat oversimplified and I’m not saying women shouldn’t earn their own living, but we need to figure out a way to not make our children the victims of this system.

The fast food industry has figured out one solution – safe, clean, shiny indoor playspaces, like the ones at McDonald’s. How about we build our kids some safe, fun, indoor playspaces that don’t simultaneously market unhealthy food to them?

It is perhaps the breakdown of traditional neighborhood and family structures, and the growth of information structure that plays as great a set of roles in encouraging “couch potatoism” as the slashing of physical education spaces and budgets and the perception of crimes against children.

When I grew up, most mothers of school-aged children either stayed home, or arrived home from work before their children were released from school. All the adults in the neighborhood knew each other, and each was trusted with looking out for the safety of all of the neighborhood children — as well as the older children being responsible for the safety and well-being of the younger children. (We were babysitters — no parents in the house — at age 13. Do that today, and be arrested for child endangerment!) Our primary-school homework could be done either between let-steam-out-playing-in-the-streets and dinnertime, or between dinner and bedtime; anything needing research beyond the dictionary was given enough time for us to get to the public library on the weekend. Today our children must learn much more technology at an earlier age; their homework requires Internet research that could take hours if they are not blessed with a broadband connection (or their own computers). There is the perception of not enough time for children to be active and still accomplish the tasks adults ask of them.

I went to a South Bronx Community Listening Session sponsored by the NYC Food and Fitness Partnership a few weeks ago, with members of the Bronx & Harlem DPHOs and the Strategic Alliance for Health, and there was talk about adding bike lanes in the Bronx, among other things. I’m optimistic – the Strategic Alliance for Health has a great staff on board, and Scott Stringer’s already spearheaded change with his Food in the Public Interest report, http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/FoodInThePublicInterest.pdf .

In other news, there are several zoning-based initiatives to increase the number and quality of supermarkets in underserved areas of NYC, announced by Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, and Speaker Quinn: http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/press_0516091_print.html . Last semester, I wrote a paper on the urban environment as a contributor to obesity: http://food4thoughtandaction.blogspot.com/2008/12/term-paper-on-food-deserts-and-obesity.html .

has society really changed that much? when i was in elementary school in the sixities, kids were abused and mistreated…we all knew who and how…adults just didn’t talk about it…when jimmy showed up at school with a split lip the teacher ignored it rather than call social services…i have absoulutely no issue with exposing mistreatment of anyone, but are crime and abuse so much more rampant today than then? and if those issues are more central to society’s consicousness, are they there only because of a heightened concern and genuine altruism, or do lurid stories sell more air time on fox/tmz news?

Hi

I am sure that if our parks and play areas were better supervised that parents would allow their children more freedom to go and play to become a lot healthier than they are now.

Good Food

Well, they’re both relevant. When I was a kid, I was on the basketball team, and McDonald’s sponsored our uniforms. We went on record saying that none of us had eaten McDonald’s since we were like, 8. The school responded by cutting the entire team.

We played basketball in our underwear in protest. Eventually, the school relented.

The problem is that outside of urban areas, we have carefully zoned neighborhoods so that cars are essential. It’s hard for most of us to walk to the grocery store, walk our kids to school, etc. because our houses are buried in residential-only enclaves. This is not just a problem for young people—it also hurts senior citizens who can no longer drive and are therefore in danger of becoming housebound.

When I lived in Switzerland, I enjoyed steaks, chocolate, and full-fat yogurt, but I still lost weight because I lived in a town that was designed to be walkable. Everyone lived in apartment buildings surrounding a city center that had a mall, two grocery stores, a civic center, and twice a week, a farmer’s market. There were several schools and quite a few small playgrounds located nearby, and in the evening we would take our kids for a walk to a cafe that was located right by Geneva airport, and enjoy ice creams while watching the planes take off. I would much rather live like that than be stuck driving a mile every time I run out of milk.

Yup, gone are the days of safe outdoor activities for kids. Supervision nowadays is essential, but even that has an effect on the whole family schedule. Given that most parents these days are both working or that most families don’t have complete parents, the idea that kids’ lifestyle can be simulated today is not a possibility anytime soon. It will be a social effort with other members of the communities involved for something like that to work again.

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