Here's an excerpt from an article I read today, throwing it out for your comments:
"I have the cure for obesity," says Richard Atkinson, co-founder of the American Obesity Association and head of the new MedStar weight-control clinic at Washington Hospital Center. "Let's get all of the women out of the workforce, back cooking nutritious meals at home, and get all the men back in the fields behind the mules, working hard. And let's rip up all the roads and have everyone walk everywhere. We were not a fat nation then. But unfortunately, we can't go backwards."
I was thinking much the same thing this weekend. As some of you may know, I am also a big Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. If you've ever read her second book "Farmer Boy" (based on her husband Almanzo's childhood in Malone, NY) you are aware that the meals described in the book are HUGE. Every chapter has at least one description of a meal, even a description of popcorn, which is so mouthwatering that one wants to be there. Almanzo loves to eat. He loves breakfasts of oatmeal with maple sugar, fried potatoes, golden buckwheat cakes, sausages and gravy and doughnuts. He loves the lunch his mother packs for school, of bread-and-butter and sausage, doughnuts, apples and apple turnovers. He loves his suppers of baked ham, baked beans, boiled potatoes with ham gravy, mashed turnips, stewed yellow pumpkin, plum preserves, strawberry jam, grape jelly and spiced watermelon-rind pickles and a large piece of pumpkin pie! These are everyday meals. The holiday feasts are even more elaborate and hearty and delicious sounding.
My father was raised on a farm in North Carolina and also grew up eating huge breakfasts with his 6 brothers - but of course, like Almanzo Wilder, they were also working hard and long hours. Dad has related to me and my sisters how he used to wake up VERY early in the morning - like at 3 or 4, depending on what the season was - to get the farm chores done before breakfast and his walk to school. After school there would be more chores, along with homework.
After Dad and his brothers left the farm, got married and settled into less physical jobs (without decreasing their intake of food for the most part) that's when the problems started...the weight problems - the heart problems.
Exactly Mrs. J, I can't expect to eat hugely when most of my time is spent either in a car or in front of a computer. My BF who's mobile most of the day and has his kennel at night to take care of, can easily put away a gallon of ice cream a day. plus tons of food and NEVER gain an ounce.
Speaking of, think I'll get off here and go do something 'mobile.'
wow that is a lot of cooking...and no modern appliances......geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.
i'd rather eat less and have modern conveniences rofl....
that reminds me of the show that was on PBS or something were they took different families and made them live like it was 1813 or something.
*shudder*
this one poor woman was ready to kill herself from all the cooking and cleaning.....
Fascinating article Mindi, thanks for bringing it.
Mrs.Jim, I love the Laura Ingalls Wilder books...I read once that she really enjoyed writing the food descriptions in Farmer Boy because her own childhood was so impoverished, food-wise, in contrast to the Wilders' affluent lifestyle.
It is really frightening to see children become obese at a very, very early age...my kids are 5 years old, and there are two or three children in their class who are already probably clinically obese. To read Dr. Connolly's BRx book on the impact of high fructose corn syrup it's no surprise that a lot of these kids are eating a diet of entirely processed foods.
And if you think THAT was tough...PBS is now looking for people to participate in Colonial House - set in the 1700's. AACK.
It's not the cooking and cleaning I would mind so much as the lack of a bathroom!!
Beth - yup, you are right - Laura's childhood meals generally consisted of corn bread (made of corn meal and water for the most part), salt pork, potatoes and beans. In "the Long Winter" the family lived on wheat they ground in their coffeemill for months...and what the book doesn't mention is that they had a young couple living with them for most of the time that made life miserable for them - I think they were related to the girl who was one of the inspirations for the Nellie Oleson character.
You know, I was thinking about this article yesterday, and it struck me how even while 'dieting' this family was eating almost every meal out of processed foods...Lean Pockets, etc. They switched from the 'regular' stuff to the 'diet' stuff. Now we all know that when manufacturers take out the fat, they add more sugar. Also, if you've read BRx, Dr. Connolly shows some pretty damning evidence linking obesity to manufacturer's use of high fructose corn syrup.
I'd really like to see a diet that concentrates on NO processed foods, ONLY whole foods made at home. I think people would have a lot better success with those types of meals.
BethO
PS MrsJim, whenever I start feeling sorry for myself I pull out some Little House books and it goes a long way towards putting things in perspective for me.
Yup, Dr. C, Dr. Schwarzbein and Nourshing Traditions opened my eyes and got me off the processed food train.
I wonder what would happen if we as a society got off the 'work comes first' way of thinking and went back to putting families and our own health first? I don't mean that people do this deliberately..Jobs are so demanding now, they want your blood it seems and jeesh lots of us, me included, rarely even take a scheduled break anymore, much less time out for a proper lunch.
Beth - if you want to get into the 'heart' of Laura Ingalls Wilder...may I recommend the following books:
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend by John E. Miller - goes more indepth about the facts behind the books, as well as Laura and Almanzo's life in Mansfield and how she came to write the Little House books.
Laura's Album: A rememberance scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson - pretty much any of the William Anderson LIW books are great - I love the photos in this one.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook - not to be confused with the Little House Cookbook which has recipes from the books. This is actually grownup Laura's cookbook, illustrated with beautiful photos of Rocky Ridge Farm (the home her and Almanzo built and lived in for most of their lives).
A Little House Sampler - this has some WONDERFUL writings from both Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, arranged chronologically. Did you know that Laura actually wrote for farm journals in the early 1900's - honed her skills for the books!
Thanks for the books Mrs. Jim - I have a piece of paper beside the computer and write down books/websites to visit/topics to research. I'll flip over to my library website and search for these books and request them. I'll look these up for my Easter holiday reading - what a treat!
Regarding Obesity
