FabulousFoodBabe

Please -- you give me too much credit

Tammy, to the first: Their father/my sweet husband, is the healthiest and fittest man alive, and he cannot start his day without Pop Tarts. He also spent their formative years working for food marketing companies (well, a few of them). One wine company was advertising on the old Tracey Ullman show, and when they realized that kids were watching it because of those early "Simpsons" spots, they pulled the ads immediately. that type of self-regulation is admirable. to the second: Yes! I'd add a way to make the curriculum include good food choices and healthy life habits, taught in a way that makes it less of a punishment to eat well and live well.

This sounds pretty high. So a dairy drink with 0% fat and 35% sugar is considered healthy? As far as I know, the natural fats present in milk are actually good for growing children. ← Yes! I thought the same thing when I read GG's topic title. And aren't those great vitamins, natural and fortified, fat-soluble? What happens to them when there's less fat to hold 'em up? (Cheetos? On a school lunch program? Yeesh, when I was a kid it was easier to smoke than it was to get hold of a soda on school campus.) Feeling old, Fabby

I've still got my Chicago Cutlery 8-chef, a wedding gift from '83. It holds its edge beautifully. (My fish chef at the CIA, Chef Clark, worked with a CC boning knife. Now THAT was a knife with character.) Mine -- -MAC Santoku, granton-edge. -Kershaw Shun 8-chef -Really old Henckels 12-chef -Global 6" serrated -Global 5" vegetable knife -Wusthof serrated paring knife (2)

I could not agree more with this.

Yes, I have children. No, they're not always only three years old -- so sad to think of the ones that are eternally toddlers. I have a job -- right now, it's school (along with commute, 10 hours a day -- plus nightly studying, homework, projects, practice). When I'm working at a "real" job, it's more like 14-16 hours a day, and its' been like this since the kids were born. I get very little sleep. I have no family myself, my husband's is far away and not really interested, and until my kids were young teenagers, we moved every 2-3 years. I have had no real support system that I don't go out and get myself. to me, advertising and marketing doesn't create a need -- it shows me what's there. I'm not totally immune -- my avatar can tell you that -- but I don't think that it's "their" problem and "they" should be stopped. Just a few parents vs. the corporations? Yeesh. Why not put that energy into your own home? When I went looking for day care for my little ones, any that had a television running was automatically OUT, just like the one where the kids napped with Paw-Paw (the daycare owner's father). And the one where there was no running water anywhere near the diapering area. Etc. I've never sheltered my kids from "the media" and "outside influences." I just can't believe anyone would allow it permeate their lives to the extent that needs are created -- and then allow them to be filled -- in such young kids. It's up to us, as parents, to decide which will be let in when the kids are young. It builds from there.

A particularly fine batch of Royal Icing, with just a bit of vanilla and peppermint extracts in it. Ahhhhh.

Could somebody please explain to me how marketing messages can be delivered to a 3-year old, without the parents' participation and consent? [see my signature line, please.] Numbers talk. Turn off the television and say NO to your kid, and stick to it. No one has ever died from a nagging. And no one has ever been a mark without allowing it.

So corporations can lie, cheat, steal, bribe, despoil the environment, defraud the consumer, burn the competition to the ground, and, of course, sell Lucky Charms to three-year-olds, as long as it benefits the stockholder? ← I'd think that if a 3-year old was able to, without parental or guardian assistance, earn the money, make the purchase, prepare and eat Lucky Charms, you'd have that one on tour by now.

With all respect to whomever deserves it here -- Britney Spears "in her day" was a barely-legal teenager, and her most famous commercial included some creepy 80 year old guy in an armchair, salivating as she writhed onscreen. If that didn't make parents want to burka their daughters, I'd think nothing would. But most of the parents I knew found it to be just hilarious. (shudder) From what I've seen, with mine and with others, teenagers buck what they've been taught as soon as they can, and it eventually evens out. Arizona Teas became popular when the teenagers of that time deemd sodas "poison." And the soft drink companies spent a lot of time and energy trying to bring 'em back. Funny, corporate responsibility used to be directed toward the impact of their facilities on the environment and the people in the area. It's not the companies' responsibility to raise healthy kids. It's their responsibility to return a profit to the shareholders. Food marketing doesn't make kids fat. It makes them see food. It doesn't make them eat too much of it every day and lay around getting bigger. Kids are not raised in vacuums, and that goes both ways: They have parents setting limits. They have influences. Choose which will be more important. You're a better parent than the government or the companies out there. Don't try to make them take it from you!

There is no possible way, as long as the child is never given money for a school lunch, is never given an allowance, and is never allowed to visit friends. ← Your 7 year old will probably not buzz over to the A&P and pick up a few cases of Oreos and Mountain Dew, and then come home and sit in front of the TV, every day ... unless you drive, and you make sure the cable bill is paid. Yeah, they'll do what they do when they're out of your sight. I'd personally rather see some of these kids sneaking Snickers bars or a soda at lunch, than some of the other stuff they do when they're out of their parents' reach. In any event, it's not the food companies' fault. School lunch is, to me, a separate topic. And an annoying one. If food companies are forced to stop advertising on kids' tv shows -- who determines what is allowed and what isn't? Who determines what a pre-teen or teen show is and what isn't, and what products are bad for what target groups? I'm not sure where this all will end. I'm becoming more sure, though, that this current obsession with marketing to kids is going to pass, as soon as the publicists' and news organizations find something else to carp about. BTW, I don't think low-income or poor means "stupid." And I don't think that marketing contributes to obesity in children.

Heh. I have some cutting boards, and usually some herbs drying, but they live elsewhere in the springtime. During Peeps season, you can find a few flats of the little yellow suckers on top of my refrigerator, "curing." When I redid my kitchen, the design includes an open shelf above the built-in refrigerator for the Peeps.

Yeesh. Not even a peep about my "hooker" comment. Hey -- my point was this: Until a certain age, the parents and the kids are one unit. No 7 year old can do much of anything without the parents' support or lack of interest. How can such a young child fulfill desires instilled by marketing and advertising, on her/his very own?

Yeah, and my teenagers want a hooker. Feeding your kid a Happy Meal once in a while is not going to kill them. If you give them what they're screaming for to shut them up, you are not a bad parent. You are a lazy one. Everyone has those moments. But to actually live that way is your choice, your responsibility, and the fallout from those choices is not the fault of the big bad corporations. Advertising to children is advertising to parents. If McDonald's or Nabisco was picking up vanloads of children and trucking them off for a junk food binge four times a week, well, that would be a different story. Who will deem what is and is not directed to children? Who will make the decisions, and what else will be deemed acceptable and unacceptable marketing to various other groups? Time to take a breath.

"A government report today that accuses food marketers of using billions in marketing dollars to woo children away from good diet choices " What, the parents are completely out of the loop, or otherwise rendered helpless in this? Look, I'm as much in favor of public health and nutrition education as the next Babe, but accountability starts at home. Just because Tony the Tiger said they're Grrreat, doesn't mean the kids have to eat half a box a day.

Crustella ... geez, my grandmother used to make those and Strufoli by the gross. That was always Christmas to me, when I was a kid. We stopped giving gifts to the adult siblings, but always give my FIL a case of Graeter's ice cream (he's the most bad-habit-free person in the world, except for this. I swear, he can eat through the whole thing in a weekend). On Christmas Eve, the kids always decorate a half-sheet sized, stocking-shaped cookie for Santa Claus: when they were little, they carefully decorated it in a holiday motif. Now, they mix everything together that they can find in the refrigerator, that can be spread on the cookie (one year we had mustard, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, and capers on top of the frosting). I think they're on to me We've always spent Christmas Day in our own house, so the kids could wake up in their own beds, but usually had guests, too. In most of the places we lived, we either hosted or attended a Christmas Eve buffet, and got into the habit of making "hors d'oeuvres" dinner for the 24th when we moved here. A few years ago, when we lived in Atlanta, we decided to go out for Christmas Dinner because it was just the four of us. We found a little restaurant in Buckhead that served limited menu and decent wine, and wound up having a great time. Ever since then, we go out for Christmas Day dinner, in the early afternoon. This year: Gaia in Greenwich. Can't wait!

Zuke -- your post resonates with me on so many levels; I'll try not to "yack" too much.My MIL used to insist that my oldest son was way too thin, and often told me to force-feed him in order to stretch his stomach. I am not making this up. He still has plain tastes, and he still has a lean body, just like his father. Your dinner-time button-pushing was something we had for a while. Remember those "terrible twos" everyone warns of? For us, it was terrible fours and fives. It passes. And I just put myself on a time-out whenever I felt like losing it. We have a few rules for the dinner table, and one is that the time be pleasant or silent. Mr. FFB and I are not exempt from that rule. Making the mealtime less of a rush and hassle was important when the boys were so young. I eventually rearranged my work schedule so I'd be home earlier in the afternoon and we all had some much-needed decompression time. I stopped trying to cook complicated meals every night. Come to think of it, a lot of the issues were mine (and my husband's) to use or lose.

Happy Birthday, Kathy! You look fabulous And Mr. Tejon is definitely a keeper. It took many years for Mr. Foodbabe to get it. I gave him list after list of suggestions for all gift-giving occasions, only to be told, for example, "I am NOT giving you a blowtorch for Valentine's Day!" I finally started giving myself whatever I wanted, and after a few times, the light bulb went on. He's as excited about getting a steam oven in the new kitchen as I am, and is almost as hissy as me about a really good cup of coffee (Peet's comes once a month to our house, and we are giddy every single time.)

This is terrific news! One step at a time. I do believe that half the battle is the control issues with the food. Yeah, that dinner sounds a little different, but he made some great choices. BTW, about the activity level: We have a treadmill, an elliptical trainer, and a TiVo in the basement. Most television -- and all Junk TV -- is viewed while in motion.

Oh, Malawry. If you think this is bad, wait 'till the kiddo arrives!

Oh, geez. I'm reminded of Thanksgiving dinners at my newly health-conscious MILs house. Skinless turkey breast cooked in fat-free, salt-free chicken stock. Mashed potatoes in chicken stock, no salt, no cream. Margarine everywhere ("Butter is SO unhealthy ..." ). Cranberry juice sweetened with Equal (why is there no 'puke' face smilie?). Pumpkin pie with a low-fat crust, no sugar, and fat-free Cool Whip topping product. Of course I was asked what I thought of the food. Of course I said the pie would be vastly improved with whipped cream or ice cream, caramel-cinnamon sauce, and chopped nuts. "Well, we do have Cool Whip ..." that was the year my husband and I went out to dinner on Thanksgiving night. The horror of those leftovers was too much to consider.

Especially when there are women who have drug and alcohol addictions, and have poor diets, and they still give birth. ← I can remember my first childbirth class, and the 16 year old mother-to-be across the table eating twinkies and drinking Mountain Dew. No doubt hers was the most effortless conception, pregnancy and delivery on record. Sigh. I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies, really wanted to stay off insulin injections, and stuck to a strict diet along with five bloodtestings daily. For the first few months of each, I couldn't stand the look and smell of fish, meat or poultry, so I ate peanut butter for my protein. I also didn't drink caffeine at all, no alcohol, no refined sugars. All I really missed was coffee and, every now and then I'd get a craving for a jelly doughnut. I'd go stand in the bakery and breathe deeply. For my second child, my favorite "shower" gift was a big basket of all the stuff I couldn't eat or drink: coffee, beer, wine, chocolates, and a gift certificate from that bakery.

That sounds like a great day to me too.............except it stinks being the person who's missing the holiday with their family to serve you. ← Only if they're being forced against their will to do it for nothing.

What a great kid. Makes ya want to buy him a present right now, doesn't it? My son now wants to take martial arts; he has the perfect football body and played for a few years, but just didn't see much point in it and stopped. (He is pure grace in the water and we are a scuba-diving family, but -- this kills me -- he refuses to do swim team because he will NOT wear a Speedo! ) The dog-walking is good, and it helps them meet others. BTW, he taught himself to ride a bike when he was eight, and his world started to open up. I've had to tell my son that other peoples' comments are about them, not him. that includes grandparents who refuse to stop making "fat" and "thin" comments about both our kids. Can't change others' behaviors, just our own. About the food part of this: Sushi has been a life-saver. He loves it, can't get enough of it, and could eat unagi sashimi every day. (And, get this: He is an amazing gardener, and has been growing vegetables and herbs since he was about five. He still won't eat them! Hah!)

Well, yeah. When it's someplace where I'm known, I don't have to.