I Read This Article From The USA TODAY On Tuesday, November 22 And Found It Very Interesting So I Decided To Write A Blog About It 🙂
Three Squares A Day Is So Yesterday… 24/7 Snacking Becomes New Normal
One of the great lessons of social history is that food, and the rituals surrounding it, both express and instruct in a society’s values. Food is not mere ballast; it carries with it, unavoidably, a society’s values. Which is why this news from USA Today is depressing:
We eat what we want, when we want. No more of this breakfast, lunch and dinner stuff. We snack all day. We casually skip meals. And we want to customize everything we cram into our mouths. It’s as if our social-media habits are going right to our stomachs. A culture hungry to put its personal stamp on everything it touches is driving some foodmakers and restaurant operators bonkers. At the same time, it’s offering all kinds of opportunities to those willing to sprint ahead of the food curve. Nowhere is this trend more palpable than with Millennials. “Eating weird is the new normal,” says Shawn LaPean, executive director of Cal Dining at the University of California- Berkeley, which serves students 30,000 times daily. “If students eat any square meals per day, it might be one. The rest is filled with snacks and food on the go.” These may seem like quirky, student eating habits, but they’re evolving into lifetime traits. The numbers are mind-boggling. At least 35% of the meals eaten by Millennials aren’t meals at all, but snacks, reports consultancy The Kruse Company. Four in 10 Millennials snack more than once daily, reports research firm Technomic. And only 5% of all consumers eat three square meals a day, says Technomic. There are no traditional eating hours anymore, says Wade Thoma, vice president of U.S. menu innovation at McDonald’s. “People eat at all strange hours of the day.”
It’s hard to be traditional about food rituals these days. You would think that my family would be ordered along these lines, but it hasn’t worked out that way. For one thing, one of my children has sensory processing disorder, and can only eat a few things (fortunately, the same things, and easy to prepare). Another of my children appears to have the same problem. More importantly, though, until I took the job at Templeton, I was never able to be home at a predictable hour. My newspaper job sometimes got me home by six, sometimes by nine, but never on a predictable schedule. That was the nature of the work, but it made family dinners impossible to schedule. Now we can do that, given that I work from home, but it’s hard to break old habits — especially given that the kids usually don’t eat, and won’t eat, what their mother and I eat. Still, the whole snacking between meals thing is something we resist in our household. So there’s that.Anyway, we are losing, and appear to have lost, food traditions. Food is not religion, of course, and besides, as Adam Gopnik points out in his book about France and food, when a food tradition ossifies into pure formalism, it loses its vitality. But the opposite — to thoroughly reject any formal tradition, is also imprudent, and not to be desired. To be in Louisiana and to decide that gumbo, jambalaya, and boiled crawfish are no better and no worse than Big Macs is to lose a sense of oneself and one’s culture. It’s to say that one’s culture has no claim on one, and no right to educate one’s culinary sensibilities. And, it’s the jettison the idea of taste itself. Worse, to completely lose the idea of the family meal, or the meal as a social event, strikes me as a quite different and far worse thing than preferring to eat different foods. Here’s Leon Kass, in his terrific book “The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature.” Precisely because human beings usually eat together, the customs of eating govern not only what human beings eat but also where, when, with whom, and especially how. The manner(s) of eating, even more than what gets eaten, expresses the humanity of the eaters, at least as they have come to understand it. Though the specifics differ markedly from one society to the next, all cultures have explicit or tacit norms governing the “how” of eating — norms that serve to define the groups, ease interpersonal relations, and help civilize the human animal. Social rituals around eating are one thing that separates us from barbarians, and indeed from animals. More Kass:
To be at table means that one has removed oneself from business and motion and made a commitment to spend some time over one’s meal. One commits oneself not only to time but also to an implicit plan of eating: We sit to eat and not just to feed, and to do so both according to a plan and with others. A decisions to have a sit-down meal must precede its preparation, and the preparation is in turn guided by the particular plan that is the menu. Further, to be at table means, whether we know it or not, to make a commitment to form and formality. We agree, tacitly to be sure, to a code of conduct that does not apply when we privately raised the refrigetrator or eat on the run or in our cars, or even when we munch sandwiches in front of the television with our buddies who have gathered to watch the Super Bowl. There we eat (or, more accurately, feed) side by side, as at a trough; in contrast, at table we all face not our food but one another. Thus we silently acknowledge our mutual commitment to share nto only some food but also commensurate forms of commensal behavior. To be sure, the forms will vary depending on the occasion; the dinner table at home with family, the dinner table at home with guests, a banquet table at a testimonial dinner, adn a picnic table in the park have different degrees and (in part) different kinds of formality, as do the family breakfast and the family dinner. But in all cases there are forms that operate, regulate, and inform our behaivor and that signify our peculiarly human way of meeting necessity. A table, all by itself, silently conveys the beginning of this meaning. … The set table in the home is in fact an embodiment of the community that is the family.
Some Foods To Think About While You Snack:
The Colors of Health
Fruits and vegetables come in terrific colors and flavors, but their real beauty lies in what’s inside. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of many vitamins, minerals and other natural substances that may help protect you from chronic diseases. To get a healthy variety, think color. Eating fruits and vegetables of different colors gives your body a wide range of valuable nutrients, like fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Some examples include green spinach, orange sweet potatoes, black beans, yellow corn, purple plums, red watermelon, and white onions. For more variety, try new fruits and vegetables regularly. Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Compared with people who consume a diet with only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers.
I have started eating more eggs and egg whites every single day in order to improve strong muscle and healthy bones! Breakfast should be your #1 meal of the day. The most important meal of the day that can keep your energy levels high giving you the momentum you need without crashing early 🙂 Consumption of eggs and egg white omelets along with servings of fruits and vegetables in the morning will give your immune system and your metabolism a huge jump in the morning and last you throughout the day. Snacking on nuts, whole grains, and an energy bar and/or apple will curb your hunger for larger meals. The point is that you need to keep your metabolism going throughout the day and ultimately help your body become an efficient fat burning machine! The amount of cholesterol in a single large egg has decreased by 14 percent according to the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition data*. Consuming an egg a day fits easily within dietary guidance, which recommends limiting cholesterol consumption to 300 mg per day.
Snacking Is Good But You Have To Be Responsible 🙂 Watch The Following Video For More Information:
I have come across some interesting articles lately about the importance of screening individuals for diabetes, cholesterol, and people with heart conditions in the L.A. Times as well as the Press Telegram here in Long Beach. It is a sign of the times that we are in a crisis of inhibiting bad eating habits and lack of participating in some sort of physical activity everyday. Growing up I was labeled in the ‘Generation X’ category, a generation that was known to be individualistic, technologically adept, flexible, and last but not least value a balance between work and life. ‘Generation Y’  was the next wave of kids to grow up throughout the 90’s and now I would personally dub this current generation of kids as ‘Generation O’ (O stands for Overweight). I’m noticing more kids with less energy and motivation more than ever before. I have to believe that lack of exercise activities and poor nutrition play a massive role in the way kids are moving around today. Combine that with the mentality that everyone wants things ‘now’ and patience is NOT a virtue is a scary thing. The fact that we all look to medication and the ‘secret pill’ to fix all of our problems is a huge mistake! Daily good exercise and nutrition are just another way of life. Just like sleeping and breathing… If you stop you will die. Simple as that! We all need to take a step back, gain some more balance in our lives between good nutrition and exercise, and look at our priorities and notice what is truly important in our lives. Patience and understanding with being healthy is a HUGE part of this and it takes time like everything does in order to become healthy and strong. A few years ago I heard someone say ‘Get in line.. And stay in line!’ Meaning that if you start a good whole-food nutrition or workout routine that you must be patient with your results. ‘Don’t get out of line’ or in other words quit your diet or workout routine just simply because you don’t have time or because your not having fun with it. Most likely you will end up spending more time in pain or in the hospital bed later in life. Individuals who work out and have a better diet are often generally happier and in better moods at a more consistent level. Daily exercise can releases endorphins which in turn create a better platform for a healthy happy lifestyle 🙂 I read the following story below this morning and found it disturbing that they would note that children should be taking lipitor or other drugs in order to lower cholesterol instead of really emphasizing the fact that parents and children need to drastically change their lifestyle into more productive healthier choices. Kids need influential ‘idols,’ whether it’s the parents or a professional sports figure to get motivated! One way to do this is to encourage children to participate in outside activities other than school and encounter more interactions in order to gain certain life experiences so that kids can grow and find their own identities. My identity is rowing and sport! I have an extreme passion for the sport and always encourage others to find out what they really want to do in life. I have had many experiences throughout my life to pick and choose what made me happy and what I could excel at… Whatever it is you want in life go for it and don’t let anyone hold you back 🙂
‘What YOU think is possible…IS possible!’ -John Nunn (Olympic Bronze Medalist 1968, Rowing)
Read on and learn learn more about where our next generation of children are heading…
It’s hard to be traditional about food rituals these days. You would think that my family would be ordered along these lines, but it hasn’t worked out that way. For one thing, one of my children has sensory processing disorder, and can only eat a few things (fortunately, the same things, and easy to prepare). Another of my children appears to have the same problem. More importantly, though, until I took the job at Templeton, I was never able to be home at a predictable hour. My newspaper job sometimes got me home by six, sometimes by nine, but never on a predictable schedule. That was the nature of the work, but it made family dinners impossible to schedule. Now we can do that, given that I work from home, but it’s hard to break old habits — especially given that the kids usually don’t eat, and won’t eat, what their mother and I eat. Still, the whole snacking between meals thing is something we resist in our household. So there’s that.Anyway, we are losing, and appear to have lost, food traditions. Food is not religion, of course, and besides, as Adam Gopnik points out in his book about France and food, when a food tradition ossifies into pure formalism, it loses its vitality. But the opposite — to thoroughly reject any formal tradition, is also imprudent, and not to be desired. To be in Louisiana and to decide that gumbo, jambalaya, and boiled crawfish are no better and no worse than Big Macs is to lose a sense of oneself and one’s culture. It’s to say that one’s culture has no claim on one, and no right to educate one’s culinary sensibilities. And, it’s the jettison the idea of taste itself. Worse, to completely lose the idea of the family meal, or the meal as a social event, strikes me as a quite different and far worse thing than preferring to eat different foods. Here’s Leon Kass, in his terrific book “The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature.” Precisely because human beings usually eat together, the customs of eating govern not only what human beings eat but also where, when, with whom, and especially how. The manner(s) of eating, even more than what gets eaten, expresses the humanity of the eaters, at least as they have come to understand it. Though the specifics differ markedly from one society to the next, all cultures have explicit or tacit norms governing the “how” of eating — norms that serve to define the groups, ease interpersonal relations, and help civilize the human animal. Social rituals around eating are one thing that separates us from barbarians, and indeed from animals. More Kass:To be at table means that one has removed oneself from business and motion and made a commitment to spend some time over one’s meal. One commits oneself not only to time but also to an implicit plan of eating: We sit to eat and not just to feed, and to do so both according to a plan and with others. A decisions to have a sit-down meal must precede its preparation, and the preparation is in turn guided by the particular plan that is the menu. Further, to be at table means, whether we know it or not, to make a commitment to form and formality. We agree, tacitly to be sure, to a code of conduct that does not apply when we privately raised the refrigetrator or eat on the run or in our cars, or even when we munch sandwiches in front of the television with our buddies who have gathered to watch the Super Bowl. There we eat (or, more accurately, feed) side by side, as at a trough; in contrast, at table we all face not our food but one another. Thus we silently acknowledge our mutual commitment to share nto only some food but also commensurate forms of commensal behavior. To be sure, the forms will vary depending on the occasion; the dinner table at home with family, the dinner table at home with guests, a banquet table at a testimonial dinner, adn a picnic table in the park have different degrees and (in part) different kinds of formality, as do the family breakfast and the family dinner. But in all cases there are forms that operate, regulate, and inform our behaivor and that signify our peculiarly human way of meeting necessity. A table, all by itself, silently conveys the beginning of this meaning. … The set table in the home is in fact an embodiment of the community that is the family.
Some Foods To Think About While You Snack:
Breakfast is a the best part of the day!
momentum you need without crashing early 🙂 Consumption of eggs and egg white omelets along with servings of fruits and vegetables in the morning will give your immune system and your metabolism a huge jump in the morning and last you throughout the day. Snacking on nuts, whole grains, and an energy bar and/or apple will curb your hunger for larger meals. The point is that you need to keep your metabolism going throughout the day and ultimately help your body become an efficient fat burning machine! The amount of cholesterol in a single large egg has decreased by 14 percent according to the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition data*. Consuming an egg a day fits easily within dietary guidance, which recommends limiting cholesterol consumption to 300 mg per day.
