We Need to Redefine Healthy
Are these healthy or the lesser of possible evils?
Louisa brought home a request from school yesterday, for snack donations to a weekend snack program for children in a less fortunate town in our area. I think the concept is wonderful, but I have to question some of the items on the list, after all, as the request flyer stated “this may be the only nutritional snack these children have until they return to school on Monday.”
The items I question the most on this somewhat nutritious list are: Rice Krispies Treat Bars; Teddy Grahams Snack Bags; Goldfish Snacks; Snack Size Baked Chips; Snack Sized Pretzel Bags; Packaged Cheese/Crackers. I think, as a society, we’ve lost sight of what’s nutritious, and are looking for the lesser of two evils. All of these items are fun snacks, that can fit into a well-balanced diet as long as they’re served in small portions. But they’re not chock full of nutrition by any means. What they are, is better than the alternative snacks that may be more heavily laden with sugar and fats. But we’ve grown so accustomed to serving these as the healthier alternative to our kids, we’ve forgotten that they’re still not intrinsically a nutritious food.
The donation list should have just stuck with the bottled water, pure juices, packaged dry fruits, protein and cereal bars. Then those kids would have had taken and enjoyed those snacks without the empty carb alternatives. But once again, the food companies have managed to sneak into our minds and taught us to look at the supermarket through their filters instead of through our own sensible eyes.
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