Or should I say hourly bread

Every living creature, human down to microcosmic cell, needs its Daily Bread, and if deprived will scavenge, fight, even kill for it, because without it, and water, we’ll die.

Over half of the world’s population is lucky if they get any food for the day and, yet, we here in the U.S., while there are hungry among us, we’re also facing a cradle-to-the-grave epidemic of obesity.  Too much food. We’re fat.

And in doing so, we’ve turned the joy and comfort of good family meals into a scramble to see who can out-do others in serving food that’s the  most unusual, fanciest, grown farthest away, and prepared in the most unique manner.

The other side of the coin, there are the millions who consider Pizza, Hamburgers, and French Fries, or any  frozen meal that can be micro-ed in minutes, as perfect, nutritious meals.

And they’re okay, and fun for once-in-a-while, but we’re at cross-roads, because where ever we look, we’re being pressured  towards different attitudes in what makes a nutritious meal. 

First, wherever we look, any form of the media from TV, magazines, newspapers, ads, we’re bombarded with articles and gorgeous pictures of foods and  nice slender people telling us if we cook food as they say,  we can look like them too.  It’s hard to find a news program, talk show or whatever, without its segment of food and telling us how to make, or buy it.

The way they talk, you’d think we’d  die unless they reminded us that when we’re hungry we should eat, and that food is usually found in the kitchen.

And in the same publication or program, there will also be articles, with pictures, telling us what food is not good for us to eat,  what to keep away from our children, berating schools for what snacks or drinks they offer our kids, and the medical professions step in and tells us the horrid maladies being  overeating brings, how our food choices  are ‘doing’ to our kids’, and also trying to sell us  pills to control our appetite. 

Then there are hour long TV programs year after year, showing us grossly overweight people and how they are ‘suffering’ to lose it, and that we’re no where near THAT fat and so that our few fat pounds are okay.  The dangers of Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia, (diabetes and its counterpart) all from lack of balance of our meals,  and you each can go on and on with your own lists of what the doctors tell us.

And, believe it or not, the effects of the obesity epidemic have reached into and brought changes to every store that sells clothing. 

I recall my mother making very nice dresses, night clothes, and one time a coat for an overweight neighbor.  Not grossly fat, but just the same, she couldn’t find clothing her size, and so came to Mama, and got them made for her.

She’d have no problem today. The Extra-large section is as large or larger than the ‘normal’ racks.  (Who knows what’s normal?)  One day I saw a ‘Small’ Tee-shirt on sale in a color I liked and bought it, but took it back within an hour.  Yes, it was Small, but what I missed in my hurry was that the label actually read, ‘Small XXX’.  See, even a new lingo. A Small extra large.  Oh me.

A nurse, with lots of capital letters after her name, simplified the food problem for me.  She said: eat three,  four, even five  SMALL meals a day and have each ‘meal’ one-third protein (meat, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter, etc), one-third Good Carbs (brown bread, brown rice, etc) and one-third fruit and veggies. 

Cookies?  Ice Cream?  Cake?  Candy? Of course, but these are not food needs.  They are treats, eaten sparingly. Not as constant tid-bits, substitutes for a meal, or a package eaten while watching TV.    

 I don’t know about the farmer, but store keepers, makers of fancy pots, pans, grills, cookers, etc., medical pills and nostrums, gyms, spas, and, special clothing, you name it, and it all boils down to that you gotta be your own doctor, nurse and coach.  That is, if you don’t want to be fat.

And not a one of these businesses dealing with Food and it’s results is going to help you, because, as it stands, they’re all making money hand-over-fist and not a one of them is going to rock their wonderful money-making boat.

It’s all working just they way they want it to work, and there’s nothing wrong or illegal about it at all.  The fact that it’s making us fat is our problem, not theirs.