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  • From: "Jill Taylor Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Peter Jennings on Farm, Food, and Obesity
  • Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 11:57:06 -0600

Yeah, I agree with you, Bill. Definitely we are a sedantary nation in this
time.

One factor that is helping me - as I age, I can't eat as much - my body just
can't take it. I can no longer as easily digest fatty foods, such as whole
cream ice cream, nor rich meats. An "All you can eat" option at a
restaurant is no longer any sort of bargain, as one plateful is all I can
eat, and that might be a bit too much!

I can affirm what others have said about eating well, too - if I eat lots of
fruits and vegetables, and home-raised foods, I don't have as much of a
craving for unhealthy things.

I agree we have to take responsibility for our own actions. I also agree
that we need to take responsibility for making healthy foods available to
folks. Well, this is the crowd that is already doing that!!!!

Jill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2003 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Peter Jennings on Farm, Food, and Obesity


> I've thought about this and it would be nice to twist things to farmers'
> advantage but I think it's more complicated than just bad food out there.
> I'm old enough and interested enough to know what life was like in the
> 1800's, before and after. Not only have food trends changed but activity
> trends have changed significantly as well. When you drive into the city
> during morning rush hour there's plenty of time to use your "X-Ray Vision"
> to see all the desk-jockeys (count'em) arriving at work. They "work" at
> their desks all day, getting up to go to the bathroom, send a fax, check
out
> the water cooler, etc. What kind of work is that? And with computer
> terminals (I'm guilty) making us more efficient, we're getting
> physiologically less efficient. I would suggest that lack of physical
> activity plays into this as much as our eating habits and food choices. To
> add to this concern, check out the new issue of Time Magazine. The cover
> story is on diabetes, an epidemic linked to the obesity epidemic.
>
> I don't eat any different than I did when I was a concrete finisher,
> other than smaller portions, but I'm not anywhere near the physical
> condition I was then, even though I'm much more physically conditioned
than
> many people I know due to the nature of my field work. I can't imagine
what
> would happen if I worked at a desk 8 hours a day, 40-50 hours a week, 50
> weeks a year, year-after-year-after year. Could that be part of the
problem?
> Genetically, we're really not much different than our ancestors who were
> foraging wheat, roots and berries and killing wild game while we roamed as
> nomads. But we live much more "convenient lives". At what price? (I'm not
> suggesting radical lifestyle changes,...yet.)
>
> Bill Shoemaker
> Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
> Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center
>
>
> >But we also have to take responsibility for our own actions.
> >Culturally, don't we remember how to eat well - and just not want to?
> >
> >I know I could be lean and mean - but I do like my micro-brews and, um,
> >er - eating well!







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