Wednesday, September 16, 2009

not cool

this


is


sick

"what is that?" you ask...
oh they're just multiple boxes of fruit snacks, with characters on them, right at a two year olds eye level.
no biggie.


so normally i dont go to the regular grocery store, unless i'm running in real fast to grab formula, ice, or alcohol, you know, the basics. anyway, we went full on shopping at Vons the other day because i didn't want to go to a thousand stores to get all the things i needed and out of all the regular stores Vons has the most easily accessible, fairly prices organic food while also carrying things like ice, alcohol and organic (and cheap) formula. so while i'm there i go into culture shock. i can't EVEN believe the food that is there for starters, secondly the way they market food towards children is DISGUSTING. there are characters on EVERYTHING. well everything that is bad for them anyway. no wonder we have obese children. i see so many parents out and about every day who obviously have no control over their children or who dont know how to say 'no'. combine that with the character covered junk food at the grocery store and i TOTALLY get it. its infuriating. using children to sell, and then selling them things that will harm their bodies. where have our morals and convictions gone? i mean, i'm not one to hold fast to tons of morals but come on... this is ridiculous. and if we are going to exploit our children by placing such things right at their level, why not fill those boxes with whole grains? why not put characters on veggie stands? why not encourage them to eat things that will help them grow and thrive????

i was very proud of arabella (who, by the way, walks on her own EVERY time we go to the store now) because with all that temptation, she was GREAT. all i had to say was "no hunny, put it back" and it was back on the shelf and we were picking out veggies and beans. she has never been under such rude temptation at trader joes. the craziest thing she walks by and has to refrain from grabbing there is fruit and vitamins. shame on disney. shame on nickelodean and shame on the food industry.

11 comments:

-bobby- said...

yeah capitalism... target the young, the poor and the weak... suh-weeet!!!!

Marianne Elixir said...

Amen and amen. I have to stay out of conventional grocery stores too...my heart starts having irregular palpitations.

Beth McDermott said...

10000000000% agreed. I tell Dawson, who BEGS for lunchables and transformer fruit snacks on occasion, that I love him WAY too much to buy that poison for his body. Gross.

skylana said...

I kept saying "that's shady food hunny, I can't buy you shady food."

stina said...

i agree. it grosses me out!! so frustrating and annoying that it's so "normal"...that it's all over. the charachters and bright colors and cute stuff on all the gross poison 'foods'

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more! Way to go Arabella that is some good self control.

A thankful heart said...

ONE nice thing about Brady having food allergies, is that everything he is allergic to we tell him is "owie tummy" because he remembers vomitting, diaper rashes, hives,etc...so now if we don't want him to have it we say it's really bad for your body, it's not health (therefore will not make you strong like spiderman) and it is OWIE TUMMY:) and he's 95% of the time totally ok with it...and I didn't even have to lie;)

Flo Paris said...

Agreed! I wish parents would understand that kids are reasonable enough to understand if a food is bad for them. Sera asks ALL the time, "Is this good for us?" I love that she's learning that's what motivates our food choices.

Once when I explained that something wasn't good for her, she was so confused, asking, "Why are they selling it!?" Exactly.

That said, when I go to the regular grocery store, I buy crap and eat it all. Ha.

meg said...

"shady food" haa, I love it. If I ever have to go to Albertson's which is like 2 blocks down the street from my house and seems so convienient, I walk the outside Aisles.

Produce/Meat Department/Wine & Beer
(we don't get alcohol in the regular stores here, I know, shed a tear for us)

Sometimes, sometimes, I'll hit the frozen department for fruit or veggies, but that's it.

MEGAN said...

So many parents/adults JUST DONT KNOW NUTRITION! It's crazy to think about ALL of the stuff kids eat, or the good stuff they dont eat, and the cycle repeats itself because children aren't taught healthy habits at home.

I knew nothing about HFCS a year ago, or preservatives, and look at me now!

Krystall said...

FYI: Look for Sesame street characters.
My aunt is a nutritionist and works for WIC. She said stats show that kids will most always choose the food that has familiar characters on them, which, as you have seen, is not very healthy. So they are trying to market healthy food the same way with sesame street characters. So if you see sesame street characters, chances are it's a healthier alternative than my little pony or transfomers.