Guilty Pleasures

Why is food that is bad for you taste so good? We know certain foods are bad for us, but we eat them anyway. Even if there is a more healthy alternative, it is never as good as the original. Most people have a food that they have trouble resisting or a guilty pleasure. Some people have more than others. Once these bad foods have you, they fight to keep a tight grip on you. I’m afraid there are a few that have a hold on me….

One of these foods is crackers and/or chips. There are so many flavors and types to choose from that one could eat a new type everyday and not get sick of any of them. Crackers have a good variety of flavors such as chicken, cheese, vegetable, wheat, etc. We used to buy four different flavors when we would do our grocery shopping. Chips are the same way. There are potato and corn chips, and many flavors within those two categories. Some of these are bar-b-que, ranch, sour cream and onion, regular, nacho cheese, salsa, coolranch, etc. Having choices is the American way!

Another food that gets me is pop. Even though it is not really a food, I would put it in the same category. Everyone must know by now how bad pop is for you. Empty calories, tons of sugar, lots of sodium, acidic, are all examples of the bad components of these drinks. I have gotten better about drinking pop, but I could do better still. I used to drink 2 or 3 a day, but have cut back to not having any during the weekday except for once or twice with dinner and on the weekends.

I have often wondered why I have a weak spot for these foods. I think it is a few reasons. First, I didn’t have a lot of these foods when I was a kid. But when I got to be a teenager and had my own money, I would buy pop and chips on a regular basis. Maybe I became addicted to these foods. Another reason could have been forming bad habits. A person gets used to eating a certain way and could not really think much of it until they notice their declining health or increasing waistline. A third reason could be convenience. These foods are ready to eat right now. Crackers and chips are made and ready to go. Great for a quick snack, right? Same thing with pop. It tastes good and it is readily available. Some pops have so much sugar in them that they give you a little boost. To change my habits, I’ve tried to buy vegetables and cut them up and have them ready so that if I do want a snack, I can grab them and go. Also, I’ve tried to find flavored water that is healthier than pop. Everyone is in a rush now days, so we have to adapt to that way of life in order to break the hold these bad foods have on us.

Food and My Generation

I would have to say that it is hard for me to identify with food. I don’t feel a certain association with any one food or food group. My race is Caucasian so I don’t think there are foods that are associated with just white people. My gender is male, and again, no food is exclusively identified with males. Ethnicity might be one group that could have something. I’m mostly German and I ate some German food growing up, but we didn’t eat this type of food all the time. Class wouldn’t work either, since I’m middle class and I can’t think of anything that would identify only with the middle class.

The only connection I can think of is generation and food. Being a Gen X’er, I was raised on fast food. Not that I ate it constantly growing up, but enough to where it was around and in my diet. My generation was the first to really consume this type of food and make it the money making machine that it is today. The big one was McDonalds. I would eat there usually once a week. My mom complained how bad the food was, but I thought it was good. Maybe the free toys helped make the burgers taste better. I do have to admit that even today, I think their french-fries are the best. Looking back, it seems like most of their marketing was geared towards kids. Other restaurants caught on to this and did the same thing. And it worked! What kid wanted to go to a restaurant that didn’t have cookies and toys that came with their meals? No one that I knew.

Besides hamburgers, pizza would have to be the next food identified with my generation. Going out for pizza was a special treat in my house. That meant it was the weekend, or a friend was spending the night, or relatives were in town, etc. Fun seemed to be associated with this food. Part of the reason was that most pizza parlors we went to had video games. What a great idea! The parents could eat and visit while the kids were busy playing video games and entertaining themselves. This idea was transformed by Chuck E. Cheese. This pizza parlor had everything a kid wanted to do for their birthday. Kids couldn’t leave without their parents so they were free to run wild within the restaurant while the parents relaxed and tried to maintain their sanity. Pizza is still a weakness of mine. Even to this day, it is still something we buy when friends or family are at our house or for dinner on a weekend night.

The idea of genetically engineered food can be scary and hopeful. I think it depends on what you read and who you believe. But isn’t like that with most controversial issues? I’ve read a few things from both perspectives, and both sides can make a convincing argument. So where does one draw the line or choose a side?

The pro side of the argument can be very encouraging if you believe what they have to say. From what I have read and studied in an environmental science class, the potential for genetically engineered food is great. According to some geneticists, it is possible to create crops that are resistant to disease and pests, all the while not harming the people or livestock that eat it. Crops can be grown bigger and are able to survive better in adverse weather. We could have enough food to feed everyone on Earth. No one would have to go to bed hungry.

The trouble with this argument is that we do not know if the genetically engineered crops are or are not harmful to humans. We are in the early stages of development with this science and only time will tell. I’m sure we have all heard stories of how nuclear energy was treated and the lack of concern of exposure. Could we find out a few years down the road that we are creating something terribly bad for us?

I think more research needs to be done. How are we sure that we will not be harmed, even through secondary exposure. For example, a genetically engineered crops that are fed to cows or pigs, might not be harmful to them, but could be to us. We eat these livestock and have these new crops passed along to us. I think the best route to go is for natural or organic foods, or as close as possible. Being a parent, one becomes concerned with what they are feeding their kids. I have heard stories about young girls developing earlier than normal because of the hormones in the cows that they have eaten. I’m going to have a hard enough time dealing with teenage girls without them developing early.

Since this is America, we have a choice. We can choose to eat as natural as we want, or to throw caution to the wind and consume whatever we like. I definitely think genetically engineered food is not the best thing in the world, but would like to see more definite numbers and results.