A Short Rant About Our Collective Stockholm Syndrome for Snacks
Every school day, I send my kids into a building where other people take on a role in loco parentis, meaning in place of a parent. In many ways, this is a wonderful oppotrunity for them. In others, it’s kind of like sending them to that ex-spouse whose views vary so widely from yours that it’s a wonder your kids haven’t fallen into a chasm of confusion yet.
This particular rant is about the chasm of differences between our heroic attempts at engaging in good nutrition at home v. the notorious, the storied, the hallmarked….SCHOOL LUNCH.
Yes, the ominous school lunch has received its due reputation over the years — often appearing in more than just a cameo in our favorite coming-of-age TV and movies, rued for its terrible taste and dubious ingredients. It even became the star of one of the best comedic outputs from Adam Sandler and Chris Farley (say it with me: sloppy, sloppy Joe).
But it’s not just the taste or the ingredients that I feel urged to rant about today. It is the two-strike punch that is its lack-luster nutritional value plus my utter lack of control over it.
What caused this most recent bout of rage, you might ask? A simple review of our school’s menu of the day, in order to help my kids decide whether to bring home lunch or school lunch. And what did I find upon venturing into that dark abyss?
Our school district feeds our kids “entrees” of — I kid you not — cinnamon rolls. And these are served with a side “vegetable” of — no, really — tater tots.
This is not a joke.
Then they talk to my kids about the dangers of peer pressure on forming unhealthy habits…
The object lesson comes when my kid brings their broccoli and chicken to school and watches all ten of their friends eat cinnamon rolls next to them, so then they have broccoli, chicken, and cinnamon rolls (which, who wouldn’t?).
I have no idea who came up with the meal plan, who put it into writing, who reviewed it, who approved it. I do understand that there are limitations that those persons are working with, including systematic problems and budgetary issues. I also think they were either uninformed or wholly uncreative, un-adaptive, and unresourceful. Or, they also make bad choices for themselves and don’t want to admit it, so they just perpetuate the problems. Now I shall venture into the swamp of that latter estimation:
A few days ago, I came across a social media post (not exactly reality, I know) pleading with folks in a Type One Diabetes group to “agree and acknowledge” that Type Two Diabetes is not caused by diet. Because I am a glutton for punishment, I went to the comments. I expected to see at least some folks kindly or courteously disagreeing, (because this particular group is generally kind and courteous) but…I didn’t. Instead, I saw a whole lot of “yeah, it’s a complex issue,” or “yeah, it’s unclear” nonsense. Why are we telling ourselves this story (at least online)?
Our insulin sensitivity becomes less sensitive due to overuse, and how do we cause overuse? Um, by overusing it…e.g., by feeding it lots of things that require insulin (cue cinnamon rolls and tater tots).
I’m getting pretty sick of people in our culture trying to excuse away suboptimal choices because they feel bad about themselves for making those choices. The truth is this: will power is hard (especially at first) and much harder when it also involves counter-culture, and right now, our culture is a punk kid with a green mohawk and leather coat who is not only dogging us, but whom our parents actually hired to watch us, so we can’t get away from him, and he’s constantly egging us on to do stupid shit in the form of terrible nutrition. We don’t have to lie to ourselves in order to cut ourselves slack about this.
But instead of saying “those donuts sitting feet away from me in the staff room, every single Monday, without fail, with their pink frosting and happy-go-lucky sprinkles, make it much more difficult for me to not eat them,” we tell ourselves this story instead: “those donuts in the staff room aren’t actually bad for me.” Both statements cut us some slack, but the first one is true and the second one is a lie.
And only the first one has the added benefit of reminding us that the culture around us is a problem, and that we could actually address it, at least little by little. The lie, on the other hand, just perpetuates the system that continues to peer pressure us into making choices that deteriorate the mid- and end-years of our lives.
So what to do about it. First, cut yourself slack in the form of actual truth. You are living in Foodcourtia, and that makes it very dificult to make good choices.
Second, don’t be the person who brings donuts, or who puts candy on your desk, or who brings mounds of shareable snacks to events (did you know the word — the very idea — of a “snack” was invented by the food industry in order to sell you more stuff? I shall refer you to Invader Zim for a lighthearted way to laugh about this). It’s unecessary to add to the problem. Do be that person who dares to bring single-ingredient foods, vegetables, protein, etc. to the world’s staff rooms, desks, and events instead.
Because, you, too, can be a punk kid with a mohawk peer pressuring the people around you.
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