Entry #35: Health Pt.3

One of the worst arguments flying around is that obesity is solely the result of personal irresponsibility. Glenn Beck even jumped on this train recently, and many conservative paundits get outraged at comments like Michelle Obama's suggesting that the food industry should do more to make its products healthier - the common misconception that by regulating the food industry the government is ultimately limiting our choices and deciding what we eat. "I want to be able to order a big, juicy steak when I go out!" It seems as though most Americans, conservatives in particular, believe that the average American is totally capable of making informed dietary decisions. They think it's as simple as, "don't eat too many Twinkies or Big Macs," or "spend more time at the gym to work off the calories."

This is total fucking shit. People are fucking idiots when it comes to nutrition. People are even bigger fucking idiots when it comes to fruits and vegetables. To cite an example, I worked as a janitor for about half a year at one point. I was talking to my manager and it somehow got brought up that I'm a vegetarian. She told me I probably eat lots of healthier things, like veggie pizzas. Fucking veggie pizzas: healthy. Most people think they're doing themselves a service putting a slice of iceberg and tomato on a quarter pound burger. Another example is how many people think vegetarianism and veganism are healthy. I've been around vegans for around a decade, and it's insane how many people honestly think they're eating healthier - and it surprises me even more that so many fucking people who aren't vegetarian think it's healthier. Granted I am vegetarian, I do aknowledge that it's for political reasons and I don't kid myself into thinking it's for ethical or dietary reasons. The healthiest people are pescetarians.

The worst examples I can think of are how many people think they're eating healthy by having granola bars and vitamin water. People eat that shit up. The worst people are the ones who think they're going on some diet by cutting carbs, or the people who think salads are the only healthy things to eat. So many fucking people seem to use that as an excuse, saying they can't eat healthy because they don't like salads. I know they're somewhat saying it in jest - but who knows the reaches of most peoples' idiocy.

As far as a lack of knowledge about fruits and vegetables? I had a customer just a few days ago ask me what's wrong with the Fuji apples. What is this shithead talking about? I walk over to the organic apples and they all look fine. Walking to the back room I realize what she must've been thinking: the organic apples aren't coated with wax, so they're not as shiny and smooth. What fucking idiot has never seen an apple on a tree before and honestly and sincerely thinks that apples are supposed to be shiny?
You know what's also pretty bad? I was in a local Heinens recently and they had golden beets - which made me stoked as hell. The problem is that the workers cut the leaves off of all the beets. That makes them go bad quicker, you fucking morons! The problem was only heightened by the fact that they were organic beets and have a shorter shelf life regardless. All of the beets were soft, and half of them I could poke my finger through if I applied a little pressure.
A couple weeks back I had a customer who told me I wouldn't be proud of our radishes. I continued doing my work, because I knew the dude was probably full of shit. He proceeded to put his grapes back and leave out of anger. After he left I decided to see if his concerns were actually justified, and you know what the problem was? The leaves on the radishes were a little - ripe. Does this fat old fuck even realize that you don't eat the leaves, and more than half of the times the leaves are slightly dingy on arrival.
There are also plenty of customers that also think oranges are the best source of vitamin C (eat some parsley, dude!), or bananas are the only good source of potassium. I had one customer come in asking if we had riper bananas, because she has a potassium deficiency and needed a quick source of potassium. You know what's a good source of potassium? Look around you, you fucking broad. Nearly anything in the produce department is a good source of potassium - it's not as though you'll be screwed if you don't have bananas.

The average American consumer knows jack shit about nutrition, because most of them believe they can go to the gym or take some pharmaceutical and miraculously patch up their poor decisions. What a surface level opinion for professionals on news stations to have. Diet isn't that simple and the average American is not capable of making their own well informed decisions, nor is it necessarily their fault if they're overweight or obese.
This is one of the worst opinions commonly held by most Americans - both professional or not, but of course it's too difficult for most Americans to understand any issue from a perspective other than that of personal choice. Obesity is a multi-layered issue that has societal, cultural, and fiscal factors and people need to quit treating it like it's on the shoulders of the consumer.
There needs to be some outside force coming in to intervene - whether it be the government enforcing more regulation the food industry or the food industry itself coming together to make one massive effort. But, unfortunately, we're going to continue to have people bitch about any sort of intervention impeding on their freedom of choice. Fucking nonsense.