I was just reading this article on the Huffington Post that I found really interesting and relates well to the message of Inspired Home Cooking. The topic of obesity and how it relates to our own personal economic state has been coming up in many online articles recently. A much debated and studied topic, obesity is the product of many different factors: fear of being without, ads for fast food and not understanding the relation of fat and calories to nutrition.

The author brings up the subject of instant gratification when our lives are faced with adversity and economic struggle. We sort of stock up on instant gratification when it’s available to us – because we’re living in a world of deprivation, so we think. Time, also, when we think we have plenty of time we tend to make healthier choices. If we have a feeling of urgency, we tend to need instant gratification.

At the end of the article, I found the best and most useful information: “While it’s not clear just how these findings might translate into strategies to undo this unrelenting daily priming, these findings suggests that it may not be enough to simply inform people about the calories and nutrition in this or that food and expect them to make disciplined food choices.”

I translate it like this: Information and assistance can only go so far. It’s important to become more involved in a hands on way. Encouragement with participation becomes experience which become life habits.

Just cook as much as possible. Teach your kids to cook. Get involved with the food you buy; the food you cook; the food you eat. Food is not entertainment with cartoon characters and music. It’s time to get over that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/let-us-eat-cake-the-parad_b_1471315.html?ref=food&ir=Food