Why we're stuck with unhealthy eating habits...

Or why it's so hard to reform our food system of eating too much fast food, eating out too much, and not getting enough exercise.

What it boils down to is that we are working too much -- especially true for women, who traditionally have been responsible for taking care of a household's food needs (one way or the other). We just don't have time to make sure we eat healthfully, get enough exercise, and generally live a healthy lifestyle.

Here's a chart that more or less explains the problem:

"Although median wages for two-parent families have increased 23 percent since 1975, the evidence suggests that this is not the result of higher wages. Rather, these families are just working more. In 2009, for instance, the typical two-parent family worked 26 percent longer than the typical family in 1975.
... The 26 percent increase in hours worked mainly reflects increases in work outside of the home among women. In fact, among two-parent families with median earnings, the hours of men were relatively constant over time, while hours worked by women more than doubled from 1975 to 2009. It was this increased contribution to work outside of the home, mostly by women, rather than wage increases, that led to higher earnings for the typical two-parent family. [Emphasis added.]

As blogger Tom Laskawy (grist.com) writes:

It's very hard to make change in the food system in an environment where wages are flat. The low and decreasing costs of industrialized food and low-nutrient, high-calorie "food products" have stood in for wage increases for the past several decades. And any call for consumers to cook more runs up against the reality that we (women in particular) are working more hours than ever. And let's be clear: While the division of labor in the home is changing, women still perform 40 percent more housework than men 
In fact, it appears that what wiggle room there is for food-system reform lies in men picking up some serious slack in the shopping and cooking arena. As a father who does a fair amount of both, I know it's possible. But that's not saying it will be easy -- and it does nothing to address the persistent problem of stagnant wages. Perhaps faced with the prospect of doing more around the house, men will begin to organize and agitate for higher wages? C'mon, guys! It's one or the other!

I'm all in favor of getting our husbands and boyfriends to take on more responsibilities in the kitchen. If that increases the ranks of healthy foodies in this world, hooray!

Healthy Foodie Rules to Live By: Rule #1, No Supermarket or Fast-Food Meat

This is the first in a series outlining my rules, principles or "commandments" about how to be a healthy foodie. Please note that my version of "healthy" is not extreme nor all that strict, because I'm also a committed foodie--someone who loves to eat (and to shop, cook, dine out, drink wine -- the works).

If you have watched "Food, Inc." or "Fresh," read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma or some of his other books, you know that our nation's industrial food system is terribly unhealthful and environmentally irresponsible. One of the worst offenders is how we raise, slaughter, distribute and consume meat -- not just beef and pork, but also poultry and seafood.

Unless you're vegetarian, it's almost impossible to opt out completely from the industrial meat system. For instance, when eating out you're highly likely to be served meat, poultry or fish that was inhumanely raised, fed ingredients that the animals don't naturally consume, handled in ways that promote dangerous food-borne illnesses and/or farmed (in the case of much seafood). It's daunting, when you think about it.

My response has been twofold. One, I absolutely never eat fast-food meat of any kind, including stuff I used to order occasionally such as an Arby's roast beef sandwich or a grilled chicken sandwich at one of the fast-food joints that seem to be your only choice sometimes. Frankly, this has not been hard since I have never been a fan of fast food.

Second, I will not buy meat or poultry at the supermarket, and I'm also very careful about where I buy fish.

When possible, I buy meat and poultry from local farmers who raise their animals naturally and handle their products with extreme care.

It's very hard to be 100% pure even in these halfway measures, but it's a step in the right direction.

I welcome and encourage comments and suggestions about how to cope with and ideally to change the industrial food system. Meanwhile: no supermarket or fast-food meat, healthy foodies!

A foodie's reaction to last week's Supreme Court decision (campaign funding)

UC undergraduate foodie/writer/blogger/journalism major Emily Lang (left) published a superb piece of reporting in her column in the school's award-winning newspaper this week about how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to lift restrictions on corporate funding of campaign advertising is likely to affect what Americans eat.

Lang quotes food policy expert Marion Nestle, who thinks that the decision will hinder the work of those who "care about creating a good, clean, fair and sustainable food system."

I hadn't thought about the ramifications of the ruling on this important cause in my own life. Thanks to Ms. Lang for the column. Rather than paraphrase, I'll direct you to this link so you can read what she wrote.

What you (we) can do to change our food system

Instead of only bemoaning our nation's obesity epidemic and food-safety lapses, here are some actions you/we can take to improve things -- however incrementally.

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages
2. Eat (and cook) at home instead of eating out
3. Go meatless one day a week
4. Support family farms by shopping at farmers' markets, in season (from about April through November, in Cincinnati)

5. Know where your food comes from (read labels), and shop at grocers who label the origin of foods.

These are adapted from the list on the website for the movie, "Food, Inc."

To resolve, or not to resolve?

How often do you make new year's resolutions? Every year, sometimes, never?

I'm pretty much in the "never" response category, but not because I can't find anything to improve about myself. Au contraire! Resolving to do better about something is almost literally a daily occurrence, with dropping a couple of pounds being rather high on the list.

In the spirit of renewal--not only a new year, but also a new decade--what would our resolutions for 2010 be? I mean on top of any personal goals of self-improvement, such as really getting to a healthy and comfortable weight. What contributions can we make to the world around us?

My first thought is to help find ways to do something positive about our nation's obesity epidemic. While Americans' health has improved since 2000 on some measures, such as lower death rates for cancer and heart disease, on other measures we have fallen back. As the costs for our health care continue to rise, far outpacing inflation, we have gotten heavier, we still smoke too much, and diseases such as diabetes have taken on epidemic proportions here.

Here's an interesting article from the federal agency, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, called "The decade [2000-2009] in health and safety."

As healthy foodies, we should be in the forefront of demanding that our food industry clean up its act and stop contributing to our nation's declining health profile. (See the movie "Food, Inc." on DVD if you want to learn more about our country's industrial food system.) As individuals, we can demand that the restaurants and grocery stores we patronize make healthier food choices easier for individuals to make. Also see the Food, Inc." movie's website for its list of "10 simple things you can do to change our food system."

Congress and our state legislatures need to get into the fray and (for instance) give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) much broader enforcement powers. The U.S. House has passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act; we should encourage the Senate to move forward and enact this legislation.

These are just a few ideas for the New Year.

If you have others, please share them!