of chocolate fries and vegetable gardens

12 February 2002 - 1:22 pm

of chocolate fries and vegetable gardens

on the heels of green and purple ketchup, heinz is apparently in the process of getting chocolate flavored french fries to market.

first of all: ewwww. i don't know about you (and possibly, your 6-13 year old child) but, really. chocolate fries? who thinks this sounds yummy, raise your hands. wouldn't it be better just to have a chocolate bar? seems that they will also be adding cinnamon & sugar, kool blue (about which the article only says "seasoned"), and sour cream & chives fries (these actually sound decent). i think we can all be thankful that they rejected the fruit-loops-flavored fries, yes?

second: didja notice this quote?

"We asked the kids what would make them want to eat more French fries," said John Carroll, managing director of North American potatoes and snacks for Heinz' frozen food division.

do kids *need* any encouragement to eat more french fries? i certainly didn't when i was a kid. and also, given that much of the american population is overweight, and that kids are fatter than ever before, does it not seem like bad corporate morals (yeah, i know. oxymoron. corporate morals-ha!) to encourage kids to eat more french fries? especially french fries that are even *more* caloric with the addition of the sugar to make them chocolate flavored.

part of why kids (and everyone else) in this country is so fat is because unhealthy fattening food is *cheap* and *easy to obtain*. think about it: you can get a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, and a drink for less than $5. that's a lot of food for $5. but, it has 1290 calories and 52 grams of fat. but, if you're poor, and you've got x kids and no help (i.e. you're an inner city single mother), this is a good answer. except that it makes you and your kids fat, and doesn't give you much in the way of nutrition.

buying healthy food takes money. think of the last time you bought skinless chicken breasts, or lean ground beef, or tofu, or fresh fish. it's pricey. pricier, certainly, than ground chuck and hot dogs. if the government wanted to encourage healthy eating (and help eliminate lots of cost associated with health problems caused by obesity), it should tax junk food and subsidize (if anything), healthy food. we tax other stuff that's bad for us (alcohol, tobacco), why not potato chips?

actually, in my own west philadelphia, there's a program funded by the usda that seeks to empower and educate local teenagers by helping them start and maintain agricultural business in the neighborhood. Kids will be in charge of vegetable gardens (planting, growing, and harvesting) and selling the produce. Not only will kids learn about plants, gardening, and the economics of running a business, but they also have access to fresh produce for themselves and their families.