"To market, to market!"

In the Tues. Nov. 9, 2010 edition of the Boston Metro, the following article appeared: “Report: Fast food ensnaring youth” (8, Reuters) with a picture of children raising their hands in eagerness at Ronald’s presence and the caption “A shows of hands, kids: who wants early-onset diabetes?”.    I was shocked and pleased to see such an article in a non-veg. publication!  I knew I wanted to write about it, but such a post would be the impetus for another dimension of the blog, thus far untouched, that discusses my reading, viewing, and sharing of material in conjunction with the eCornell Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition and the benefits of said lifestyle.  So, I thought I would wait to comment until I was a bit more organized in terms of how I wanted to pursue this discussion thread.  Then, in the paper’s response section the other day, this succinct inquiry was posted in relation to the aforementioned article: “Where are the parents?”, and I received an equally moving image from a family member that posed the better alternative to Ronald worship. 

A caveat: I am a fur parent, but I do not have children of my own.  That said, I have interacted with hundreds of children and parents in the course of my own life and work to varying degrees and depths.  Thus, it is from this background that I hope to share information, observations, and encouragement based on that experience.  To this end and to begin addressing this article, I offer you the alternate vision, a more produce-oriented vision -- my niece Juliet as photographed by emerging child photographer (my sister-in-law), Lizzie.

Here is how and when you can “ensnare” a child into a healthier way of choosing and interacting with her nutrition and life choices.  As recapitulated by my sister, “J and I went to the Farmers Market downtown to stock up... Juliet was tickled pink when a local farmer gave her an orange free of charge; she's STILL carrying it around.”  These are the moments that shape the kind of consumers that individuals will become.  This conclusion is not simply observational based on my experience but in the research as well.  For today, I leave you with the joy and good health of this image. I’ll carry on with this discussion and research in subsequent entries, but I think that this vision is symbolic of the positive course of action.  Yay to my sis for giving my niece the opportunity for such an experience!