Hermenuetics

Comments

Rachel - what a fantastic post! I especially loved your impassioned argument in the last paragraph and I couldn't agree more. Thank you for taking on this issue.

Posted By: Kim @ Fishbowl Living | April 1, 2011 10:53 AM

Rachel, way to end strong. That closing question is a GREAT one. It is a timely perspective on a Scriptural teaching.

Posted By: Sharon Miller | April 1, 2011 11:02 AM

I agree, particularly about advertising that shamelessly exploits children's psyches and the way that companies manipulate foods to make them addictive. We don't have commercial television in our home, and we don't buy items with HFCS. But then all I hear is "blah blah blah it's the parents' fault blah blah blah we know how to feed their kids better than they do blah blah blah if your kid eats a happy meal you aren't a good parent blah blah blah it's okay to hate fat people because they are lazy and stupid blah blah blah and WE know how to *fix* them blah blah blah."

Yes, "good" food is important. But there's nothing wrong with the occasional ding dong. (And food is a morally-neutral substance.) People are not stupid, even poor people. Parents, the vast majority of parents, do the best they can to feed their kids. When a double cheeseburger is $1 and a head of broccoli is $4 and you have 5 kids to feed on $10, you choose foods that are cheap and high in calories. Because that is the best parenting choice you have to get the calories in your kids that they need, even if they are fat and sugar calories.

With the amount of media attention the "obesity epidemic" (OOGA BOOGA!!!) gets, there must be few people who haven't heard of it. Sure, it's a good idea to make fresh food more available, but let's not fall into the condescending mindset that makes the more economically well-off become paternalistic toward poor parents and tell them that we know how to feed their kids better than they do.

Posted By: Robyn | April 1, 2011 11:18 AM

I enjoyed this article from a practical standpoint. It is always good to have those new motivating reasons to endure the perpetual tantrum in the candy aisle. :)

One thing though: do we have to necessarily make this a Christian issue? It always makes me nervous when we try to take something from the culture and make it a Biblical issue (or a non-Biblical issue, should the case arise).

Paul, when talking to the church at Corinth, was quick to point out that even food sacrificed to pagan idols was fine to eat! I must say, even living in a country that does not practice this kind of idolatry, I would still have such qualms over eating the stuff. And yet, Paul says it's fine to eat! He also says it's perfectly acceptable to refrain, if you are personally convicted that it is an area that will "defile the conscience." In essence, he says "food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse." (1 Cor. 8:8)

The overall message is one of love - how do I best love my neighbor? my students? my community? the poor? And in the very next verse, Paul says that if my eating food sacrificed to idols (or my eating of a candy bar while standing next to a struggling diabetic!) causes someone to stumble, I must refrain, out of love.

In and of itself, what I choose to eat is between me and God. There are matters of personal conviction between a believer and God, and food seems to fall in this category (See Romans 14 as well.). We cannot make pat across-the-board regulations, which only becomes another set of rules and restrictions. In fact, it is a sign of IMMATURITY that I have more restrictions (not less) than another believer (1 Cor. 8:9). But when love is the overarching theme, folks around me are edified (1 Cor. 8:1).

Sorry for the long comment. I did appreciate this article, Rachel. I just think that another approach could be to take it purely from a practical, health basis, not a spiritual one.

Resting in Him Alone,
Karen

Posted By: Karen | April 1, 2011 11:19 AM

Karen -

I think the context of this article is that the inner-city kids she's writing aren't just having "the occasional Ding Dong." Nobody's campaigning to make sure people eat nothing but salad and celery sticks. We're talking about children who, through a combination of poverty, lack of availability of fresh produce, and/or parental neglect, are eating diets of almost exclusively junk food, at least outside the school cafeteria (and sometimes what the cafeteria serves isn't much better). So, while I do agree we have freedom in Christ to be vegetarian or eat meat, to have that extra slice of cake in the middle of the night or not, to do Adkins or Weight Watchers or no fad diet at all, etc., I would hope that we'd all agree eating prodigious amounts of HFCS, artificial dyes, salt, and fat, with almost no fresh fruits or vegetables, is not honoring to the God who made our bodies.

This article is also not talking about adults freely choosing what foods to buy. The adults in many inner-city neighborhoods are constrained in their food choices by price and availability, but the principal who is urging the community to boycott these stores is specifically addressing the problem of young children making their own purchasing decisions on the way to school. While allowing children to buy things with their own money on occasion is a good way of teaching responsibility and independence, I think most of us would agree that ideally parents should be keeping a closer eye on what their kids buy. When parents can't or won't do that, I am extremely sympathetic with a school that wants to step in, in loco parentis, and make sure that children are not coming to school ill-prepared to learn because of low-nutrition, high-sugar junk they've consumed on the way.

Finally, to the remark that this should not be a "Christian" issue. Certainly this should not be ONLY a Christian issue; there are good reasons for people of all faiths and no faith to care about good nutrition for children. And no, the Bible doesn't speak specifically to how many Twinkies one can safely consume. But I think Christians have to keep sight of the fact that in a larger sense, all issues are "Christian issues" because we as Christians have a responsibility to "feed God's sheep" in our lives. We can come to different conclusions about how best to do that, and in many cases there is no one Christian response, but that doesn't make our involvement or our obligation any less Christian.

- KPE

Posted By: Katharine Eastvold | April 1, 2011 12:48 PM

As someone who lives in a community with a great food pantry and a wonderful community garden in it's upcoming third year, I was a bit disappointed to hear that people were reluctant to take the fresh produce the garden produces specifically for the pantry because it required "work" on their part. They would have much rather taken the processed food. How sad! So, the garden workers sell alot of what comes out of the garden at the local farmers market and take the money earned and buy more processed food to add to the shelves.

Posted By: jessica | April 1, 2011 6:17 PM

The problem is not only the junk food purchased at the local party store (which is conveniently located near middle and high schools to "serve" students); it is the fact that most poor families are getting some form of government commodities along with food benefits (which should NOT be able to be used to purchase pop; wine and beer actually have health benefits but are not able to be purchased with a food benefit card, whereas, pop has absolutely NO health benefit). Because the government heavily subsidises the corn industry, encouraging farmers to grow it on land that should not be used for a soil-depleter like corn, in climates where water is too scarce to be used for a water-intensive crop like corn, if the demand for ethanol is not high enough, then the corn must be used for food programs. Commodities boxes are laden with sugar, mostly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, and are delivered monthly to poor families and poor senior citizens. So the government food programs are in direct opposition to its own food pyramid. And we all think we are doing wonderful things by helping distribute this junk!
Thank you so much for your article!

Posted By: Ruth | April 1, 2011 9:58 PM

How are you going on with your church members? I hope fine. To me here in kenya i hove got total orphans 20 and also single opharns 10 as well as widows are 40 in number. The proplem i have is to feed, clothing,beddings,mosquito nets. Infact we are a small bible study group of 44 members and our work is to share the word of GOD through reading the bible. I kindly request you to pray for us so as God to open HIS ways so as to have means of helping the people of God Let our beloved GOD to bless you allways AMEN

Posted By: francis mangera ombogo | April 2, 2011 6:17 AM

Excellent article. I do have mixed feelings, though, about the idea that what kids eat when they are kids has the power to mark them for life. On the one hand, I know that's true. Kids who are overweight and eat poorly are going to have some big obstacles to surmount if they are to grow into healthy adults. On the other hand, I think a lot of decently healthy adults will say that they ate a fair amount of junk as kids and hated certain healthy foods that they now love. I, for example, painstakingly picked the kidney beans out of chili as a kid, and today would much prefer a bean-based vegetarian chili to a beef-based chili con carne. I ate Jello and Oreos and ice cream loaded with artificial junk, and now rarely eat those things, much preferring a homemade cookie or scoop of quality ice cream. I just think there is so much pressure on parents today to do the "right" thing, with supposedly dire consequences for their kids if they don't. We need to be careful about saying, "If your kids learn to love Happy Meals you are dooming them to a powerless addiction to junky food." I know that you didn't say that, but it's hard for parents (for me anyway) to read this kind of article without personalizing it.

That said, I'm currently reading Sara Miles' memoir, Take This Bread, which chronicles her church-based efforts to bring fresh, healthy food to poor San Francisco residents. It is an excellent look at how feeding one another, through Communion and the sharing of regular old food, is central to the Christian faith. I am also involved in my own church's project to use some of our land for a vegetable garden. We will deliver the vegetables weekly to a family service center in the poorest neighborhood of our city this summer. The staff there are convinced that their clientele will gladly prepare fresh produce if they have access to it. I trust they know what they're talking about, and am eager to see how this plays out.

Posted By: Ellen | April 2, 2011 9:52 AM

Improving the kids' food in school canteens has been a big issue. And it's great to know there are people starting to look into it and improve it. Michelle Obama, the first lady is also campaigning for this.

Posted By: Amanda@ best sheets | August 11, 2011 11:07 AM

It's great to know that they're making efforts for children's diet and educate them at early age how to eat the right food. This is truly a great move, hopefully every school will follow the initiative you've done in here.

Posted By: Manie | August 25, 2011 9:05 AM