Over 80% of foods marketed to toddlers in the United States are ultraprocessed, while nearly half also fail to meet global nutritional guidelines, a new study found.
Most people have time to make at least their evening meal at home from fresh food. They just don’t make that a priority. They’re holding the instructions in their hands, but instead of learning basic cooking skills, they’re ordering delivery and watching TikTok.
Yes, I’m blaming the parents for what they feed their kids. Big shock, I suppose.
Just having time in the evening to cook isn’t enough to get home cooking done. You need the energy to do it too, availability of fresh ingredients, and consistency in your schedule to allow planning ahead so that it’s actually economical to cook at home.
I say we blame the system for these problems. Parents can always do more, but it’s never clear if the outcome outweighs the cost, so I wouldn’t blame them for making the choices they do.
You also need the equipment at hand. I have one friend that grew up without a refrigerator.
For myself, I went through a couple months when I was taking care of a partner after surgery, working full time, and handling pet care. You better believe we relied on ready-made meals and paper plates during those months.
Even when I had the spoons to cook, there was no guarantee I’d be able to focus on anything complicated without interruption. Pasta and steamed vegetables were about my limit: things that could be abandoned while taking care of more pressing needs (like changing bandages or cleaning up a mess that comes with having an elderly dog).
Even if this is true, toddlers actually need to eat many times a day. My kid eats extremely clean at home, but if I ever want to leave the house, it’s tough to feed them cleanly without access to a refrigerator and stove. You can make your baby a puree from whole foods, but you’ve got a very short window to eat it once it’s out of the fridge.
Tough enough for me that it made me just stay home and isolate which in fact was worse for me and the toddler than just accepting that we were going to bring a store bought, shelf stable container of pureed green beans with us to be able to leave the house.
It gets easier when your kid has enough teeth to trust them to chew an almond, but not by much. People are just doing their best.
Most people have time to make at least their evening meal at home from fresh food. They just don’t make that a priority. They’re holding the instructions in their hands, but instead of learning basic cooking skills, they’re ordering delivery and watching TikTok.
Yes, I’m blaming the parents for what they feed their kids. Big shock, I suppose.
Your experience isn’t everyone’s experience.
Just having time in the evening to cook isn’t enough to get home cooking done. You need the energy to do it too, availability of fresh ingredients, and consistency in your schedule to allow planning ahead so that it’s actually economical to cook at home.
I say we blame the system for these problems. Parents can always do more, but it’s never clear if the outcome outweighs the cost, so I wouldn’t blame them for making the choices they do.
You also need the equipment at hand. I have one friend that grew up without a refrigerator.
For myself, I went through a couple months when I was taking care of a partner after surgery, working full time, and handling pet care. You better believe we relied on ready-made meals and paper plates during those months.
Even when I had the spoons to cook, there was no guarantee I’d be able to focus on anything complicated without interruption. Pasta and steamed vegetables were about my limit: things that could be abandoned while taking care of more pressing needs (like changing bandages or cleaning up a mess that comes with having an elderly dog).
You are what you eat. You sound like a lot of bullshit.
Even if this is true, toddlers actually need to eat many times a day. My kid eats extremely clean at home, but if I ever want to leave the house, it’s tough to feed them cleanly without access to a refrigerator and stove. You can make your baby a puree from whole foods, but you’ve got a very short window to eat it once it’s out of the fridge.
Tough enough for me that it made me just stay home and isolate which in fact was worse for me and the toddler than just accepting that we were going to bring a store bought, shelf stable container of pureed green beans with us to be able to leave the house.
It gets easier when your kid has enough teeth to trust them to chew an almond, but not by much. People are just doing their best.
What’s it feel like to be this out of touch?