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from the pages of
November 2003
Thanksgiving in Moderation
by Michael Ballon
It seems like many people in this country spend the better part of a
month just preparing for 1 meal-Thanksgiving Dinner. Just after the
calendar has turned to the month of November there is an incredible
anticipation and preparation for a single meal. The entire turkey
industry revolves around a single day, and supermarkets are busy for
weeks with shoppers stocking up.
It is commonly forgotten that the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock
in December, and by the following fall almost half the settlers who
landed had died. Those who had survived their first New England winter
had indeed a lot to be thankful for, including the assistance of the
Native Americans who provided crucial assistance to the new settlers.
Their first harvest was successful, and in anticipation of another long
winter, a feast was planned. Nonetheless, by today's' standards, the
original meal was quite likely rather humble. Game was plentiful in the
woods, and lobster was also part of the original meal, a tradition which
is sorely in need of reviving. Even with the addition of some gourds,
corn, and cranberries, the meal was relatively simple.
Four Hundred years later we live in the land of the obese. Since the
dawn of human history we have been struggling to find and grow enough
food to survive, and famine draught, and scarcity has been the rule.
Incredibly, we now live in a nation where obesity is a widespread public
health problem for the first time in history. This is uniquely an
American problem, as obesity is not nearly as pervasive even in the
other wealthy industrialized countries.
There are a number of reasons. To begin with, very few of us actually
produce any of the food we eat, and we have substituted a sedentary
lifestyle, in contrast to the vigorous lifestyle connected with
producing food. Secondly, food is still remarkably inexpensive in this
country, especially compared to other vital necessities like housing and
health care. In addition, there has been a tremendous increase in the
consumption of processed foods and refined sugars which are high in
calories. There is something in the American psyche which believes that
Bigger and Faster is always better, and so we eat Supersized meals. Try
ordering a small coffee at Starbucks. They don't even use the word small.
While we overeat, entire continents are populated with undernourished
people. But I am under no illusion that decreasing consumption at home
will help to feed the world's hungry. That is a worthy goal in and of
itself, as is eating more healthfully in this country.
All this comes together in the national celebration of over
indulgence we call Thanksgiving. No one disputes the value of sharing a
special meal with family and friends, but like so many other things in
this country, it has been taken to the point excess. It ought to be
possible to express thankfulness without eating to the point of ill
health. Most of the turkeys for sale in the market are artificially bred
and so oversized that they can scarcely even walk, and the same is
becoming true for us as well. A meal which includes stuffing, dinner
rolls, potatoes, and sweet potatoes and yams surely has too many
carbohydrates, even without mentioning dessert. You don't have to be on
the Atkins diet to recognize this as excess.
What is missing is a sense of moderation. Let's just stuff the
turkey, and not ourselves.
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