kilikini wrote:

> "Henhouse" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>A friend of mine accused me of being a food snob the other day. Why?
>>Because I don't buy processed food, and never go to fast food eateries.
>>I also always buy free range chicken and use either eggs from our own
>>free range chooks, or bought duck eggs. I also buy organic foods from
>>time to time, and try to buy seasonally and locally (being aware of food
>>miles etc.) Does this really make me a food snob? I feel quite insulted,
>>to tell you the truth - I don't dictate what others should eat, I just
>>make the choices I prefer. I enjoy cooking and have the time to spend
>>doing it, plus access to great local produce - I'm not sure why this
>>could be seen as wrong in some way!
>>
>>My friend got quite heated about it all, and told me that if I'd got
>>four kids and was working full time, I'd soon change my ways and opt for
>>foods I could just stick in the microwave (not that she has the four
>>kids etc., just the one 25yr old son). I'm not likely to ever find
>>myself in that position, but I imagine that if I had children I'd be
>>even more concerned about the foods they were eating than I am about my
>>own. I could be wrong, of course!
>>
>>This is the same friend who is happy to come to dinner at my house, but
>>who refuses to return the favour, as she is 'frightened' of cooking for
>>me, as I am (allegedly) good at it - LOL! I'd be happy with beans on
>>toast, if someone else had cooked it - but that's by the by.
>>
>>Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else here has suffered a similar
>>accusation, and had any good arguments with which to refute it? Or
>>perhaps you think my friend is right and I'm just too precious about the
>>whole topic? Opinions welcomed!
>>
>>Jo
>
>
> I have a friend like that, too, and she's always inviting me to come over
> for lunch. What does she have on hand on a regular basis? Frozen burritos,
> Kraft mac 'n cheese, packaged ramen noodles, pizza rolls, frozen jalepeno
> poppers, frozen breaded chicken tenders - stuff like that. That's what she
> feeds her family. I politely decline, but then I feel compelled to offer
> her something from *my* fridge, which she always accepts because she knows
> what I prepare is made with fresh ingredients and it still tastes good!
>
> I keep shaking my head at my friend because she complains about her weight
> and her daughters' weight (her 15 year old daughter is over 300 pounds!, her
> 12 year old is about 170) and I just want to shake her! I keep trying to
> tell her that it's the kind of food she's buying that's causing the weight
> gain, she nods and says "she knows", but she claims that this is all her
> kids will eat. Personally, I think she's killing her family. Sad thing is,
> all this junk "food" is supported by the government. Yep, you got it, Food
> Stamps. Someone should supervise what kinds of foods people should be
> allowed to buy on government assistance.

This is just my observation but quite often people resort to the junk
food like you mentioned because they don't know how to cook and/or don't
have the necessary cooking equipment. Another problem is a lot of this
pre-prepared food tends to ultimately be more expensive that the
comparable made from scratch. So to me, it would make sense to offer
free classes to help them learn about nutritious and how to cook. OTOH,
you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped
>
> kili
>
>