Post by david on Dec 2, 2008 16:46:28 GMT -8
By Thanksgiving, all that remained – if anything remained at all – of the Halloween bounty that was so greedily gathered by ghosts and goblins at dusk and beyond during the annual trek into the land of gluttony were the dregs: some wrapped hard candy, perhaps, and other less-flavorful morsels whose only redeeming characteristic was their requisite dose of sucrose.
But Turkey Day came to the rescue, another – and for many, the most clearly decadent – day of face stuffing. Thanksgiving dinner is so strongly linked to overeating that one of the traditional dishes is even named stuffing.
After nibbling hors d'oeuvres for hours as the bird roasted and the relatives gathered, we sat at the big table – or, as children in some families, at the kids table – and gorged. And gorged. And gorged.
When the sthingying and forking and ladling and pouring and drizzling and slurping and lip-smacking subsided, belts were loosened a notch or two to accommodate expanding waistlines, and then conversation expanded to replace the din of knives and forks on china and ritual chants of “Please pass the…” and “You must try the…” and “Who made the…” and “I’m just going to have a little more of the…” and, finally, “I can’t eat another bite.”
But then, an hour or so later, everyone finds room for more: for pie and toppings as the profligacy crescendos in a blend of apple, pumpkin, mincemeat, cherry and pecan, drowned in whipped cream or ice cream or both. “OH! I just have to have a sliver of THAT one, too!”
But the autumn cavalcade of culinary consumptionism doesn’t cease even after the gut-busting gastronomical gratification festival of food called Thanksgiving.
Before the last of leftovers have left the house, a new stream of tempting taste treats begins to flow – and this one is more ubiquitous and persistent than either Halloween or Thanksgiving.
Christmas – where the spirit of giving is often manifested by buying and baking and confectionery. Butterball gives way to Russell Stover’s and See’s and Mrs. Fields and Famos Amos and Pepperidge Farms.
In schools and churches and office buildings and places of business and houses on every block, bowls and boxes and plates-full of sweets are put on display and offered – in the Christmas spirit, of course – to all comers.
And bite by never-ending bite, sample by sample, taste by taste, we eat our way through the holidays.
Oh, it is decadent. It is excessive. It is self-indulgent. It is unjustifiable. It is out of control.
But it’s part of our culture and any who suggest that there are better uses of time, money and other resources than stuffing our faces with thousands of empty calories (some research suggests that many Americans consume 20 or 30 thousand “extra calories” during the holidays)… any who suggest that this may be a bad thing are marginalized: “Where’s your Christmas spirit?” “Why be such a party pooper?” “It’s Christmas, just enjoy it.” “What a Scrooge!” “Well! Guess who Santa is going to skip this year?”
Little damage is done to those whose physiology counters the sudden influx of rich food with a heightened metabolism and who “burn off” the extra calories in fairly short order.
But many of us – and more than ever – are unable to return to our “fighting weights” – and we find a new stage of equilibrium that’s five or ten pounds above where we started before Halloween.
And the least fortunate of us – and there are now millions in this subset – allow habits of excess to continue throughout the year. The holiday weight gains are not reversed and the gluttony of the fall extends into winter, spring and summer. And we gain more weight … and more … and more.
And the result? Well, the World Health Organization has predicted that obesity will soon replace malnutrition and infectious diseases as the world’s greatest cause of poor health. That is, more people will become sick or will die because of eating too much than will starve or be struck down by diseases not caused by obesity.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that a third of American men and women are obese – not merely overweight, but obese. Some reports indicate that obesity among children will soon be even more prevalent.
The results: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep disorders, bone disease and more.
How does that fit into the “Holiday Spirit?”
Wow! What began as a story about my enjoyment of salt, both as a texture and a flavor became a discovery process – and what I’ve discovered hits very close to home.
Though this account is filled with opinion and observations, it’s also the story of my life. My relationship with food has been affected by the holidays. And, as is the case with most overweight people, it’s a love-hate relationship.
On the one hand, food is “good.” You know, “good food.” Friends and relatives are constantly turning food into a context: “Let’s go to dinner.” “Let’s get a snack.” “Here! Try this!” “We’ll meet over lunch.”
Food has been a reward – and denial of food, a punishment. “No dessert for you!” “If you’re good, we’ll get ice cream cones.”
And food has been forced on us even when it became obvious that we’d had enough: “Here, just finish this up so it won’t go to waste.” “One piece isn’t going to kill you.”
Well, a third of us are on the way to being killed before completing our expected lifespan. We’re being killed one bite at a time. We’re killing ourselves. Worse yet, we’re killing our children, too.
It’s time to find new traditions or at least to moderate and modify the old. Too much is too much.
Happy Holidays.
But Turkey Day came to the rescue, another – and for many, the most clearly decadent – day of face stuffing. Thanksgiving dinner is so strongly linked to overeating that one of the traditional dishes is even named stuffing.
After nibbling hors d'oeuvres for hours as the bird roasted and the relatives gathered, we sat at the big table – or, as children in some families, at the kids table – and gorged. And gorged. And gorged.
When the sthingying and forking and ladling and pouring and drizzling and slurping and lip-smacking subsided, belts were loosened a notch or two to accommodate expanding waistlines, and then conversation expanded to replace the din of knives and forks on china and ritual chants of “Please pass the…” and “You must try the…” and “Who made the…” and “I’m just going to have a little more of the…” and, finally, “I can’t eat another bite.”
But then, an hour or so later, everyone finds room for more: for pie and toppings as the profligacy crescendos in a blend of apple, pumpkin, mincemeat, cherry and pecan, drowned in whipped cream or ice cream or both. “OH! I just have to have a sliver of THAT one, too!”
But the autumn cavalcade of culinary consumptionism doesn’t cease even after the gut-busting gastronomical gratification festival of food called Thanksgiving.
Before the last of leftovers have left the house, a new stream of tempting taste treats begins to flow – and this one is more ubiquitous and persistent than either Halloween or Thanksgiving.
Christmas – where the spirit of giving is often manifested by buying and baking and confectionery. Butterball gives way to Russell Stover’s and See’s and Mrs. Fields and Famos Amos and Pepperidge Farms.
In schools and churches and office buildings and places of business and houses on every block, bowls and boxes and plates-full of sweets are put on display and offered – in the Christmas spirit, of course – to all comers.
And bite by never-ending bite, sample by sample, taste by taste, we eat our way through the holidays.
Oh, it is decadent. It is excessive. It is self-indulgent. It is unjustifiable. It is out of control.
But it’s part of our culture and any who suggest that there are better uses of time, money and other resources than stuffing our faces with thousands of empty calories (some research suggests that many Americans consume 20 or 30 thousand “extra calories” during the holidays)… any who suggest that this may be a bad thing are marginalized: “Where’s your Christmas spirit?” “Why be such a party pooper?” “It’s Christmas, just enjoy it.” “What a Scrooge!” “Well! Guess who Santa is going to skip this year?”
Little damage is done to those whose physiology counters the sudden influx of rich food with a heightened metabolism and who “burn off” the extra calories in fairly short order.
But many of us – and more than ever – are unable to return to our “fighting weights” – and we find a new stage of equilibrium that’s five or ten pounds above where we started before Halloween.
And the least fortunate of us – and there are now millions in this subset – allow habits of excess to continue throughout the year. The holiday weight gains are not reversed and the gluttony of the fall extends into winter, spring and summer. And we gain more weight … and more … and more.
And the result? Well, the World Health Organization has predicted that obesity will soon replace malnutrition and infectious diseases as the world’s greatest cause of poor health. That is, more people will become sick or will die because of eating too much than will starve or be struck down by diseases not caused by obesity.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that a third of American men and women are obese – not merely overweight, but obese. Some reports indicate that obesity among children will soon be even more prevalent.
The results: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep disorders, bone disease and more.
How does that fit into the “Holiday Spirit?”
Wow! What began as a story about my enjoyment of salt, both as a texture and a flavor became a discovery process – and what I’ve discovered hits very close to home.
Though this account is filled with opinion and observations, it’s also the story of my life. My relationship with food has been affected by the holidays. And, as is the case with most overweight people, it’s a love-hate relationship.
On the one hand, food is “good.” You know, “good food.” Friends and relatives are constantly turning food into a context: “Let’s go to dinner.” “Let’s get a snack.” “Here! Try this!” “We’ll meet over lunch.”
Food has been a reward – and denial of food, a punishment. “No dessert for you!” “If you’re good, we’ll get ice cream cones.”
And food has been forced on us even when it became obvious that we’d had enough: “Here, just finish this up so it won’t go to waste.” “One piece isn’t going to kill you.”
Well, a third of us are on the way to being killed before completing our expected lifespan. We’re being killed one bite at a time. We’re killing ourselves. Worse yet, we’re killing our children, too.
It’s time to find new traditions or at least to moderate and modify the old. Too much is too much.
Happy Holidays.