Slow Down and Cook

Valentine’s Day is, arguably, the worst day of the year to go out to dinner. Every restaurant plays the same game: a limited “special” menu, way over-priced, for a one-night clientele. The restaurants are packed, the service suffers, and you are surrounded by thrown-together couples, convincing themselves the night is romantic.

This year, as with most years, Valentine’s day fell on a week day; we both work. I wanted to make something quite nice for dinner; I decided on a chicken curry – not a quick version. So, after a very long day for both of us, I set in to cooking for the duration. Two hours into the process, I was almost ready to plate, when I thought: the sauce looks a little ‘oily’; so, I thought: pour it into the separator, and then do the final reducing step. However, in my tired state, I forgot to put the stopper in the separator; then, while muttering profanities in frustration, I forced the stopper in – which, in turn, forced the boiling hot sauce out of the separator and on to my arm. My pain-induced reaction brought the separator, with the sauce, cascading off the counter and onto the floor. The turmeric in the sauce meant that staining would set in rather rapidly. I had to walk outside and hold my burning arm (there is something about being male, and causing self-induced pain through stupidity that eliminates the desire for remedy; we suffer and swear).

Thankfully, my Valentine – who is also my wife, was able to salvage enough sauce from the counter that we, in fact, had a very nice meal.

Now, if anything is the essence of Valentine’s Day, I think I may have stumbled into it.

The Department of Agriculture is responsible for overseeing that which our nation feeds its children while at school.  There is currently legislation before congress to improve the health factor of this food.  Members of Congress are, in fact, fighting this move. To boil down their position, it is the following: the Federal Government has no place telling our children what they ought to be eating. Really?

I believe we can all agree on the following:

• The Children of this nation are facing a serious obesity problem;
• This problem is relevant to every American – to all of us;
• We can, and should, address this problem.

If we agree on these points, we are back to the fundamental argument – that the government should not tell our nation’s children what they ought to be eating.  This same argument was put forward in the days when we debated mandatory education –  I think we are beyond debating that the nation has an interest in educating the young. I think, further, that we are well beyond debating parens patriae. 

I have rather extensive personal experience teaching high-school age children. As much as I admire their desire for independence, I recognize the limitation with which nature has saddled them; most fourteen year olds will eat Fritos until they drop before a healthy sandwich, given the option without oversight – especially when surrounded by nothing but other teenagers.

We, as a nation, have our nation’s children for several hours a day. In those hours, we can make a fundamentally important, relevant difference in their diets, that has no negative side.  We can start the change that observes, and accepts obesity as the problem that it is, with real, functional answers within easy reach. Feeding our students with a healthy diet is low hanging fruit.

It does matter; we, as a nation have a place in the answer, and to shirk our responsibility is unforgivable. Do you want to be the one to look David (or Sally, or Sayed, or Berni) in the eye and say: you are going to die young, from a problem we knew about, and could have solved, but ignored? At least your son will attend his sister’s wedding, because you won’t be at your daughter’s.