Charley Gibson, on the NBC Evening News just announced with a smile on his face, that the children of America are no longer gaining as much weight as in past years. That is really great news! It should increase their chances of living long, healthy lives, and avoiding diseases like diabetes and clogged arteries. And schools are opting for more healthful food and drinks than candy bars and sodas in food and beverage machines. Our little darlings may object to this now, but later in life they will thank the principals for the decision.
Another good result of current events is that a lot of children, especially in the lower and middle classes, will continue to lose weight as their mothers find it harder and harder to make the family budgets cover soaring food prices. Of course at first their diets might include too much macaroni and cheese and homemade spaghetti, but as the family income covers less and less food and supplies, kids won't have to eat so much. Maybe even the lawn will be improved when people start eating those dandelions, instead of having to buy products to poison them. I have heard nettles are good to eat too, if you boil all those stingers off the leaves first. You can't expect to eat corn products any more when they are needed so badly for processing into our fuel tanks. We won't worry now that it costs so much for petroleum products to grow the corn, that there is little economic gain. Someone is bound to invent a way to do it better. We will be patient, and wait for the oil companies to see to it.
The rising cost of gasoline is really a very good thing. When it gets up to $10.00 or $12.00 a gallon, many people will see how much better off they will be if they get rid of their cars and ride bikes or walk. Just think of the benefits of all that exercise! I think we won't have to wait long. Gas here went from $4.18 to $4.48 per gallon today - .30 cents in one day, and the storekeeper keeps raising the price at shorter and shorter intervals.
Oh, it's good news tonight! Just think how much happier we will all be when the electricity gets turned off, and we can go back to family fun as we sit around candle-lit tables playing Monopoly!


Comments: 50
Boy is this the truth
But that is great news for America's parents. As a parent who lost a son partly from a matter of too much weight, I am well aware of the pervasiveness of the problem.
And thanks for posting to "News, Politics and the Economy."
The ships bring that crude from Saudi are really clipping along, don't you agree?
Ruth, you've triggered some recipe memories from my childhood. And I'm inspired to do a little article on how my Mom got creative in the kitchen when conditions were oh-so-lean.
Good group, Dave. Thanks! G'nite, All!
I have been riding my bike around lately and I have to admit I feel better than I have in a long time.
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I appreciated your thoughtful article.
I prefer Scrabble.
Kelldogg - McDonalds is a start, anyhow. What took so long for them to realize parents want their kids to eat healthful food!
Oh Momma - I did forget to bring up the best part of being deprived of the luxuries of modern life. That is the number one benefit except for when it results in more mouths to feed.
Maybe they'll all get off their butts and plant a garden while they're at it? Like we do.
I'd rather be at home cleaning a chicken coop than shut up in this cubicle all day anyway.
I think the little whiney bastards have been spoiled enough!
funny that some one should mention a horse and a barn full of hay we are getting to the stage where we will be going back in time and every one will have one ,ye gods but the roses will do well.
And have you seen our news i don't know if you get UK news over there ,but yesterday we had two convoys of lorries one going down to London and one going to Cardiff verrrrry slowly on our motorways in protest over fuel,some of them are going out of business because of the price of fuel ,and what did our illustrious leader done to day he has had a meeting with our oil producers to get more oil out of the north sea ,not for nothing did god put Gordon Brown on this earth [to make Tony Blair look good ]we have told him to reduce the tax that we pay on fuel, that would help every one ,but he wont listen in fact he will probably raise it again.[have you noticed we britts like a good moan ]the weather is toss as well and it goes dark to soon at night and i work to hard and i am getting old.Oopps there i go again right of the track,all i was going to say Ruth good article and ten out of ten
Interesting, Ruth, this morning I became aware of an incredible miracle I had briefly come across in a botany text back in college more than 30 years ago... a little berry from Africa with an absolutely safe glycoprotein called miraculin, which natives have been using for millennium to help them eat un-tasty but healthy foods. There was a brief attempt to bring the product unto the market, but rumors are that the US sugar industry pushed the FDA to make it too difficult.
The short article, with the Times video and a lot of fact-checking hyperlinks (including how to grow them yourself) is at Miracles Never Cease
This could totally revolutionize the entire diet/diabetes etc industry, as well as finally put an end to our addiction to sugar... perhaps.
But, what happens to all of us who do not need to loose any weight?
I have lots of dandelions, I'll be happy to harvest and eat them as soon as the neighbors stop allowing their dogs to relieve themselves in my yard! I just heard on the news that people are giving up their dogs because they can't afford them anymore, maybe that will solve my problem? I can hope so anyway! :)
The ones here, you have to aggressively grab them, since lightly brushing them is how the sharp hairs do their thing. Funny, I've heard a lot about Amrican nettle, but in all my time in the US, never once did I see one. I'll put together a recipe for that bread with nettle. It's now almost 1 AM over here...
Had to do a quick translation from the Danish. Hope this works for you.
3 deciliters water
5 gram yeast
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon cane sugar
1 tablespoon dried crumbled nettle
!/2 -1 tablespoon sesame seed
1/2 - 1 tablespoon dried rose hips
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon linseed
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1 deciliters whole wheat bran
3 deciliters rolled oats
4- 5 deciliter wheat flour
****1 tablespoon olive oil (to brush on)
Stir the yeast into the water, and blend in all the other ingredients except wheat flour. Allow this mixture to sit undisturbed for almost a half hour.
Then gently and slowly add the flour and knead the whole dough thoroughly.
Let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator
In the morning, smack it well and again knead well, and then form it into the typical bread shape. Then paint it with olive oil.
Bake until golden brown at 190-200°C for 40 - 50 minutes
Hey Bent - love that recipe - you're a talented man!
Ok well, again Ruth - thanks - this is a wonderful article coming from your very wise mind. Salud.
I forgot to insert your name into the recipe I translated above. It's up above. When I follow threads, I simply use the Firefox "Find" function to get to various threads. Sorry.
Btw I have submitted some articles to Helium. No results yet.
Dave - Why do we always have to learn the hard way? It is better to live closer to nature than most of us do now. Well, it looks like fate and the oil barosn will bring that about.