Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

artybear

kezlou wrote: »

I know they are/were wishy washy but i'm thinking if they abolish the FSA what next?
I know its sound very niave and silly of me to say that its just worrying times ahead.

P.S Sorry i have offended anyone

I dont think you have offended anyone......I was intrigued this morning and so did some research into them and thats why i dont think they r that great.

I dont they could stop BSE just try to calm the media down Susan....you probably know much more than me thoughxxxx

artybear

weezl74 wrote: »

I feel a bit this way kez, what next?

more and more Mcfoods, plasticised versions of the real thing.

health problems galore...

But i am also aganst the nanny state and the promotion of a low carb/fat diet being the best way (finally I get it weezl:T:T:T) and I think they were doing that....

kezlou

No of course they can't stop BSE from happening, its one of them things like foot and mouth. I just think its a matter of the government can and will quite happily spend money on certain areas and make deals with big companies rather than focusing on public health, public concerns regarding GM crops etc

Like i said previously its just what will the government dissolve next?
I also hate the fact that companies "support" schools, in fact i had an argument with the HT at our local primary school because my boys came home singing that annoying song with the words "a pizza hut a pizza hut, mcdonalds". My kids don't eat in mcdonalds as both of my children think it vile and i refuse to eat in there myself.

So its mainly concern for the future.

weezl74

artybear wrote: »

But i am also aganst the nanny state and the promotion of a low carb/fat diet being the best way (finally I get it weezl:T:T:T) and I think they were doing that....

sounds like you've done lots more research than me arty

my main concern with them was as you've indicated above the strategies which were being used to promote a healthier diet. I feel very let down by the 5 a day campaign and by the starting introducing of the traffic lights colours schemes. This is not the way to make the nation healthier in my view, in fact I believe it will have the opposite effect!

artybear

weezl74 wrote: »

sounds like you've done lots more research than me arty

my main concern with them was as you've indicated above the strategies which were being used to promote a healthier diet. I feel very let down by the 5 a day campaign and by the starting introducing of the traffic lights colours schemes. This is not the way to make the nation healthier in my view, in fact I believe it will have the opposite effect!

Exactly and there are many people that think schemes such as this will solve the nations obesity problem....i.e I read a comment about a lecture given in London which was called 'There is no such thing as bad foods just a bad diet'...and this person was outraged that a lecture could be called that as he belived oils/fats etc were very bad and that the FSA should label (traffic light system) foods so everyone could avoid them.

Now I have met you all and done lots of research (and changed my mindset which was very hard to do) I believe the title of that lecture was right and the FSA were not really helping the nation...

Just my thoughts for today...i'm probably wrong though :D

HowlinWolf

hmmm, I'm afraid I disagree about the traffic light system. It's great if you're an educated person to work all of this out on your own and make you decisions based on reading lots of research. But what if you are less educated? What if you have no idea what those journal articles mean or what if you are functionally illiterate and can't read the nutritional info on the back of the packet? The beauty of the traffic light system was that it could be understood (relatively easily) by anyone who could see it and it allows people to have an idea of how to balance their diet. For example by picking less of the amber and red foods or ensuring that these are balanced with more green within a day. It is not a perfect system but it is far better than the system that the food manufacturers wanted, and got, which seems to need a significant amount more knowledge in order to understand. Lots of food manufacturers do not seem to want us to know what is in the food we eat or how good/bad it is for us.
I am of the strong opinion that food labelling should clearly tell you what's in it. If it doesn't it gives food companies a licence to put any old crap in there that makes food both cheap and tasty (things that make it tasty are not necessarily good for you). I don't know how many of you have read supersize me but that's a clear message in that book. McDonalds have tried to significantly change their image since being strong armed into publishing nutritional info about their products and you now see more fruit, more (very unhealthy) salads and more effort to appear healthier. Just look at the new store design, it's green brown and wood. It's meant to look natural because that tricks the consumer into believing that it is healthy. Red and yellow plastic does not give out the same message.
I shall get back off my soapbox now.

SusanC_2

artybear wrote: »

I dont they could stop BSE just try to calm the media down Susan....you probably know much more than me thoughxxxx

I can't say I've ever given the FSA a lot of thought to be honest but from what I can gather it seems to be more about negotiating with the food industry about guidelines than having mandatory standards.

The main things I remember about BSE are virtually nobody eating beef when it was on school dinners before they took it off the menu, John Gummer getting his daughter to eat a hamburger in front of the press and me feeling mightily glad I wasn't his daughter. Then everyone forgot about it and was nasty to me about the fact that I wouldn't eat beef until it came round again around 1995ish and then suddenly everyone was really jealous that I hadn't eaten beef since 1989. Then everyone forgot about it fairly quickly and I was the weirdo who doesn't eat beef again.

weezl74

I agree howlin

that wasn't my issue with the traffic light thing, sorry I didn't make myself clear!

Easy to understand system - agree
labelling of everything - agree
use of red traffic light for things that are high in fat/calories - strongly disagree

that's the only part where I felt it was doing the wrong thing for national health.

I think we see it much more similarly than you thought I thought IYSWIM?!

edit: I think perhaps it would have been better to say-traffic lights-neat idea. Things which are given green and red status, grossly distorted, in my humble.....

SusanC_2

kezlou wrote: »

No of course they can't stop BSE from happening, its one of them things like foot and mouth. I just think its a matter of the government can and will quite happily spend money on certain areas and make deals with big companies rather than focusing on public health, public concerns regarding GM crops etc

Like i said previously its just what will the government dissolve next?
I also hate the fact that companies "support" schools, in fact i had an argument with the HT at our local primary school because my boys came home singing that annoying song with the words "a pizza hut a pizza hut, mcdonalds". My kids don't eat in mcdonalds as both of my children think it vile and i refuse to eat in there myself.

So its mainly concern for the future.

I see - so it's more the lack of concern the government has and the worry about what else they will abolish than that you think the FSA was particularly effective?

I learned that pizza hut song in brownies along with the second verse. I don't think I even knew at the time that they were all places to eat - it was just random words to me.

kezlou

oh that song drives me insane, my eldest came home when he was 6 (he's now 10yrs) and taught it his little brother (then 2yrs now 6).
I probably shouldn't have complained but it just really upset me that they were promoting a company .i.e McDonalds to a group of young children.

Yes Susan it is more of a lack of concern the government has regarding the public needs.