Mommy, can we go get a happy meal?

[AmandasMom]

This is what a 3 year old asked his mom who was loading up groceries in the car next to me at Kroger today. "Sure" she said as she handed him a soda and strapped him in his car seat.

I'm so happy that my dd doesn't even know happy meals exist. I'm can't belive that so many moms let their kids eat death like that. Do they not care? How can they not know how terrible that food is, or maybe they do and still dont care, who knows. I just picture their little bodies trying to cope with the "food" it is given, and how a lifetime of eating that way will surely bring them down the road to a heart attack/disease, which unfortunately is so common its considered "normal" now.

Oh yeah, also today in Krogers, a little girl around 8 or 9 with her mom. She walked to the strawberries and asked her mom if she could get a package. Mom said no. A few minutes later I saw them at the end of the isle loading LIttle Debbie cakes into their cart.

*sigh*

[Erin Pavlina]

I know how you feel. It saddens me too when I see kids coming out of candy stores with large bags of bulk candy, just stuffing their faces really fast and not even paying attention to what they're eating. It sort of reminds me of people with addictions, ya know?

And the worst is when I hear kids at restaurants say they don't want to eat meat and their parents say they have to because it's so healthy. Lordy. Or when people in conversations with me say their kids don't want to eat meat, but they force them to.

[Maggie]

What irritates me to no end is the fact that Little Debbies are cheaper than strawberries. One of these days, the cost of food will reflect its true cost, in terms of the environment and human health. I just hope I'm around to see it!
Peace,
Maggie

[sophie]

My friend was the chef at a vegetarian restaurant, she said one night a mother and her little boy, about 4, came to the restaurant for the boy's birthday dinner. My friend heard the little boy ask his mother suspiciously "mum, is this REALLY MacDonalds?"
! Sorry that's a bit off topic, but a funny little story I think!

[Erin Pavlina]

Sophie: Yeah, that's cute!

Maggie: I totally agree. The school lunch program is a good example of what you're talking about. It costs 81 cents to put a veggie burger on a bun, and only a third of that to put a beef burger on a bun.

[Blinky]

Of course we all know that it would really cost MUCH less to make a veggie burger . It's just the law of supply and demand that causes the price to be higher. Since the veggie burger companies need to make money like everyone else, they need to charge a bit more to make up for the fact that as not as many people are buying them as compared to hamburgers. That's such a shame! I would love to open up a competitor chain to McDonalds and Buger king that sold veggie burgers, oven fries baked in a bit of olive oil, and any flavor smoothie you wanted! Yum!

[Erin Pavlina]

Yeah, the idea of opening up an all-vegan fast food restaurant is so appealing to me. I'd serve burgers, shakes, and fries, sandwiches, soups, salads, maybe some breaded zucchini with vegan ranch dressing. Tacos. Burritos. Tostadas!!

But there wouldn't be enough demand to make a profit. Not yet. But in the next decade, I think someone will do it.

[sophie]

Our only vegan-friendly (50% vegan, it had several vegie-burger options, baked fries, vegan lasagne, soy and fruit icecreams) fast food place has closed down after only a year in business!
My son cried when I told him:(

[Erin Pavlina]

Yeah, the economics just aren't there yet. Online companies who sell world wide don't even have enough business to make it very often. What chance does a local eatery have?

We've got to reach critical mass. Then we'll really be rocking.

[yemenmocha]

It has to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian place to be successful first. According to some recent polls posted on CNN, vegetarians are only about 3% of the US population. I'm sure the vegan numbers are much smaller but I don't have that data offhand.

The restaurant would have to be appealing to omnivores also if it is to stay in business. Perhaps a vegetarian place that is very friendly to vegan versions of all the dishes would be ideal.

This fast food restaurant idea can't be undervalued in my opinion because it is a realistic way of changing habits of larger numbers of people. To open people's minds to eating a diet for ethical reasons it certainly helps to lessen the obstacles of meat-eating habits first.

[sophie]

When my sister, who is vegan, was in England, she discovered
a fast food chain called, oh no, now the name has escaped me, but it's "V" something. Anyway, it was either totally vegan or nearly, and heaps of different kinds of burgers etc, just like a vegan MacDonalds, but without the nasty associations. Apparently it's doing well, and I WISH we had one here in New Zealand!

[Erin Pavlina]

Sophie, it's called V-1. We interviewed the owner a year or two ago. Here's the link to the interview:

http://www.vegfamily.com/interviews/v1.htm

[Tori'sMom]

That's sooo--- sad.... Garbage over the good stuff.... I'm feeling lucky my dd asks for strawberries.... We regularly DON'"T purchae that type of garbage... I hope the mother learns how to feed her children better...

[capersmama]

It is sooo sad to see parents practically force that crappy fast food down their childrens throats out of "convenience". UUGGHH!
I have a neice who rarely eats a homemade meal..Her mom works a lot..and well..the dad and step dad ..well..<sigh> are not any help. What aggrivates me is that my MIL thinks its fine for her granddaughter to "junk out".."atleast she is eating" but thinks Im abusing my kids by not letting them eat that crap! Go Figure!!! :-/ My kids eat homemade nutricious meals..yet she sees it as neglectful to not let them go to fast food medical experiments (lol)..I cant help but think the medical community has $$ invested in the fast food community..lol...future patients with $$ tests and proceedures ya know..lol makes ya think..<sigh>
Im through griping! rofl
Alice

http://creationsbyalice.tripod.com

[chelle]

funny little story about unaware parents and the food they feed-

i work in a grocery store, and we sell all kinds of low carb crap candy by the front counter, including jelly beans, chocolate covered almonds, etc. anyways, they all contain sugar substitutes and are infamous for going right through you, if you catch my drift.
anyways, parents come through line, and kids beg for it, and they open it up and give it to them without even reading the label! i sometimes give them the hint, but it says on the back "may have a laxative effect", if they bothered to check. i bet theyre sorry by the time they get home.