I want to
begin by thanking Bob Massave, President of Fresh Point Atlanta, for allowing
me the opportunity to be the Fresh Point Atlanta blogger. I am excited to start this journey with
everyone, and I can’t wait to see the positive impact this blog will have on
the company and employees.
I was
born in the late 80’s, but I spent the majority of my childhood in the
90’s. I had a typical childhood (or what
I assume is typical) spending my summers playing outside with whatever could be
found and make-believed into a toy. We
had a small corner area in our backyard that I would drag folding chairs to,
and in my mind, it would instantly be transformed into a house for my dolls and
myself. The only time I remember
spending my day inside during the summer is when it rained. Rainy days would be filled with hours of
playing barbies, board games, listening to records (yes, I mean real actual
records), etc. Sitting in front of the
tv for hours on end was not an option.
During the school year, I spent 3
nights a week at gymnastics, and I played outside until dinner and sometimes
after on my nights off from sports. My
brother and I were outside as much as possible.
I would ride my bike all over the neighborhood to meet up with
friends. We eventually got a trampoline
and a wooden swing set in the backyard that had a clubhouse. When I look back on my childhood, I always
remember it being fun. I don’t ever
remember feeling forced to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.
In retrospect, my parents were
doing everything right with regards to our exercise, but not when it came to
our food. Growing up, I really never
remember hearing the word organic ever come up in conversation. My parents made sure we sat down together for
dinner every night without a tv or any distractions keeping us from having
conversations as a family. Looking back,
I can see how difficult it must have been to make that happen every night, but
they did it. My mom made us home cooked
meals, or what Sandra Lee would ultimately become famous for referring to as
semi-homemade. Most of the vegetables
came from cans as did the salmon for the salmon patties (my least favorite meal
and I’m sure you can now see why that would be). We ate frozen fish sticks (the research I’ve
seen about what these are actually made of makes me want to erase ever eating
these from my mind entirely). My mom
would try to get some fresh things on the table like broccoli, but the point
was moot seeing as how it was drenched in cheese sauce for my family to
consider it edible.
The worst part is that I ended up
becoming an extremely picky eater, and I would make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
to substitute any meal I didn’t like that my parents made. I ate so much Macaroni and Cheese growing up
that my grandfather used to say I was going to turn into a macaroni
noodle. I am happy to say that over the
past 6 years that I’ve known my husband, I have done a complete 180, and I now
eat more kinds of foods than he does. My
palette has changed so much that I can’t understand why I thought macaroni and
cheese from a box with powdered cheese was the best thing since sliced
bread. I think my palette had been so
worn down from processed food that I had no idea what food was actually
supposed to taste like.
Over the years, I have seen a weird
shift between children and health and wellness.
Where we were constantly outside playing, I see that most children sit
inside watching tv, playing video games, on the computer, etc. That’s not to say that children don’t play
sports or do anything outside, but it seems like they feel forced to be outside
where we felt happy and lucky to be able to play outside. I have seen some parents really step up and
try to use more fresh ingredients instead of always buying pre made processed
food, but most children that I come in contact with on a daily basis survive
off of fast food or pre-made freezer meals.
It appears we have given up the push for kids to play outside, but we
haven’t balanced it with a good diet of nutritious fresh food. It’s no wonder that so many children are in
bad health and overweight. The ones who
are athletic probably would be in the same boat if they didn’t have sports to
burn off all of their calories.
I understand the struggles and
impossibilities facing you when it comes to eating healthy and figuring out
what to feed your family. I have had to
relearn how to eat correctly for my body.
My metabolism slowed down, and I started realizing that I could no
longer eat whatever I wanted without worrying about it. It was time for a change. I want to help you navigate this unfamiliar
territory by letting you in on things I’ve learned and tips I’ve picked up
along the way. I want to know your
struggles, questions, triumphs, and concerns because we more than likely have
similar ones. You are always more than
welcome to leave a comment on here or send me an e-mail. I will always be available to listen and help
however I can.
To start this off right, Gus and I
have put together a little contest for all of the wonderful Fresh Point Atlanta
employees. The instructions are very
simple and you can do as little or as much as you like. Each thing you do will give you one entry into
the contest. The entries can be earned
as follows: 1. Comment below with your first name and initial of last name, so
that we know who you are. We need you to
comment in a way that tells us you read this blog post and choose your favorite
name for the blog. The choices are 1.
The Fresh Point, Atlanta, 2. Fresh Point Produce, Atlanta, and 3. Atlanta Fresh
Point 2. Comment by submitting your favorite healthy recipe. 3.
Comment and tell us how you’ve been using healthy and fresh ingredients to feed
your family and/ or yourself. 4. Comment with some memories of your
own childhood, did you play a lot outside, did you eat dinner as a family, was
dinner homemade, etc. The contest will
close November 1st at midnight, and the winner will be announced November 4th. Everyone is probably wondering what prize we
could have that would make you want to enter this contest as many times as
possible. The winner will receive an
extra day of paid vacation!! Make sure to get your entries in because
no one wants to miss out on that! Check
back with us regularly for more contests and tips.
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