Is Junk Food a Custody Issue?

Amy Kuras — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:02:00 GMT

Is feeding your kids white bread, or God forbid high fructose corn syrup, the kind of thing that should lose you custody of your kid in a divorce?

I don't think so -- even though I am a strong believer that most of what is marketed to kids is crap and shoudn't be fed to anyone, ever. But I certainly don't fool myself that the bowl of Pirate's Booty I just handed my daughter to snack on is anything other than fancy Cheetos. If most of what you feed your kids is good, wholesome, real food that bears more resemblance to how it came from the ground or the animal than to a lab-created Frankenfood, a preference for white bread or a daily bowl of Doritos is not that big a deal.

Laura Bennett agrees with me. In this piece from Alternet she recounts running into a mom at her sons' school who was livid with her ex-husband, livid to the point of asking a judge to revisit their custody arrangement, for his wanton disregard for their children's health.

What was the issue, you ask? He had packed them a lunch of sandwiches on white bread, Doritos, and Go-Gurt.

She makes the point, an excellent one, that kids denied sugar or junk food will lose their damn minds when in the presence of it at someone else's house. Which is why we try to make sure no food is labeled bad or off limits, there are just certain things we don't keep in the house. And yes, when we travel there is a frequent stop at McDonald's or M&Ms and Pringles in the car. While I am not alllowing Cool Ranch Doritos within three feet of my front door because ew, they are not actually going to kill anyone. And we all know that forbidden Fruit Rollups taste the sweetest.

Greenhouse: Bottled Water Is Evil (?)

Amy Kuras — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Remember back in the 1980s when suddenly, it seemed, everybody was lugging around a bottle of water ala Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally? Now, you can’t have a meeting, party or soccer game without those little individual bottles of water resting on ice or in the fridge.

But those inviting little bottles of hydration are super bad for the environment, not to mention being economically nsustianable as well. That water (which is usually just tap water, by the by) has to get pumped from somewhere. It's been a big issue here in Michigan, which doesn't have much, but we do have water galore.

There are issues with water depletion (right now, you can't pump large amounts of water out of the Great Lakes, but put that same amount of water in 16 oz bottles and truck it to Arizona and it's fine), the gas used to truck the bottles, and the waste created by all those one- or two-serving containers everywhere.

According to this article on Alternet, tap water has 1/100th of the environmental impact of bottled water. Add to that that it's almost free, readily available, usually delicious (and can be chilled and filtered to taste better) and you can up your green chic quotient considerably by carrying a Sigg or Klean Kanteen versus the BPA-laced Nalgene bottles, and more and more people are starting to go for the tap.

It's not perfect – I have two bottles I rotate and I leave them behind more often than I should, especially since my diaper bag has a big pocket made especially for toting a water bottle. And most plastic commercial bottles are easily recyclable – my gym even has a collection box just for this pruose. If the choice is between, say, bottled water or a pop, go ahead and take the water, I think. Bit if it's between sticking with bottled or taking the extra 5 minutes to wash and fill your own bottles, the choice seems like a no-brainer to me.

Strollerderby : Alternet

Is Junk Food a Custody Issue?

Greenhouse: Bottled Water Is Evil (?)