Unfit To Serve...Mission Report states 75% of 17-24 yr olds too fat to join military

[javismom]

This article really caught my eye this morning in the newspaper. My son struggled to lose 20 pounds in the last couple of months to be able to join the Navy. Over the weekend I read about a boy in a nearby town that died one year ago trying to lose 14lbs in one week in order to make the required weight to join the Marines. The article says this can be a potential threat to our nation's future national security with so many young people not meeting the requirements to serve our country. Mission: Readiness | Military Leaders for Kids released a report yesterday on their findings. I didn't know that the military has to pay into the millions to train replacements for those discharged for weight problems. Retired officers are advocating better, healthier school lunches to help cope with this problem. The article also mentions that the last time the military got involved in school lunches was after WWII when they had the opposite problem of today. Back then many recruits were unable to join because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. Congress was pushed to create a national school lunch program to encourage healthier children. I thought this was real interesting.

 Read article http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100420/A_NEWS...

Link to Mission: Readiness report and video  www.missionreadiness.org

[javismom]

Ha, ha, I think you and my husband may have gone to the same school! Only his side of the street had snow! : ) Yes, we strategically bought our house half a block from the high school and so Javi had to walk and so does my daughter. Only this year she got herself a ride from home to school (practically across the street!).

[javismom]

Isn't this funny, as of yesterday, they found E-coli in our water so I think Earth Day went to the plastic drinking bottles today. That and I got up all ready to go organic and go buy all my fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market and low and behold! It's holding it's opening day until next month!! You'd think today, Earth Day, would have been a good kick-off day! Yesterday I watched "Food Inc" (I highly recommend you watch this, if only to know where our food comes from) on a public channel and I was truly ready to change my life today. The whole farmer's market thing kinda took the wind out of my sales........but there's still hope---- Trader Joe's!

[kk]

Well happy Mother Earth Day! I have always grown veggies. Can um for the winter, make spag sauce out of em. I was brought up that way. We canned everything, froze everything, grew everything. I still think that home grown fruits and veggies are the best for you, because they grow in real soil with real vitamins and minerals in it. They grow with em so I figure I get the same vitamins and minerals when I eat em. There are those raised gardens, easy to make just build a square out of wood, fill it with dirt, you could even go to a horse farm, usually have good composted manure, fill it with some of that, then grow your own stuff. raised beds are good for small areas. If you have the land, you could just dig up a small plot, expand each year if you want. Get weed paper to put down so you do not have to weed all the time and you are good to go. I always use weed paper, cause I work a full time job and I just run out of time to weed. If you are in an apartment just fill some big pots or get the topsy turvy things to set and hang out on your porch. Grow your own, start small so you don't get overwhelmed.

[kk]

Arwen, I lived out in the middle of nowhere. I had a 45 minute bus ride home, so I would often walk, which would take me only 20 or so minutes. I would just go from point A to B, instead of everywhere my bus went. Also I rode my bike or walked everywhere, because my parents could not drive me everywhere. I also think food is much easier to get to these days with all the fast food places, convenience stores, etc. There is one or the other everywhere. Even in my old small town. So food is much more accessible to everybody. And usually the junk food at that.

[javismom]

Sorry if it sounded like I was saying selling candy was breaking laws, I meant that selling ANYTHING (as in candy, food, drugs, etc) that is not allowed and in demand can sometimes fall in that area of right/wrong. Not that it's illegal (well, except the drugs of course). I hope I'm making sense. Ultimately we are talking about good nutrition : )

[javismom]

kk, that is so neat! And it's incredible how tasty (and I mean actually having taste) home grown vegetables taste. One thing that I notice is that food, be it vegetables, fruit, meat, has no real taste. It tastes like no particular thing. I've eaten organic food( I do like to shop at Trader Joe's, or the local, lonely store that sells farm raised chickens, dead of course) and the difference in taste is like day and night. So much so that one day I made a chicken dish with the farm chicken and my daughter pushed it away after biting into it and exclaimed "Ugh! Gross! This tastes like chicken!" That's when I really started looking into organic grown food. The carrots are sweeter, the flavors delicious and the smells! That's what I love the most walking through the farmer's market!

[Fleur de lis Mom]

I love the local farmer's market. It scheduled to be open tomorrow for the first time this spring. It's still early, but they may have some fresh veggies.

[kk]

We have a co op, in our area, that specifically sells home grown to help support our farmers. I buy meat and cheese from it. Beef tastes like beef, elk, like elk, etc. I raise turkey and there is nothing better tasting than a real turkey especially one that eats grass, sunflower seeds, and bugs. Most meats in the grocery store are injected with salt water and other chemicals. I raise chickens too, and the eggs are delicious, much more rich. You have given me a very real insight as to how people eat. This has been a very interesting discussion for me. Thanks.

[kk]

And congratulations about your son and niece! Your pictures show a very happy family. 8-)