Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-07-01 / 7. szám
and wish her the best for her 50th birthday. His reaction: "My God, she's that old and still alive!" I remember from my own youth that, even when I was in my 20s, people in their 50s were considered old; there were such comments as, "Boy, she's 40 and still dances" or, "By golly, this guy is 45 and still chasing women." Government figures tell us we are living much longer on an average than our forebears. And we can see for ourselves that average Americans not only live longer but are taller and stronger than their grandparents were. American Army history buffs will recall that if you were 6 feet or taller in 1917, you couldn't volunteer for military service because it was not economically feasible to supply uniforms to fit the few giants at the time. On the other hand, in the Second World War, our Commander-in-Chief at the end of the war, President Harry Truman, couldn't have become a GI; he was too short for the Army in the 1940s. So was Sergeant York, a hero of the first World War, who was an inch below the required height in the '40s. (If you relied on the movie version of Sergeant York, played by Gary Copper who was over 6 feet tall, you perhaps never thought of this.) It may just be hearsay, but I heard some basketball fans talking about a change in the regulations that will raise the baskets a couple of inches because of the average height of today's young athletes. If we really eat so un-nutritionally as a nation, if our diet is so bad, especially if we are poor, how come that in all these reports we don't detect anything to buzz the alarm that we are going in the wrong direction? In the Wall Street Journal article, "The Poor Suffer from Eating Badly," there's a grocery list of purchases by the poor, a showing that the poor eat a lot of hominy grits, dried beans, instant coffee, and canned meat such as Spam. Apparently, those who compiled the list found fault with such foods, as well as with refrigerated pizza and ramen noodles, and even canned spinach. And look at the foods of the affluent: To sustain themselves, the list includes Melba toast and bread sticks, frozen green beans, imported cheese, fresh mushrooms, and fresh cranberries. Looking for my personal favorites on the two grocery lists, I was relieved that I couldn't find my kind of food on either one. Cottage cheese, zucchini, cauliflower, pork chops and chicken are absent from both. Even yogurt would be missing if it didn't appear on the affluent list in frozen form. What I am really waiting for is some positive advice for the poor; a sensible, down-to-earth cooking school, starting at the pre-school, kindergarten, or grade school level, which, instead of scaring people away from food, would give advice in an affordable, positive way on what and how to eat well if you are poor. Some years ago, despite various objections, we started nationwide sex education programs because members of certain age groups needed it. I think food appreciation, and food enjoyment education should become a national priority for the '90s. After all, unlike sexual activities, the intake of food, the maintenance of the self, the growth of the body, are necessary to the life of every individual, affluent or destitute. And instead of harping on it to grown-ups, after they7ve already adopted certain food habits for decades, it would be beneficial to teach children how they can enjoy a fresh apple, a crunchy carrot, or a slice of bread, freshly baked, with wholesome grains milled to provide the body not only roughage but with nutrition and the joy that is missing in what American kids of today must accept as their daily bread. Tall order? It needs guts and brains, and it needs the cooperation of American agriculture, education, health organizations and health authorities. Food education should stop being the frightening, scary Gestapo of nutrition. It should become the cheerful and useful guiding light to good eating and longer life. JULY 1991 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 37
