Let's Advocate for Eating a Balanced Diet

Katy Perry struggles to stay vegetarian

By Vicky Allison Aug 22, 2011, 12:40 GMT

Pop star Katy Perry is finding it hard to stick to her pledge to stay vegetarian and has been secretly eating chicken and turkey, according to a friend.

The 26-year-old, who is currently on the US leg of her California Dreams tour, has failed her challenge to go vegetarian like husband Russell Brand.

British funnyman Brand, 36, was crowned sexiest vegetarian last year by PETA, but the Teenage Dream hitmaker likes meat too much to stick to his diet.

A source told British newspaper the Daily Mail: 'Russell has been a veggie for 22 years, but Katy adores meat.

'She did give it up for a while for Russell's sake but is finding it a struggle.'  Link

I will be excited for the day when we stop seeing celebrities urging people to be on this fad diet or that one.  We should all be able to agree that eating a well balanced diet that includes eating meat and dairy products is still the best bet.  Especially for children, we should never be advocating they eat an unbalanced diet even for a single day.  We continue to see people that struggle with their diet and health.  Regular exercise and a balanced diet would eliminate many of the problems that are occurring.  

Eating Local Not Always Healthy

MIT: Eating Local Food Is the Key to Solving Our Obesity Epidemic
Posted by Tara Lohan at 7:45 AM on November 11, 2009.
Alternet.org

Sometimes it takes more than Michael Pollan to get through to people. New research from MIT about how locally grown foods can reduce our obesity problem is welcome news. Right now Americans are getting bigger and bigger -- between 1980 and 2006 obesity among teenagers grew from 5 to 18 percent; and 7 to 17 percent for pre-teens. These gains are contributing more to the onset of diseases like type 2 diabetes, strokes and heart problems, writes Peter Dizikes of MIT News Office.

A group of MIT researchers found that what's driving our obesity epidemic is "our national-scale system of food production and distribution, which surrounds children -- especially lower-income children -- with high-calorie products." Precisely what folks in the pro-food/local foods movement have been saying for years. And it makes sense considering the shocking figure that 90 percent of American food is processed according to the USDA, Dizikes highlights.

Thankfully the researchers didn't just stop at pointing out the obvious, they offered a solution:

America should increase its regional food consumption. Each metropolitan area, the researchers say, should obtain most of its nutrition from its own "foodshed," a term akin to "watershed" meaning the area that naturally supplies its kitchens. Moreover, in a novel suggestion, the MIT and Columbia team says these local efforts should form a larger "Integrated Regional Foodshed" system, intended to lower the price and caloric content of food by lowering distances food must travel, from the farm to the dinner table. Read More

I think there are many people out there, including Michael Pollan, that think every “foodshed” can produce enough food and a variety of foods for the people that live there. But what this article advocates would translate into my family living on a mostly all beef diet. As much as I love eating beef, I don’t want it to be the only thing I eat at every meal. I want my children to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which won’t grow in our climate and soil. To advocate for eating a local-only diet is to advocate for some people to eat an unbalanced, unhealthy diet.

PETA Exploiting A Child

PETA: Feeding Kids Meat Is Child Abuse
Group Plans Billboard In Light Of 555-Pound Teen

Jennifer Phillips reporting
POSTED: 11:27 am EDT July 1, 2009
UPDATED: 11:48 am EDT July 1, 2009

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- An animal rights group is planning to post a billboard in the Greenville area that calls feeding meat to children abuse in light of recent news stories about a 555-pound South Carolina teenager.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals want to put up the billboard that features a picture of an overweight boy who is about to eat a hamburger with the tagline “Feeding kids meat is child abuse.”

The billboard also directs readers to the Web site goveg.com.

PETA campaign manager Lindsay Rajt said the group got the idea after hearing about Jerri Gray and her 14-year-old son Alexander Draper, who weighs 555 pounds.

Gray garnered national attention when deputies said she skipped town with her son after she learned the Department of Social Services was planning to remove him from her home.

An Upstate personal trainer said the billboard is exploiting the teen’s condition.

“There are a lot of average sized or small children who eat two or three hamburgers a week and they’re not having issues,” said personal trainer Cathy Frohnheiser. “Taking one heavy child and 'let’s exploit that' is really not the approach they need to be taking.” Read More

It would seem obvious to most reasonable people that this teenager’s weight problem was caused by more than what he was eating. This child is obviously battling some serious issues that will affect the rest of his life and it’s sad that PETA feels the need to contribute to this boy’s problems. A balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products, coupled with regular exercise will always be the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. This is a truly shameful action on PETA’s part.