America:
Child Abuse By Proxy
A case against the common practice of clearing your plate.

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Many people may consider it to be acceptable to force your child to finish their food during each meal of the day. And many who practice this are simply repeating the reasonable methods by which they themselves were raised. But, if you will consider the ensuing logical argument against this practice, you may want to reconsider enforcing it.

Generally, forcing your child to eat everything on their plate is a practice born in poverty. A few short generations ago, many people had precious little to go around. Having enough to eat was in it self a luxury. The common practice was to save and reuse everything right down to your tin foil. It was during hard times that people truly are thankful for what they have. And it was during hard times that the practice of eating what you were given (cleaning your plate) was instilled.

The days when Mom spent the day minding the home are pretty much gone as society has been whipped into a frenzy chasing after the dollar to make ends meet (at least that is the line were fed), while leaving their children unattended to be raised outside of the home. (But this element is more inclined to the topic of “moral decay” and will be revisited at a later time of the author’s choosing.)

Q: Why would it be wrong to apply this “finish your plate” thinking to our current generation?

A: One factor that is easily agreed with is that there is readily more food available to American families now than when this practice was introduced. So one could easily argue that with more food available more often, following this practice will likely lead to an increase in childhood and lifetime obesity. This theory is easily supported by yet another common factor of this age; that being the lack of participation in out door recreation and activities that were common components in the daily pursuits of our grandparents.

Additionally, the quality of food during the early 19th century was infinitely better than the current markets yield for our everyday consumption. Farming was a purer industry during that earlier time period. Current methods of food production involve greater yields but sacrifice over all quality. You no longer get the same nutrients that you would get with organically grown produce. And like wise, factory farming of livestock results in faster turn around times from birth to slaughter and improved total yields in meat. But, quality is sacrificed by use of drugs and antibiotics not to mention force feeding of grain based feeds rather than the animals’ natural dietary requirements of grass and hay. It stands to reason if the food contains less of what our bodies need to thrive, that we may be inherently driven to consume larger diets in search of the missing nutrients.

Even if you don’t wish to blame obesity on the poor regulation of our food supply and the explosion of sedentary lifestyles, you can still examine this behavior from yet a third perspective.

Businesses are “in business” to make money. That is the sole purpose of their existence. That being said, it painfully comes to light that in the pursuit of business that there has indeed been extreme compromise in public safety, and public health. As one may stand to reason it is currently a common practice to achieve a competitive edge by any means possible regardless of the industry. This is often achieved by the early introduction of product brands to our children. Current methods extend far beyond billboards and magazine ads. There are placements in cartoons and throughout television programming, over the radio, and built into video & online games. Some games are even designed around a product. Studies are conducted on every facet of consumers’ choices, right down to 6 years of age.

Worst of all, false truths are ingrained in our lives from a very early age about many things, just for the purpose of gaining life long consumers. For instance it is commonly accepted by most people that Tylenol is “needed” for a fever. Or that bacon “is” a breakfast food. How about: vaccinations being mandatory to attend public school. Or even better; that all vaccinations are necessary and harmless. These ideations are mere marketing techniques that have been accepted as common knowledge facts, however they are gross misconceptions that have been so well woven into the fabric of our daily lives that we do not question them any longer.

Apply this perverse pursuit of our consumer choices in the foods we choose to eat and it is easy to see how poorly our interests are being looked after. Chemicals are purposely placed in our foods to cause us to consume larger quantities.

Many people have heard of MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate) but few recognize what this food additive is doing to them. Not only are they using chemicals to try to addict us to their food products they are also using chemicals to turn off or change our bodies abilities to taste. Imagine the savings in various lines of food production if they could put a chemical in the food that turn off your ability to taste bitterness? They would save a bundle as the food would require less sugar or sweeteners to produce and we wouldn’t notice anything different. On top of that they could then advertise that it is healthier for you because it contains less sugar.

There are many things in this article that you could spend hours researching and I encourage you to do so. But, to return to the point and focus, please consider how un-natural it is to regiment your child to eat at highly specific times regardless of their hunger, and to force your child to consume quantities of food measured by the size of their plate. Lastly consider that your child will become accustomed to earning your praise by clearing their plate, and once trained by the positive emotional response it will be hardwired for a lifetime. It is nearly impossible for a child to remain in fit physical condition with the lack of outdoor activities and the practice of eating without hunger and clearing their plate for praise.

The following video can be applied to nearly all things we are shown on television and radio. I invite you to take a hard look at how the media tries to control our choices. Click Here to enjoy this short informative video.

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