Today is one of
those days where I wish the morning would never go away. I think it’s one of
the little pleasures in life people tend to take for granted. I really wanted
to do nothing this morning but for some reason a good ole breakfast seemed to
get me out of that funk. My craving this morning consisted of pancakes, crispy
apple smoked bacon, coffee and a juice concoction created by Jeff.
As this bountiful
feast was being prepared, I listed to a podcast from Stuff You Should Know. My
old roommate from Asheville got me hooked onto these intriguing on-air shows. Within the Stuff You Should Know podcasts,
there’s also Stuff Mom Never Told You (Ashley’s favorite) and Stuff You Missed
in History Class. Today’s selected show was Should
there be a Fat Tax? Given the field that Jeff and I are in (dietetics) this
was somewhat beneficial for us to tone into. Given it was difficult to fully
listen in with the pancakes smoking on the griddle and the sound of Jeff’s
juicer, we still caught some interesting tid bits. For example, did you know
that in recent surveys young people are more willing to have foods higher in
saturated fats taxed in comparison to the older population which are less
favorable in having these certain foods taxed? Oxford researchers have also come to the
conclusion that a “17.5% Value Added Tax on unhealthy food could save up to
3,200 lives a year” (Silverman, 2012). You can either go on itunes to hear the
whole podcast or http://www.howstuffworks.com/fat-tax1.htm
for more information.
This brings up
an interesting debate/conversation, should we increase the cost of certain
fatty foods in hopes of a decline in mortality rates? The first thing I could
feel many people saying would be “we have the right to choose which foods we
eat.” This is very true. We do have the free will to select whichever foods we
choose. Yet, I see it this way, the incidence of disease and various health
implications, have escalated dramatically in the past 20 years or so. At this rate I would assume that these numbers
have the possibility of increasing.
During my internship with both WIC and the VA hospital, I counseled many
people who fell under two categories. There were those who wanted to change and
were making lifestyle changes to do so, then I saw those who would twist my
words around or frankly didn’t give a damn but still showed up to meetings
because family encouraged them to do so.
The problem that I would hear most often, it’s easier and cheaper to eat
junk food and get fast food than it is to eat fresh produce or cook meals at
home. So my thought is this, if these fatty food prices did increase would dietitians
and medical staff see different results in terms of weight and lipid values or
would the habit still be too difficult to break?
I told Jeff that
one day I might want to consider teaching at the university level. This would
be a very interesting homework, short essay or classroom discussion topic for
students to voice their opinions and see where their minds go.
In other news, I
have one week until I take the RD exam. Eeeeekkkk!! Ok rule one: don’t stress,
it’s just a test. It’s just a test. Ughhhh. I don’t feel as though my anxiety
is as bad as it was a few weeks ago yet for the most part I feel tired from studying
this material. Everyone who has taken it says it is really hard. Well at least
I know that going in. I will just keep
studying for now and see what happens.
I have also been
procrastinating on another project. One of Jeff’s friends, who develops web-sites,
and I have been discussing the idea of setting up an on-line portfolio of my
projects from the internship. I’ve created an outline I just need to finish
that and get some work samples for the project. I keep forgetting this so
hopefully tomorrow I can send the information out for him to give me a quote! I
had heard of this idea during my internship but never really thought more of
it. At least not until I stumbled upon a blog from a dietetic intern from
Maryland called Mission Dietitian.
Her blog includes her portfolio as well
as her resume. Such an awesome idea and cute layout. I can’t wait to get this
project up and going!
Well I need to
get myself together for work tonight!
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