Ultra-processed foods and the burden on women

[Shedbuilder]

I've had two conversations this weekend with people who saw a BBC documentary on the dangers of ultra-processed foods. Both of them are mothers, both say that as far as they can see, the only way to avoid UPFs is to cook everything from scratch. Both of them are very food-aware anyway but both also work full-time. They talked about how they're going to have to be even more organised than normal, invest in an extra freezer to take even more batch-cooked meals etc. The stress in the air was palpable.

I know some men cook for the family but isn't this yet another burden that's going to be loaded mainly onto women?

My DH and I have a similar disagreement/conversation.
He is ‘bothered’ about the children’s diet. I cook from scratch 3/4 times a week.

He too should cook 3/4 times a week. simple.

This programme could be the catalyst he needs for action.

My DH and I have a similar disagreement/conversation.
He is ‘bothered’ about the children’s diet. I cook from scratch 3/4 times a week.

So HE'S THE REASON they eat pizza, fish fingers and shop bought carbonara 3 times a week. He too should cook 3/4 times a week. simple. Ball's in his court.

Not seen the documentary but this isn't new news... haven't we known for ages processed foods are really bad for us??

UPFs are also engineered to be addictive through balancing sugar, salt and fat content. So honestly, the fault lies with the companies producing them, not buyers and especially not the female ones. So I think they should simply be banned outright. Because so long as they make them, people will buy them.

There is also a misconception that “cooking from scratch” is difficult and time consuming when it really isn’t. Most meals DH and I can put together in 30mins or less and we have always cooked from scratch. I’m trying to say this to encourage people to start learning to cook. It’s not meant as a brag, anyone can cook. Once you get upskilled in it, it is not too hard to work FT and cook. Parents did it for generations before UPFs were available and often their work hours were far more than our 36-40hrs/week we work now.

On a side note, not all disposable sanitary products use plastic- Natracare is one brand of pads that do not use plastic. Their tampons are also unbleached 100% sustainable cotton that is fully biodegradable as well. You don’t have to use a mooncup or period pants or reusable pads to be environmentally friendly.

Yes DH and I watched this. I agree with PP who said upthread that in general men just don't worry about whether they're doing 'good enough' at any aspect of parenting really in the way that in general women seem to. Certainly myself and a lot of the other mums I know seem to be frequently berating ourselves, second guessing our decisions, feeling that we aren't doing well enough for our kids etc. DH is a great dad and he just doesn't worry the way I do - food is a good example, I give my DD's diet a LOT of headspace because she's a terrible eater. She's nearly 3 and will frequently refuse evening meals in particular without trying and she no longer eats a shedload of things she once did (e.g. various soups, lasagne, peas, sweetcorn...). She seems to get worse the older she gets, so I'm always worrying about it and what I feed her. DH otoh just doesn't, he will get frustrated at her lack of eating but doesn't blame himself for that in any way and doesn't think it's at all a big deal that she only ate chips for three dinners in a row (which I am mortified about and feel terrible about!).

Also in our house although DH is slowly starting to contribute more with the cooking, which is good, the mental load part of our diets still falls almost entirely to me. It's me who does almost all the food shopping, all the (limited) meal planning, deciding what we will eat each day etc. I do work less hours than him and am also at home a lot more than him (WFH) but I do feel he could still do more with that stuff. He is slowly improving though thankfully as we have our second child due in the autumn and there's only so much headspace I have.

UPFs have been around for decades, and I think is one reason why life expectancy in the US is years shorter than in Europe. It was shocking living there for a few years just how hard it was to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat. These were only on outer fringes of the grocery supermarket and often in poor/unfresh condition. 95% of the shop was row on row of shelves stacked high with UPFs which are made to be addictive and laden with preservatives to have the longest shelf life possible. Even their bakery was just UPFs bought in from a factory with ingredients lists long as your arm for just a baguette! Which should be simply flour, yeast, salt. No. In USA it’s a list of some fifteen chemicals and mysterious things like “dough conditioner”, plus the ever present “high fructose corn syrup” on top of the three real ingredients that are all you need.

in general men just don't worry about whether they're doing 'good enough' at any aspect of parenting really in the way that in general women seem to

I agree with this also but I think it is sign of the times we live in where men are socially expected to do a bit more than their fathers did (so any extra makes them feel they are great dads), while we women are being socially expected to let go and do less than our mothers did BUT to choose wisely because if we choose wrong things, it is always the mother’s fault if our children are spoiled or go off track in life (apparently, society says, not my opinion personally).

@PlanDeRaccordement

UPFs are also engineered to be addictive through balancing sugar, salt and fat content. So honestly, the fault lies with the companies producing them, not buyers and especially not the female ones. So I think they should simply be banned outright. Because so long as they make them, people will buy them.

There is also a misconception that “cooking from scratch” is difficult and time consuming when it really isn’t. Most meals DH and I can put together in 30mins or less and we have always cooked from scratch. I’m trying to say this to encourage people to start learning to cook. It’s not meant as a brag, anyone can cook. Once you get upskilled in it, it is not too hard to work FT and cook. Parents did it for generations before UPFs were available and often their work hours were far more than our 36-40hrs/week we work now.

On a side note, not all disposable sanitary products use plastic- Natracare is one brand of pads that do not use plastic. Their tampons are also unbleached 100% sustainable cotton that is fully biodegradable as well. You don’t have to use a mooncup or period pants or reusable pads to be environmentally friendly.

One of the things that I think has changed in term of expectations is people feel they need to cook interesting and different things all the time, and after school/work activities.

@PP2021

That we are even talking about it, even allowing it headspace?

What are you trying to stop? Death? Disease? You will die anyway. So will your children.

Just stop. Someone somewhere has decided this is the new stick to beat you with. Enjoy the time you have. Men do.

It causes ill health and depression

@thelegohooverer

There’s a definite historical pattern whereby every advance that eases women’s domestic labour is replaced by a societal expectation that increases it.

An example I heard recently was that when the egg beater became a widely available and affordable domestic item around the 1860s, Angel food cake (which needs twice as much egg beating as normal cake) rose in popularity. It’s a trite example but it happens over and over.

In our generation the expectations of time and effort for good parenting have risen massively compared to the last. And in my grandmothers day helping with homework or crossing the school threshold was called interference. Until women started working outside the home and suddenly there’s huge pressure to help with schoolwork and volunteer to listen to reading.

It’s always compelling - educational attainment, breast feeding, environmentalism, food quality ... but the underlying message always seems to be back to the house with you

Great post 100% agree.

I’m not watching much terrestrial TV these days so this UPF thing has completely passed me by and, to be quite frank, I’m OK with that. This sounds like yet another thing to fret about and feel guilty about. I’m not even going to google it. It’s getting like the Daily Mail, where everything gives you cancer. Our parents never had this constant emotional labour and angst heaped on them.

Good point

How is being vegetarian feminist??
I'm not the poster in question but I presume this is something to do with the shared symbolism between the porn industry and the meat industry?

It's a shame this sort of goes into who cooks what/ right wrong/ read the labels etc etc.

The whole from scratch thing is a massive sort of. Thing here. Not just about the food but it's wrapped up with all this other stuff. Ideas about doing things properly, caring, making an effort, happy families eating together, mum dishing up... A load of stuff like that.

I had my eyes opened when I went to a country miles away.

People generally way more slim etc.

Very little cooking at home.

Loads of cheap street food- breakfast lunch dinner all bought.

A friend who had moved there said that due to space many homes didn't have ovens etc.

I was

And I realised that all of this from scratch home cooking etc etc is a cultural thing.

It's not good/ bad.

It's a load of stuff about history and values etc.

Our takeaway stuff is pretty crap. But that's a symptom iyswim.

Anyway opened my eyes!

@QioiioiioQ

How is being vegetarian feminist?? I'm not the poster in question but I presume this is something to do with the shared symbolism between the porn industry and the meat industry?

Not RTFT but saw this.

The treatment of female animals- artificial insemination, taking babies away, milking, laying eggs etc etc that sort of thing.

Their biology around reproduction is exploited.

Whether you agree or not, that would be my answer to the question.

Meanwhile our schools can serve up processed frozen pizzini and smiley faces and call it a nutritious meal, under the guise of covid.

If society wants better then it costs money. Is the bottom line.

It's not a priority for society> it's not something the government will spend more tax money on.

So it all comes back to us as a country tbh and what we value.

@PlanDeRaccordement

UPFs have been around for decades, and I think is one reason why life expectancy in the US is years shorter than in Europe. It was shocking living there for a few years just how hard it was to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat. These were only on outer fringes of the grocery supermarket and often in poor/unfresh condition. 95% of the shop was row on row of shelves stacked high with UPFs which are made to be addictive and laden with preservatives to have the longest shelf life possible. Even their bakery was just UPFs bought in from a factory with ingredients lists long as your arm for just a baguette! Which should be simply flour, yeast, salt. No. In USA it’s a list of some fifteen chemicals and mysterious things like “dough conditioner”, plus the ever present “high fructose corn syrup” on top of the three real ingredients that are all you need.

I agree. The majority of food sold in US supermarkets is truly shocking. The ingredients in like for like food found in the UK are also eye watering.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/foodbabe.com/food-in-america-compared-to-the-u-k-why-is-it-so-different/amp/

I also agree with the comment above about food companies investing a lot of money and time making consumers believe that it's normal and acceptable to eat UPF.

My DC have SEN and have always caused us headaches regarding eating because of their sensory issues. I say we, but it's mostly me. Breastfeeding issues. Weaning. School dinners. Play dates. Parties. Day to day meals. Years of stress around it. It's endless. It still gets to me sometimes.

I "cook" convenience food because it is what they eat but I am lucky enough to afford the best quality convenience food and can bypass a lot of the UPF. There are plenty of other families who aren't as lucky as me. It's hard if you have children with sensory issues and/or food aversions.

@NiceGerbil

If society wants better then it costs money. Is the bottom line.

It's not a priority for society> it's not something the government will spend more tax money on.

So it all comes back to us as a country tbh and what we value.

It's two fold. Consumer demand and government influence. Food companies are remarkably able at adapting their ingredients when pressure is put on them, especially if they can make more money.

Co-op chips shop.coop.co.uk/product/6d8b3b5c-383e-4ca2-aa29-bb2562418f52
would be processed food rather than UPF.

Yy

The govt folds to the food lobby over and over

So many examples.

It's all about money in the end.

Certain parts of the food industry remind me of the tobacco companies in the 50s 60d 70s etc.

It used to be pretty common in cities in Europe for people to do very little cooking at home too, at least the poor, a lot came from shops and bakeries and such. And for a long time, when you had large manors or castles or households, even factories, most workers didn't eat privately. There were communal kitchens.

However - generally they were cooking real food. For most of us now the options tend to be cook at home or resort to highly processed stuff, unless we are rich.

I long for a work canteen where i could eat a decent lunch, and then have a lighter meal in the evening.
I did work in an office next door to a university canteen for a short period. Bliss. Scrambled eggs for tea.

Now the only food shop near my office is a greggs and a chippy. And microwave has not yet been reinstated after the covid risk assessment.
I’m starving when i get in (don’t get chips)