Example of Excess 3: "Tweens R Shoppers"

First, there's the 04/22/07 New York Times article "Tweens R Shoppers" by Lesley Jane Seymour (appearing in its entirety here).

Then, there are the web responses - which are growing, but not in as great a number to constitute a vocal majority. That the backlash is anything less than in tsunami proportions reveals a lot, as well, doesn't it?

Here are three of those responses:

1. A letter to the NYT editor:

"Oh, please! I was so disgusted by the tone of ''Tweens 'R' Shoppers,'' by Lesley Jane Seymour (April 22), and put off by the photos of these spoiled, super-sophisticated sub-teens. If the majority of children in our country grow up with these values, we're in deep trouble...."

2. The Chicago Foundation for Women provides research to back its position, providing readers with a fact sheet on Materialism and Family Stress by CommercialExploitation.Com:


"What it didn’t say: The story is a commercial for various products that market to tweens. It presents the commercialization of children as an important new trend—going so far as to say shopping offers children a “safe” outlet in these troubling times. No experts are used to talk about research that shows a negative effect between materialism and the development of children. Numerous studies cited by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood say the central premise of marketing—buying things will make us happy—is not true. Actually, research shows the pressure to spend and consume actually makes people less happy. Read a fact sheet on the issue..."

3. Mary Hunt, founder of Debt-Proof Living and nationally-known writer, blogs about her take on the article, cutting to the core:

"Our hopes and dreams for our children are no different today than they were the days they were born. We wanted to raise strong godly men who would be kind, self-sufficient, and generous. And it’s been an uphill battle given our culture that peddles just the opposite: entitlement, greed and self-centeredness....

"By the 19th paragraph I was getting uncomfortable. This can’t be for real. Surely she can’t be condoning such ugly attitudes of entitlement and self-centeredness.

"If Seymour’s goal was to get me to read her column right to the last word, she succeeded. And I arrived with a sick stomach. ..."

Mary Hunt says it well: it is a fight against "entitlement, greed and self-centeredness." I believe this is the same fight that anyone attempting simplification must face, regardless of age.

The same attitude that is discussed in "Tweens R Shoppers" exists in their parents. They just shop at different stores and look for different labels. That's why Lesley Jane Seymour didn't have a different ending to her article. She's proud of her girls' shopping day.

We are in a Culture War in this country, and anytime you choose to be thrify, or to buy organic, or to turn off the television and read a book to your kids, or (gasp!) change careers based upon your value system, you're fighting the good fight.

One of the purposes of this blog is to help you know that you are not alone. Heaven knows, simplifying isn't easy. It is, however, I believe worth all the effort.

Image: David and Goliath (remember, David won)

Food as Medicine: Juicing

Jack LaLanne swears by juicing so much that he's got his own juicer on the market. There's also Jay Kordich aka the Juiceman, who has spent his lifetime promoting juicing of raw fruits and vegetables as a health necessity.

Of course, there are skeptics. They argue things like you get too much sugar, too rapidly, from juicing. They argue that there's a reason to chew, it's healthy to do so. Things like that.

However, juicing proponents are not arguing that juicing should substitute for eating foods (as opposed to drinking them). They are encouraging juicing as an addition to the diet, usually to increase intake of foods otherwise avoided or eaten rarely, or to combat specific maladies. Juicing gets more fruits and vegetables into the daily diet, as well as optimizing certain nutrients that fight against certain maladies (e.g., cabbage helps heal ulcers in part due to its high percentage of vitamin U).

At HPS Health, there are lists of recipes for juices (combinations of raw fruits and vegetables with some fresh herbs) to address specific ailments such as headache, anemia, fatigue, and gastric ulcers. Other recipe sites include ones promoting delicious taste (this one has a V8 recipe) and those that have, well, interesting combos.

And, for the skeptics, there's a site that gives recipes as well as advice on choosing a juicer. The site? The Stanford Cancer Center, part of the Stanford University Medical System.

According to Stanford, "The best selection of juices comes in nature’s own containers: fresh fruits & vegetables. Fresh juice is loaded with cancer-fighting phytochemicals and vitamins, in a state easily absorbed by the body."

Choosing a juicer is the next step. Short answer: get the highest powered motor you can afford, and make sure the components are easy to clean. Juicing is a messy job.

Shown: Jack LaLanne at age 84.

Going Organic - Step One

Eating organic may be more expensive to your pocketbook, but it's scary how much your family's health may be paying for eating all those pesticides, especially the kiddos under 12. It's also overwhelming to think about how to alter menues, recipes, and the family budget to accommodate a change-over to organic foods.

Well, here's a first step. According to the Environmental Working Group, pesticide exposure can be lowered by almost 90% if you cut out the Top Twelve (see below) and substitute the Bottom Twelve instead.

So, if you can't shop organic just yet, at least change the grocery list.

Eating the Top Twelve exposes your family to an average of 15 pesticides per day. Switch to the Bottom Twelve, and that number goes down to less than 2 pesticides each day.

That's before consideration even begins on antibiotic and growth hormones fed to animals, and found in the beef, chicken, pork, and fish that's for sale at the market. All that stuff is another topic, for another post on a different day.

For more info, check out EWG's pesticide discussion, a New York Times article on pesticides, and this helpful list giving vitamin info. For those who argue against organics, check out this article as well as this one.

The Top Twelve - Don't Buy These Unless They're Organic

1 Peaches
2 Apples
3 Sweet Bell Peppers
4 Celery
5 Nectarines
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Pears
9 Grapes - Imported
10 Spinach
11 Lettuce
12 Potatoes

Bottom Twelve -- Buy These, Remember to Peel and Wash Well

1 Onions (Least Contaminated of the entire list)
2 Avocado
3 Sweet Corn - Frozen
4 Pinapples
5 Mango
6 Asparagus
7 Sweet Peas - Frozen
8 Kiwi
9 Bananas
10 Cabbage
11 Broccoli
12 Papaya