My kids at the supermarket shriek in excitement at kale :-) and beets! (Seriously, it’s a bit odd though I am careful never to tell them that!)

Parents need to learn that they’re not being emotionally abusive just because their kids are sad at being told no. No, you can’t have sugar-loaded cereal for breakfast, no you can’t go out to play before your homework is done, I don’t care if the rest of your friends are $100 t-shirts that they’ll grow out of in six months, you’re only doing that if you figure out a way to earn the money yourself.

We act like we’re somehow helpless in the face of a five year old. How absurd! I’m fast approaching the day when my son is bigger than I am, and I freely admit I’m biting my nails about that one. But a toddler? PLEASE!

Advertisers capitalize on 1)consumer desire to have it all, and 2) consumer ignorance in the face of wanting it all. I don’t begrudge advertisers their place in the food web; after all, there are plenty of people out there willing to buy into the story psycho-social well-being they promise with every image and slogan that appears in print and televised media.

It is the duty of the consumer to be informed as to what is healthy and what is not, and to make the choices with their dollars as to what type of advertising is done. Government fiat or corporate self-policing does little to fight the tidal wave of misinformation; marketers will always find a way. Until their profit margins on unhealthy foods begin to shrink, little will change, I fear, despite how much government regulation is forced upon the industry.

It seems that the best way to become ethical actors, and to advocate for good ethics in our choices, is education. It always seems to come back to that for me; but then, I am a teacher by choice and by trade, and showing young people that they have the ability to take information and make choices based on their critical judgement of that information is my life’s ambition. It is hard to teach very young children to do this, especially when fun cartoon animals advocate consumption of sugar-laden foods in order to be “healthy.”

Perhaps parents need to become better educated; I think most already are, but take the easy way out and give in rather than put their parental feet down firmly and say “NO, you may not have that crap!” I am facing this dilemma right now with my little one, and I can tell you the resulting temper tantrum fades quickly and she will come to the table to eat her homemade applesauce atop plain oatmeal, mashed chicken and carrots, and broccoli and lentils. Hunger is her prime motivation at that point, and while I do not starve her into submission, I make it clear that the food I am giving her is the only food she is getting. Ice cream is no substitute for dinner, no matter that her cousins get to eat it in lieu of vegetables.

Food is one area where I will not allow my daughter to lose to peer pressure. Less aggressive marketing to children is a start, but the road from grocery store to a child’s stomach ought to be shepherded carefully by a parental figure, temper tantrums be damned. An hour of crying over the loss of a dish of Lucky Charms (which would never be in my home anyway) is far better than dealing with a lifetime of poor health and even worse eating habits.

Yet as sensible adults we recognize that some things are inappropriate and damaging for children.

We restrict their access to observing and experiencing violence (well, we used to) and sexuality (which seems to me less traumatic than violence). We would generally not tolerate marketers that encouraged children to smoke, consume toxic chemicals, shoot guns, or engage in kinky threesomes, all of which are presently more or less legal activities. We assume, in short, that “free speech” has boundaries within particular contexts, and begin with the understanding that some audiences have vulnerabilities that should determine our choices as ethical actors. We also, as ethical actors, do not encourage them to do things that cause harm.

Ultimately, though, the solution is in personal responsibility, not limiting the speech of cereal companies.

But the problem is these cereals exist because people buy them–in massive quantities, nationwide. They are exhaustively test-marketed to kids and it’s clear that kids like them and want them. The TV advertising simply cements the kids’ demand.

I think the missing piece of the puzzle is on the demand side. In our home, we’ve permanently banned all branded, hyper-sweetened boxed cereals from our pantry. Parents need to do what’s right and buy cereal brands and other breakfast foods that ARE healthy. If there were strong demand for healthier cereals, you could bet cereal makers would put them on the stores shelves for us to buy.

Daniel
Casual Kitchen