This isn’t a review on a restaurant, or a specific food, or a market, but it’s relevant and has a lot to do with eating, health, school and the big bullies and brainwashers in our world.
I went to school today knowing that I was going to attend a presentation at lunchtime from CSI (Canadian Sugar Institute). Did you know there was an institute for SUGAR? I just learned about this, and if you go to their website, I think you can draw your own conclusions, you don’t need me to tell you how ridiculous it is that there is a whole association, including dieticians promoting sugar as healthy these days! Have you seen Fed Up the movie? Or the 60 minutes segment about sugar being toxic? Sugar has been compared to cocaine and is addictive. We don’t learn that cocaine is good in moderation at school, that is for sure! I eat my fair share of sugar, most of us do even when we are careful. Not buying packaged products with sugar is important, and when you make your own things at home no need to add sugar, at least the processed stuff. We use organic, local maple syrup. and raw honey, dates and some coconut sugar, but not a lot of it. You can also just use fruit like apples or bananas. I think the real key is to not add sugar to stuff.
When I got to the “event” at school, which was promoted as part of the “Healthy Hub” program, which sounds great, and much needed at high school, but the presenting guests were from the Canadian Sugar Institute and would be serving a new banana loaf to promote “healthy sugary treats”. I didn’t see the loaf, and assume it was being sold inside the actual cafeteria which I don’t venture into (that might be a post for another day!), but I’ve never heard of a “healthy sugary treat” before. When I first read that, I actually laughed at the absurdity of that term.
Here were the few things that I was told/learned today at school from CSI: Canadian Sugar Institute:
1. Since sugar is already in most of the things we eat, that we should embrace it and make it part of our healthy diet.
2. There have been several studies that show that sugar is not even a little bit addictive (when I asked for those studies, they said there were many, when I asked who funded them, they said they couldn’t confirm).
3. Asking questions can really aggravate some people. I was asked by the supervising presenter to stop asking so many questions, and basically asked me to leave their table. 4 people were at that table promoting sugar, and one pretty small 13 year old kid asking questions was a problem?
I am sorry that I don’t have photos or videos, but I respectfully asked if I could record what they were saying, but due to their “privacy” they declined to allow me to capture any of their words live after the checked with their supervisor. Around the dinner table tonight, I told my family the basics of what happened with my phone recording some of it. You are more than welcome to listen, just play the vimeo video below as you would any video, sorry, there is nothing to watch.
I really hope that you all go and check out the CSI website (it’s www.sugar.ca )and make sure they do not find their way into your school since what they are teaching is not anything we should be learning or believing.
CSI: Sugar from Ryan Storm on Vimeo.
