I write often about sports nutrition. It was just a couple
of weeks or so ago that I wrote about “garbage in, garbage out.” We know that
what you eat has a huge impact on sports performance.
I also wrote recently about those unfortunate young athletes
that simply cannot participate in sports because the cost has gotten so
high. Now imagine, if you will, what it
might cost to supply an athlete with a high quality diet.
Lean meats, fresh vegetables, and fruits are the base for a
healthy diet. Sports performance often requires high calorie content but the
cheapest way to accomplish that is to load it up with sugar. But that’s counterproductive.
One of the reasons us Southerners fry so much of our food as
it is a way to take lesser meat and vegetables and make them tasty. And we do
love our condiments and sauces. Same thing. Not good.
When everybody in the household works, there often just
isn’t the time to do a lot of food prep. It’s easier to open a can and heat it
up. Or pick up fast food. I get that.
My advice on that is just do all you can do. Avoid frying anything and pay attention to
the sugar intake. Those are cheap calories and won’t provide the athlete with
the fuel for peak performance.
But let me take a tangent here. I want to tell you a story
about one of those athletes who couldn’t finish their high school career. He
was a football player and had asked the coaches if he could leave practice
early. It was a Wednesday and the coaches just figured he was going to church,
with this being the Bible Belt and all.
Nope. Not the case. There was a local restaurant that was having an all-you-can-eat affair and his mom was taking he and his siblings. It doesn’t really matter what was served, it was a chance for the whole family to get all they wanted to eat, something that might have been rare in their family.
It was sad, really. I thought about this after my family and
I had enjoyed Christmas dinner—more food than we could have eaten in a week. My
thoughts turned to those less fortunate.
There are hungry people everywhere.
We would like to think that nobody in our community goes to
bed hungry, but that simply is not the case. A principal recently told me that
60% of his student body is on meal assistance.
When my wife worked as a school bookkeeper, the number of
children getting free lunches was staggering. Some schools also offer breakfast
and lunch and it is an unforunate fact that those are the only meals a lot of
those kids get that day.
Politicians banter about cutting out that breakfast.
Teachers will tell you that a free breakfast is essential for academic
participation. Not academic excellence, but the ability to sit in a classroom
and pay attention and do the basic work.
Social services are a hot topic in Nashville and Washington,
but those in the midst of the argument never went to bed hungry, much less not
sure what they were going to find to eat the next day.
We complain about the price of eggs while too many can’t
afford eggs at any price.
I’m a big fan of 2nd Harvest Food Bank and
Community Food Connection of Blount County.
They can’t feed everyone, but they can often be the difference for
hungry families. The Empty Pantry Fund ended up short this year but provides a
huge bag of food for a whole lot of people.
And The Welcome Table at 1st Methodist Church of
Maryville and New Providence Presbyterian Church plus the Salvation Army free
lunch at Broadway Baptist Church (there are others) insure that at least for
that day, somebody doesn’t go hungry.
2024 is here. It’s a new year. It’s OK to appreciate how
blessed we are but let’s not forget those less fortunate than us. Let’s strive
for a world where no child goes to bed hungry.
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