Nourish & Strengthen Us?

Just being a little bit of a smirking pessimist today :)  - You know what gets to me?

When we Mormons have our ward potlucks & primary / youth activities and serve loads of refined & sugary junk foods, soft drinks, jello salads with marshmallows, chips, brownies, pies, cake, cookies, foods with white refined flours & grains - - but almost no whole grain dishes, whole vegetable dishes, whole fruits, bean dishes, etc.) Drives me crazy!  And you know what gets me even worse?

WE BLESS IT!

Potato chips & doughnuts w/ hot chocolate... & we ask Heavenly Father to bless it to nourish & strengthen us?

Seriously...  It even drove me nuts years ago, before I ever began my big Word Of Wisdom venture.  I can remember when my kids were teeny tiny, & even back then when I didn't care as much, it still bugged the heck out of me.

WAIT...  ON SECOND THOUGHT, that poor sadly "food" probably DOES need blessed.  It needs ALL the help it can get, because it surely is not nourishing us, making us stronger, or doing us any good... (physically OR spiritually).

Ok. Let me redeem myself just a little...  An occasional treat after a fireside, or for a wedding reception... or even a few sweet desserts at a pot luck isn't necessarily going to kill a person.  But almost ALL we bring to church functions anymore is tons o' meat (fatty ham being a main one...) white pasta, white rice, white flour, white refined sugary foods, white refined salty foods, etc., etc., etc.  I think it's something we should all be seriously thinking about a bit more.  I thought it was just my own opinion, but I'm finding out more & more people are thinking along the same lines.

Recently I read an article on families.com about Mormon potlucks & all the junk food (& lack of healthy food) that's brought to them...  Interesting!!!

Here's a super duper link to Green Smoothie Girl's blog post on this subject.  I agree with EVERYthing she had to say.  My favorite part of the whole post, (because it's exactly what I was thinking & feeling before I read it), is THIS:

"I have two theories about this.  First (this one is a no brainer), at the time of the revelation in 1833, white flour and sugar were virtually unknown.  More importantly, we cannot be given a higher law until we’re living the lower law.  Bluntly: we are not living the lower law.

Many of our children are on drugs.  Utah (the highest LDS population) abuses prescription drugs more than ANY other state in the nation.  We eat tons of animals and ignore and rationalize away verses 12-15 of D&C 89 (see the part on God approving of eating animals sparingly in times of winter, cold, famine).  

We eat to excess and have obesity rates similar to the national average.  All of these are gross violations of the law that is supposed to be for the “weakest of the Saints.”

I personally am ready for a higher law. I don’t say this to be arrogant.  I say this because I crave further light and knowledge;  I have a lot of questions.  I wonder, what would God tell us regarding lifestyle and diet, IF WE WERE CLEARING THE VERY, VERY LOW BAR He is currently holding for us to clear? - - - A Word of Wisdom 2.0, if you will."

HERE'S THE PART WHERE I ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO READ WHAT BRIGHAM YOUNG HAD TO SAY ABOUT EATING & NUTRITION...  IT'S LOCATED ON THE WORD OF WISDOM - 2.0  PAGE.  I THINK YOU'LL BE QUITE SURPRISED AT THE PROPHET'S WORDS...