I just came across this painting shared by Art That Inspires Me on Facebook and I had to share it.
High Fructose Corn Loca by Patrick Martinez
www.patrickmartinez.com
With the caption:
“This piece says A LOT. Artist Patrick Martinez’ snapshot of urban life is part satire but VERY real. “I myself have witnessed on many a morning “mama’s” grabbing a lil hug, a bag of chips, and a tastykake to feed their kids breakfast. I have even seen a “mama” pour Pepsi into a bottle. It’s as if “motherhood” is an afterthought to them.”
In an interview with Stop Being Famous, Patrick was asked what inspired his piece “High Fructose Corn Loca.”
His response:
The inspiration was based on my observation of nutrition and poor diets in the inner cities. Mothers and fathers not having enough time to prepare a decent meal for their children because they’re living fast paced, stressful lives. Their paychecks don’t allow them to shop at stores like Whole Foods. Sometimes, their only alternative is fast food and junk food, which is easy and fast to grab. There aren’t a lot of fast food restaurants in rich areas of the city, you can bet on that.
My initial reaction to the painting? Wow. Just wow.
First off, this painting reminds me that the world would be better off if soda was never invented. In other counties and even here, there are mothers that don’t know that giving their young children and babies soda is a bad thing.
I’ve been seeing a lot of headlines lately about the obesity epidemic, the dangers of HFCS, and the effects of urbanization on our youth. This painting hits close to home because of the breastfeeding aspect. A woman breastfeeding a swaddled baby soda? Why is it more shocking here, to see it as a replacement for a breast, but it may seem OK to others when it is from a sippy cup?
“In the mountains of Guatemala, graduate student Christine Bixiones watched mothers feed coffee and soda to their newborns. She saw some of the poorest women in the world — who could barely afford to eat — buy baby formula instead of simply breastfeeding their babies. And she saw way too many malnourished children — 78 percent in the highland indigenous communities, where pneumonia and diarrhea are the two main causes of childhood death.” -Global.unc.edu
Soda is NOT okay. EVER. Children do not need soda. When are we going to stand up for ourselves and our children and ban soda? Or at least make it an age restricted substance, like alcohol, so only people that should be old enough to know the negative affects are allowed to drink it.
What do you think of this painting? Soda and our nation’s obesity epidemic?
Want more on obesity?
Check out NPR’s recent post of the CDC’s stats on our nations growing problem.
“What does it mean to live in a nation where one 1 of every 3 people is obese? In countless ways, obesity is changing the way we work, live, eat and travel. Here, a sampling of some of those changes.”
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); U.S. Census Bureau; “A Heavy Burdon,” George Washington University, 2010; “Why Are We So Fat?,” National Geographic, August 2004, Volume 206, Issue 2
Credit: Stephanie d’Otreppe / NPR
Watch this video on soda:
The Real Bears
Video caption:
This is the unhappy truth about soda: http://therealbears.org
It wasn’t so bad when soft drinks were the occasional treat. But now sugary drinks are the number one source of calories in the American diet. With one third of America overweight and another third obese, it’s a wonder anyone is still swallowing what the soda companies are selling.
Big soda companies have billions of dollars to tell their story, but we have each other. Oh, and we have the truth. Help The Real Bears spread the truth about soda by sharing the film.
Also, it looks like that baby is being water-boarded, not nursed.
I noticed that too. Poor baby!