We generally consume too much of it; we’re overwhelmed by too many choices and too much information (advertising and marketing); and “too fast” applies both to what (fast food) and how (on the go) we eat. A sense of overwhelm, especially for children, can be the basis of poor eating habits and lifelong control issues around food. Like the issues around toys and clutter that we explored in Chapter Three, food is another area of our daily lives that has become bloated (excuse the pun) with excess and pseudochoices. While I don’t claim to be an expert on nutrition, no dietary expertise is needed to lose some of the weight (again, sorry …) we feel around our family’s food choices. Just as I did with toys and clutter, I’ll offer some general guidelines on simplifying food. Instead of a hypothetical “mountain of foods” in the center of your kitchen, imagine the huge expanse of your grocery store. Many now are the size of airport hangars, with the least processed foods (those that existed fifty years ago) located around the periphery.
