• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

The Catholic Foodie

Where Food Meets Faith

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Radio
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Radio
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • Main Dishes
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Seafood
      • Crawfish
      • Fish
      • Oysters
      • Shrimp
    • Vegetarian
  • Appetizers
  • Sides
  • Salads
  • Soups
  • Drinks
  • Desserts
  • Cuisines
    • African
    • Asian
    • Cajun
    • Creole
    • Indian
    • Italian
    • Mediterranean
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
  • Seasons
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Lent
      • Meatless Meals
    • Thanksgiving
  • Pizza
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Radio
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • Main Dishes
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Seafood
      • Crawfish
      • Fish
      • Oysters
      • Shrimp
    • Vegetarian
  • Appetizers
  • Sides
  • Salads
  • Soups
  • Drinks
  • Desserts
  • Cuisines
    • African
    • Asian
    • Cajun
    • Creole
    • Indian
    • Italian
    • Mediterranean
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
  • Seasons
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Lent
      • Meatless Meals
    • Thanksgiving
  • Pizza
Healthy Halloween? Now THAT Is Scary!

A Halloween without Candy?

You are here: Home / Blog / A Halloween without Candy?
Healthy Halloween? Now THAT Is Scary!

Healthy Halloween?

A Healthy Halloween?

I know it is silly, but I have received so much joy from watching these little kids in this commercial. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched it. It must have been an absolute riot to have been on the set for this one.

It’s short. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch it now. It’s amazingly funny. And cute.

It’s tongue-in-cheek, of course. Crest and Oral-B do a fantastic job promoting candy so that all the good moms and dads of the world will be sure to make the little kiddies brush their teeth extra-well after delighting in their Halloween spoils. Naturally, the companies would hope that those kiddies would be using some type of Crest toothpaste on an Oral-B toothbrush. That’s how advertising works. 😉

But this commercial indirectly brings up a good point.

The Health Food Wars

I’m referring to the “health” food and “junk” food campaigns that litter our moral and dieting landscape here in the United States. We have too many diets, too many dieting books and programs, and way too much processed foods on our shelves and in our bellies.

Candy is certainly not the best thing to eat, but it does have its place. And governments and lobbyists are not the ones to determine what place candy has in our lives. That’s the job of families, of mothers and fathers.

Apparently, there is an epidemic of obesity in our nation. That is not a good thing. And politicians and health agencies across the country want to pin it on something. They want someone or something to blame. But it’s not that easy.

Ultimately, I think the food wars that we have here in the United States really simmer down to one salient point: We have made food an enemy. And how have we done that? By taking it out of its proper context, which is a meal shared with family and friends.

We Were Made for Communion

In the busyness of our day-to-day lives, we eat on the run. And we eat alone. In the car. On a 15 or 30 minute lunch break. Walking from one meeting to another. But we were not made to eat that way.

God made us for communion. In the deepest part of ourselves we yearn for communion with each other and with God. If you look at scripture, it becomes glaringly obvious that the most natural way that we experience communion (with each other and with God) is around the table.

If our nation were to repent, and we returned to preparing fresh home-cooked meals using real ingredients, and we shared those meals with family and friends around the table, I believe that many of our food-related health problems would disappear.

Am I a scientist and can I prove that?

No.

But I do know something of Natural Law and how we were created by God.

St. Thomas Aquinas – and a whole slew of other saints, theologians, and even pagan philosophers (like Aristotle!) – recommended “moderation in all things” in order to achieve and maintain happiness. That’s a good rule to live by. But when it comes to eating, I would also recommend – as often as is possible – keeping food in its proper context: a shared meal.

What Say You?

Are you going to have a “healthy” Halloween this year? Or are you going to indulge in your favorite Halloween candy?

By the way, I’d love to know what your favorite Halloween candy is. Let me know in the comments below!

About Jeff Young

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold.

Previous Post: «Hamburgers and Holiness at CatholicFoodie.com The Sacred, the Profane, and the Perverse: Of Hamburgers and Holiness
Next Post: Lebanese Lentils and Rice Soup Lebanese Lentils and Rice Soup»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search Recipes

Subscribe for Email Updates

Connect With Me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

We save the seafood gumbo for special occasions is that it is so expensive to make. But now I think I have found a variation of seafood gumbo that I can make more often. It’s a Louisiana favorite: Shrimp & Okra Gumbo.

A Louisiana Favorite: Shrimp and Okra Gumbo

Shrimp and Okra Gumbo I love me a good gumbo. As I have said before, I make chicken and andouille gumbo …

Barbecued Shrimp: A Classic New Orleans Recipe

Barbecued Shrimp Wonderful, deliciously-delicious shrimp. I love shrimp. There's nothing like those little …

Lebanese Stuffed Squash (Kousa Mahshi)

Kousa Mahshi: Stuffed Squash, Lebanese-style I hated squash as a child. And during the summers we used to get …

New Orleans Classics

Red Beans and Rice

  Red beans and rice and everything nice! You know, Louis Armstrong used to sign his letters, "Red Beans …

Quick and Easy Crawfish Cakes

Recipe submitted by Shelly Kelly.Since I had Catholic Foodie episode 30 playing while I cooked tonight-and we were …

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Radio
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Contact

Site Footer

About The Catholic Foodie

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold. Read More…

Copyright © 2021 · Mai Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in