re: Company Behind Popular Ice Cream Brands Will Stop Advertising to Kids

Almond — 2/14/2020 2:12:40 AM

I recall watching Saturday morning cartoons and seeing tons of junk food ads when I was a child. It was not a problem because my parents decided what we would eat. As a child, I was not allowed to beg and rule the roost. We often heard, "You don't need that" or "We can't afford that", so we knew not to even ask.

I guess the worst thing we ate too much of was hot dogs. I have really lost my taste for them. However, my mother kept a small garden, so we had salads, radishes, carrots and tomatoes in summer. Sweet corn and watermelons were good and so cheap they were nearly free.

I recall taking our red wagon to a nearby farm when we played with the children there. One day they told us we could pick all the apples we wanted. We took a wagon full of apples home. My mother was mortified and fearful as she thought we had stolen them. Even though she could not afford it, she went to the woman and asked if she could pay for the apples. I recall that the woman just laughed and said we were more than welcome to them. Then, we had fresh apple pies! It was wonderful!

An ice cream cone or a candy bar was such an incredibly rare treat. Occasionally, if we had to travel many miles by car (without air-conditioning!) and us children had been very well behaved, my dad would stop for a break and buy us a treat. We would get so excited over that. Mostly, we packed our own food and did not eat out.