The Stationers Guild

Writing regularly about stationery and invitations trends in the US has necessarily led me into different venues of “Americana.”  Sadly, the decline of good taste, etiquette and meaningful interpersonal relationships has coincided with an explosion in new technologies which many have argued would usher in some ill-defined “golden era.”   While I am not one to wax nostalgic about the “good old days,” I am deeply troubled by what I see on the horizon and the apparent disconnect from simply befriending one’s neighbor to rushing head-long to embrace social media avatars or the latest fad.

This sense of concern received another jolt this week when I watched the introduction to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  Jamie, an accomplished British chef, decides to change eating habits in the United States.  In a TV series that begins to air on Friday, March 26th on ABC, Jamie descends on Huntington, West Virginia recently labelled as the “unhealthiest city in America” to change the eating habits of this town of 50,000.  If you can stomach it, I strongly suggest that you watch this program (see video clip below) to see how we are systematically killing our kids with fast-food.  

While Jamie’s corageous attempt to teach us colonials a few things about eating wisely is certainly disturbing on an emotional level, you can’t help but be shaken by the apathy, silly institutional barriers and general self-satisfied smugness which threatens the well-being of a new generation of Americans.

It is tough to draw meaningful parallels between “tweets” signifying nothing and school menus, but as our attention span grows shorter in pursuit of instant gratification, we lose sight of a far more meaningful and productive way of living. It is difficult to believe that Jamie Oliver has more sense of responsibility for the fate of these young kids than most of the parents, school administrators and talk-show pundits in Huntington. If you are not moved by this program, I join Jamie in saying “Shame on you!”