Give a Fresh and Delicious Treat with a Fruit Basket
We are a society that loves to gift. There are so many occasions in our lives that we celebrate, and for whatever reason, we have come to believe that all of these occasions need to be acknowledged by giving a present or offering of some sort. It is also very clear that we are a society that loves food. There are hundreds of books, magazines, television shows, and websites that are all geared towards our obsession with food and eating.
The toll that this is having on our bodies is extremely apparent. Obesity rates are rising, health problems dealing with excessive weight gain are skyrocketing, and the far too many people are paying the price for poor health. There is a very definite connection between our love of gifting and our love of food. At every event we attend, hosts feel it absolutely necessary to give their guests ample amounts of food.
Dinners are thrown to celebrate big events in our lives. Neighbors drop off cookies, pies, and candy to show their love to those who they interact with. There is nothing wrong with the act of gift giving, in fact it is very kind. However, the issue lies in the fact that more often than not the gifts that are given are calorie laden and sugar coated. These gifts of sweetness may have played well into our love for sugary, fattening, chocolate covered goodness. Unfortunately, they have also played into the fact that we are a very unhealthy society that gorges on foods that are far from nutritious.
This predicament leaves many people wondering what difference they can make in working to improve the health of the people they love, instead of helping it to decline. The answer is actually very simple. Instead of contributing to people’s poor health practices, help them to eat better. Instead of giving a box of a dozen donuts to a neighbor having a hard day, give a fruit basket. The interesting thing about giving a fruit basket instead of some high fat sugary treat is that the fruit basket is loved just the same, if not even more.
Almost everyone loves sweet things, and so we assume that we have to give people a big brownie or a stack of cookies to make them feel like they have something delicious. The truth is, most people love fresh, delicious, ripe fruit just as much, if not more than saccharine foods. The difference between an indulgent sweet treat and fresh fruit is the way that it makes you feel. They are both sweet and so incredibly tasty, but the feeling after you eat them is quite different.
When we eat things that we know are very unhealthy for us, we tend to feel guilty and somewhat gross afterwords. On the other hand, we rarely feel that way after we eat some fresh fruit, unless we eat too much of it. Fruit leaves us feeling like we have made a good choice, like we have done something that is right for ourselves. When you give the gift of a fresh fruit basket, you will be giving your recipient something very sweet and delicious, but you won’t be causing them to feel guilt about it after the fact.
Start a pattern of healthy gifting with the people that you know and love. There is no reason to feel obligated to give something that is over the top and excessively unhealthy. Instead give a fruit basket, a treat that they will thoroughly enjoy without feeling excessive guilt. Help make a healthy difference in the lives of the people you love, and do so by giving the gift of health.