Episode #420 "Kids Eat The Darndest Things"

 When Griffin shares a report from the Surgeon General’s 2010 Plan with his class about how we could all be more healthy eaters, everyone starts making fun of their classmate Reggie, a vegetarian. Erica tells Griffin she’s glad he stood up for Reggie; as a vegetarian, she knows what it’s like to be made fun of. Hilton chimes in that he has modified his diet, though some of his friends haven’t. People believe what they want to believe when it comes to eating. Ruth says that kids have it hard these days because they’re surrounded with fast food. The next day in class Griffin has everyone take out their lunches. Most of the food has lots of fat. Griffin gives everyone a copy of the food pyramid and assigns them to keep track of everything they eat for the next week with special emphasis noting fat and sodium. Back home, Griffin talks to Hilton about some of the unhealthy food he’s purchased at health food stores. Hilton observes that all this negativity about fast food doesn’t add up when you consider that life expectancy is now higher than it has ever been. In the past, people ate all natural and all died young. Griffin says it just sounds like Hilton’s rationalizing because he wants a pizza. Later Griffin starts getting on Ruth’s nerves when he takes apart her pantry, organizing by food groups, reading labels and taking notes. He points out that a lot of the food in the pantry is not healthy. When he mentions the instant soup, Ruth informs him that she doesn’t have three hours to make soup from scratch. Griffin says he’s just trying to educate her. A group of parents from Griffin ‘s school shows up at Hilton’s door to tell Griffin that they don’t appreciate what he’s teaching in his science class. They see it as an attack on their way of life. At dinner that night, Darien presents the string bean and tofu sauté that he’s made for Erica. Ruth enters with a cart of Southern-style food -- everything from barbecue spareribs to mashed potatoes with butter and gravy. Hilton is in heaven. She then presents Griffin with steamed vegetables, steamed rice and steamed fish. When Hilton wants the macaroni and cheese and the mashed potatoes, Ruth says he can choose one or the other. It’s the same with meats. Griffin says he needs ribs, and Ruth asks what happened to his food pyramid. Griffin says he’s going to build one right on his plate. Ruth tells Griffin she’s trying to educate him about food. He can have the things she’s prepared; he just can’t have them every day. That’s called moderation. Hilton says to save room for later because he’s ordering a pizza.