When I lived in Williamsburg I walked my dog, Sam, past aluminum-sided immigrant houses and knew the chicken bone-littered areas to avoid. I've even seen the old men sitting on benches with Styrofoam containers, chowing down and discarding the inedible bits of chicken wings. When I moved to beautiful Fort Greene I imagined strolling past 19th-century brownstones with the pup, taking in the architecture and the friendly stoop-dwellers. Instead I am staring at the ground, trying to spot the bones before Sam does. Fort Greene's chicken bone problem is out of control! Where are so many chickens coming from that they must be consumed while walking down the street?! Then I see it: A teenage girl with a group of friends exits a deli with a bag. She stands on the sidewalk and draws greasy bits of the former bird out of the bag and slides them into her mouth. When she gets a bone she picks it clean and tosses it. About this time she comments to her friend that there isn't enough skin and she got ripped off, then she finishes the food and crumples the bag, walks to the curb and drops it in the street. A trash can is four paces from where she is standing.
Cooked chicken bones can kill a dog, and I've reached in Sam's mouth and pulled out all different sizes. My dog-craziness directs many of my concerns to Fort Greene's large canine population, but what about these chicken wing purchasers? In a case study for class a man's daily diet included eight chicken thighs from a fast food restaurant. Eight sounds like a lot, but when you think a chicken thigh is about the size of a fist, the volume isn't
too outrageous. But at four ounces each, the meal totals almost 3,000 calories. 3,000 calories!! That's a day and a half for most people in one component of dinner. So what do we do, as dieticians, when we're faced with someone who eats like this and really doesn't want to change? My first thought is to rip the chicken away and yell, "STOP STOP YOU'RE KILLING YOURSELF!" and hope that sticks. But this doesn't work on Sam, and I doubt someone who understands what I'm saying will be much more receptive. As my teacher explained, we have to bring them down to four chicken thighs, maybe. Four is still upwards of 1,500 calories but it's a big improvement. This career requires patience. For now, no poultry from a bag for me.
