As consumers, we would like to believe that “somebody” is looking out for our welfare. As enlightened consumers, however, we know the goal of business is not the welfare of people but the welfare of their profits. Doctors make more money treating illnesses and businesses make more money convincing people to buy things they do not want or need at prices that exceed their worth. Often we feel defenseless in the face of power, however, we can make change happen through our personal choices.
A consumer, who buys directly from the hand of a producer, avoids being a statistic, a profit or loss figure on paper. Buying direct from a producer invokes trust. It honors the consumer and producer by creating a personal relationship connected by the product exchanged. That relationship is the “somebody” who is looking out for our well-being as a society. Old fashioned? Yes. The way it used to be? Yes. The way it could be? Yes.
What makes us feel unable to make change happen? We have been lead to believe that we do not have the education needed; we are too young or too old; our voice lacks the strength required; we are without power. None of this is true. I suggest that attitude far outweighs aptitude.
This eleven-year-old boy represents the power of attitude. He is changing lives as his TED presentation has gone viral on the internet. Watch and listen to his simple but profound message. Birke Baehr, a young man before his time.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A Food Industry in Sheep’s Clothing Is Still A Wolf
The Corn Refiners Association has asked for high fructose corn syrup sweetener (HFCS) to be renamed, “corn sugar” for labeling purposes. HFCS has been revealed as problematic in the weight and health of those who eat it in large quantities. Unavoidable as that is in today's industrialized food supply. The FDA can ease confusion about HFCS by requiring all corn sugars, including dextrose and maltodextrin, to be given the same name. People would then be able to understand the reality of the amount of “corn sugar” being stuffed down their throats.
Renaming products has worked but has left the public skeptical. After all, when sheep watch the wolf dress in sheep’s clothing often enough, there is little pretense left.
The 1938 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act imposed rules requiring the word “imitation” to appear on products that were imitations of standard foods. For example, margarine is an imitation of butter and Velveeta is an imitation of cheese. Commonsense dictated, people should know what to expect from their milk, cheese, butter, beef, etc. The Act required an “imitation” label on imitation foods. It took the food industry until 1973 to get this rule tossed out. Congress did not write a new law; rather, the FDA simply repealed the Act.
For years, the FDA and the industrial food industry have herded the public down a path for industry profits while the nutritional content of our food has deteriorated and chemical additives increased. When we peek below the sheep’s skin and find corn syrup is making us obese, increasing medical costs, and refuse to buy it, the industry answer is to change the name, increase advertising and wait for the dust to settle.
Businesses practice salesmanship, persuading people to buy what they do not need, and do not want, for more than it is worth. In terms of food, that means that the public desires cheap food in large sizes. Slap a ‘sale’ tag on it and, nutritious or not, needed or not, it sells. The orthodoxy “newer and more is better”, which is born from propaganda authored by greed, entices mindless spending. Spending, which many would have us believe grows our economy but which has, instead, grown the percentage of poor in America to over fourteen percent and almost eradicated the middle class. In terms of food, it has alarmingly increased the number of morbidly obese and under nourished Americans.
Name changing and smaller packages are but a few of the tactics used by the industrial food industry to increase profits and fool the public. However, between recalls and new food awareness campaigns, the industrial food industry is losing the public’s trust and that, by any name, should be the game changer.
Renaming products has worked but has left the public skeptical. After all, when sheep watch the wolf dress in sheep’s clothing often enough, there is little pretense left.
The 1938 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act imposed rules requiring the word “imitation” to appear on products that were imitations of standard foods. For example, margarine is an imitation of butter and Velveeta is an imitation of cheese. Commonsense dictated, people should know what to expect from their milk, cheese, butter, beef, etc. The Act required an “imitation” label on imitation foods. It took the food industry until 1973 to get this rule tossed out. Congress did not write a new law; rather, the FDA simply repealed the Act.
For years, the FDA and the industrial food industry have herded the public down a path for industry profits while the nutritional content of our food has deteriorated and chemical additives increased. When we peek below the sheep’s skin and find corn syrup is making us obese, increasing medical costs, and refuse to buy it, the industry answer is to change the name, increase advertising and wait for the dust to settle.
Businesses practice salesmanship, persuading people to buy what they do not need, and do not want, for more than it is worth. In terms of food, that means that the public desires cheap food in large sizes. Slap a ‘sale’ tag on it and, nutritious or not, needed or not, it sells. The orthodoxy “newer and more is better”, which is born from propaganda authored by greed, entices mindless spending. Spending, which many would have us believe grows our economy but which has, instead, grown the percentage of poor in America to over fourteen percent and almost eradicated the middle class. In terms of food, it has alarmingly increased the number of morbidly obese and under nourished Americans.
Name changing and smaller packages are but a few of the tactics used by the industrial food industry to increase profits and fool the public. However, between recalls and new food awareness campaigns, the industrial food industry is losing the public’s trust and that, by any name, should be the game changer.
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