and he was telling me how difficult it is to get stuff that is truly healthy and not produced by one of the Big Companies.
Well, the problem there is A) assuming anything "Big Company" is bad, and B) equating the "Big Company" with 'unhealthy'. Anywhere you go, you can find a whole foods store or farmers' market with "natural-grown" produce and suchlike - you'll just pay more for it. Because the mass-produced stuff is CHEAPER to make and harvest, and you get what you pay for. Simple economics.
We have the cheap sandwich bread here (WONDER Bread, for example) that's got the nutritional value of cardboard, but it's also cheap. Whereas whole grain bread from a local bakery is better for you, but also more expensive.
I was having this conversation with Frito and Redhawk the other day, that vitamin supplements are part of the reason Americans have accepted a more unhealthy diet - because they can always get the necessities from a little pill. And while that's not a bad thing entirely (hey, it's more freedom for people to eat what they want, if their bodies can't handle the strain - their choice) - I do think there's a serious public misconception of what a healthy diet actually IS.
But there's loads of freedom of choice (and for all Gerg would know about US habits, being a Great White Northerner, ptui) when it comes to food. There's not a lot of informed choice, simply because people are too lazy to inform themselves. Not some evil "Big Company" at work.
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Re: Pernicious Anemia
Date: 2003-05-13 07:18 am (UTC)Well, the problem there is A) assuming anything "Big Company" is bad, and B) equating the "Big Company" with 'unhealthy'. Anywhere you go, you can find a whole foods store or farmers' market with "natural-grown" produce and suchlike - you'll just pay more for it. Because the mass-produced stuff is CHEAPER to make and harvest, and you get what you pay for. Simple economics.
We have the cheap sandwich bread here (WONDER Bread, for example) that's got the nutritional value of cardboard, but it's also cheap. Whereas whole grain bread from a local bakery is better for you, but also more expensive.
I was having this conversation with Frito and Redhawk the other day, that vitamin supplements are part of the reason Americans have accepted a more unhealthy diet - because they can always get the necessities from a little pill. And while that's not a bad thing entirely (hey, it's more freedom for people to eat what they want, if their bodies can't handle the strain - their choice) - I do think there's a serious public misconception of what a healthy diet actually IS.
But there's loads of freedom of choice (and for all Gerg would know about US habits, being a Great White Northerner, ptui) when it comes to food. There's not a lot of informed choice, simply because people are too lazy to inform themselves. Not some evil "Big Company" at work.
~M.