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How Do You Buy Your Food?
By Virato
Last month I did one of my “guerilla consciousness” things. . .
I donned a suit and tie (somehow people believe in a suit and tie), and carried a clip board, and I went to the local Ingles on Haywood Rd. in West Asheville. All I did was walk the aisles and stop folks (usually some obese woman) and ask them what it was that they just placed in their shopping cart. Like what was in the box or can?
A simple enough question, yes? Well, not for these folks. All they could answer was “Stove Top Stuffing,” “Lipton Onion Soup,” etc., etc. Now get this, not one person I stopped knew what was in the box or can they just put in their shopping cart! All they were buying was what they saw on TV or in the newspaper. An ad!
If you question whether people have been indeed “dumbed down” in the past few decades, I say yes with an exclamation point.
Take a survey and find out yourself. Are you one of those, stimulated to buy because a “pretty bod” is selling the product, or maybe the color purple just gets to you? Don’t be too quick to say no. We are all affected by “propaganda advertising” to some degree.
When it comes to food, we have little assurance from Federal regulatory agencies such as the FDA and USDA. Saying cigarette smoking may kill you on the side of a pack of cigarettes, does little to deter some people from continuing to smoke tobacco, likewise having food labels are of little value in getting people to eat correctly, or ingesting the least poisoned of what is out there, if they don’t read or understand them.
So, why are people so unconscious when it comes to nutrition?
Folks, this is 2010,and we have the Internet. The answer is simple. People are not taught anything about what they eat, and are guided by what they see on television. I urge you to see films like Super-Size me or The Future of Food to get a glimpse of what is happening. It shocks me to think people buy food because the color of packaging or a Britney Speers selling the junk. It’s more surgical seduction rather than marketing.
Most people simply don’t care. Note one thing; obese people are usually also downright ignorant people. So, maybe this is a way of getting rid of the planet’s trash (unconscious dumb people!)
If you are fat, think of it right now. Do you read food labels? Do you really know what and as importantly why you are eat what you eat? You may be a rare exception, with a real medical condition, and if so please accept my apologies.
From my point of view it’s not about low carbs or any fad diet. It’s about being conscious. The people selling the foodare not interested in your welfare except as a consumer. Just remember this.
Next, even if shoppersdo read the labels would they know what they were reading? I doubt it. I know I don’t. Most packaged foods bought at your localsupermarket are filled with preservatives, taste enhancers, and other artificiality, many of which have been shown to be toxic with repeated use.
A good example is MSG (monosodium glutamate), also called Accent and many other names, such as hydrolyzed protein, natural flavor, vegetable protein, etc.. In small amounts no problem, but when virtually every packaged food has it, it DOES become a problem. It burns out the brain and affects all the organs, juts like a pharmaceutical. So, why is food filled with MSG? It’s because it makes the food taste good (artificially), and if it tastes good you will buy more. It’s also somewhat addictive. in fact it has been called a “taste bud irritant” By the way the natural food supermarkets likeWhole Foods, Greenlife and Earth Fareand the Food Coops sell plenty of prepared foods filled with the poison.
My suggestion is to stop, or limit the amount prepared food you eat. You can use many spices to make the food exciting. And stop the next time and read the labels, even if the ingredients are hard to find or printed in 6 point type. If you don’t know what an ingredient is, ask the store manager. That should start things rolling. Same goes when eating out. Go for organic locally produced food.
Of course if you are stupid and unconscious, keeping eating the poisons, so you can leave sooner.
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Virato is host of VIRATO LIVE! heard Saturdays, 10 AM to 1 PM on880 AM The Revolution and at He’s also editor of Asheville Magazine