I am currently reading a book call Hooked.. Food, free will and how the food giants exploit our addictions. It is written by Michael Moss who also wrote Sugar Salt Fat.
I have known for a long time that people have food addictions. I thought that the addictions had to do with past experiences with food. If you want a brownie it maybe because your mother gave you a brownie to make you feel better. When my oldest daughter started to preschool she came home one day and said if I gave her a cookie it would make her feel better. I was in shock, where did you hear that? Her response was the nice lady at day care. The next day I had a long talk with the staff about food and not tell the children sweets would make anything okay. Have you ever eaten something that made you sick? I doubt you want to eat that food again. I have seen that with so many cancer patients who had no appetite after throwing up everything that they had eaten while on chemo. Yes, there are drug to help with the nausea but the memory of the food and the ill feeling stay with a person for a long time.
But the new book sheds a light on the food industry. Most of you know about Phillip Morris telling the American public that cigarettes were not addictive. People could stop smoking anytime they wanted. My mother was a smoker and I watched her try to stop smoking all of her life. She finally quit when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. By the way she started to smoke during WWII when she was in the Navy. (The good old US government gave them to the soldiers/sailors.)
Do you know that Philip Morris now owns General Foods Corporation, Maxwell House coffee, Birds Eye frozen foods and Kraft?They know what is addicting and how to get the consumer to eat more of their food products. Sugar, salt and fat. Do you remember the commercial that asked if you could eat just one potato chip? No one can eat just one. Why because the food technologist have made the chip the right combination of fat and salt . So, we become addicted. And think about McDonalds. Their slick ads for kids craving A HAPPY MEAL OVER A HOMEMADE MEAL AT A VERY YOUNG AGE.
American need to wake up and realize that we no longer eat whole, natural foods. There are over 2000 new items in the grocery store every year.
Gertrude would be pissed to know that we are not eating a healthy diet. I am not saying we need to become a vegetarian or vegan, we need to return to simple, plain ,home prepared foods like Gertrude used to serve.
Comments