Big Food and the illusion of choice

[tk2kewl]

[grasswire]

1. interesting

Thanks.

[get the red out]

2. Yes, it's very sad

The right screams "Capitalism" and "Competition" yet it really doesn't exist anymore.

[Speck Tater]

3. Interesting, but in the whole chart there are only 2 things I ever buy.

Quaker oatmeal and Tide laundry detergent. And most of the time I buy generic oatmeal unless the Quaker is on sale.

ON EDIT: My point being that choice DOES exist. You can choose not to buy their crap.

[RevStPatrick]

8. Funny you mention those 2 products!

Those are the only 2 products we regularly use as well.
And the Quaker oats, like maybe one large container a year.
I will use organic oats most of the time, but will buy the Quaker oats as a back up.

I will eat a Snickers bar once in a while, maybe 4 or 5 a year.
I'll also drink a Coke occasionally, but only the Mexican Coke which is easy to find around here.
It's got cane sugar rather than HFCS.

Other than that, there's nothing on that chart that I ever buy.

[adigal]

4. Grow as much as you can, buy from farmer's markets

and health food stores. I know, it is more expensive, but many of these foods are unhealthy, and you will be a lot healthier eating locally grown food than these foods.

I am looking into getting 50 pounds of grass fed beef from a farm in VT. I don't eat meat, but my husband and kids do, and it is a whole lot healthier than the pink slime.

[Javaman]

10. +1000

I'm happy to report, I don't use any of the products listed in that graphic. I can't remember the last time I ate a candy bar, drank a soda, ate pre-packaged food or ate at a chain restaurant.

It's all about choosing to live a healthy life. It may cost more, but I eat less and enjoy my food more.

I have learned to understand the concept of being full and not eating till I can't walk away from the table. As a result I dropped 25 pounds.

To me obesity isn't about eating too much, it's about eating crap and not knowing when to say enough. the majority of people in this nation think being bloated and unable to function after a mean is being "full".

[cali]

5. there's plenty of choice

I buy very little off that chart.

[Big Blue Marble]

6. How ironic that most of the products listed

under the rubric of "Big Food" are not food.

I could only find two products I use regularly.

[KansDem]

7. Last summer I drove from southern California to Kansas City...

My routes included I-40 from Barstow (CA) to Tucumcari (NM).

As I passed each of those blue exit signs that list restaurants, it seemed like I saw on each one the same two hamburger places, the same two sandwich places, the same two pizza places, the same two Mexican-food places, and so on. I thought "Not much choice here on I-40!"

But I now drive with an ice chest and prepare meals to take with me, and I nap in my car at rest stops, so the only reason I exit the highway is for gas.

[SoCalDem]

9. Travel is so boring these days.

There used to be local foods when you traveled, but now everything is the same everywhere.. We've lost something important.

[cthulu2016]

11. Um... what's the illusion?

When a person is trying to decide between consuming a jar of Gerber's baby food or a cup of Taster's Choice coffee does the fact that Nestle owns both brands somehow mean that baby food and coffee are the same thing?

The "illusion" of choice here is only relevant if you are trying to boycott Nestle as a corporate entity.

If, however, you are looking for something to eat the chart suggests a wide range of very real choices.

[closeupready]

12. I like several of the products listed here.

I'm not sure how that means that I've been misled or deceived. I look at labels and ingredients, I consider myself well-informed about food products and processes. When I buy a product, it's generally a conservatively made purchase, i.e., I have to actually like and want the product, but also, it can't be a product that is going to violate my food principles or a product that is redundant (in other words, if I already have sodas, then I'm not going to buy another case of a different soda).

[Sirveri]

13. You can buy anything you want, so long as it's corn!

Oh wait, similar subject...

[meaculpa2011]

14. I shave with Gillette Edge...

otherwise there's nothing on the list I use. Bought Beneful for the dog, but he died last month.