Consumerism Plus Ignorance is Always Dangerous.

Food.

The labels we are taught to look for can be most deceiving. 'whole grain', 'organic', 'wheat', and the diet words, that change with the fads but somehow are seen on the same products: low-fat, low-carb, wheat-free...

We are ultimately persuaded to trust these labels, rather than to read the ingredients for ourselves. There is danger here. I have watched the ingredient lists on particular products from certain brands move from simple, reasonable recipes, to complicated, junk-filled lists. Once preferred, now I wouldn't ingest these things if they paid me. (Kashi is one such brand that comes to mind)

Let's look at the word 'Organic'. The FDA doles out these labels to the highest bidders. Often, this has nothing to do with the actual ingredients or processing methods.

A company I worked for a few years ago used all kinds of ingredients that were by no means organic... but by paying the FDA what they require for a small company to be 'certified', they did not investigate, and the non-organic product now carries the 'organic' label.

On the other hand, a local farm which produces wonderful organic dairy and eggs for the greater community, cannot become certified organic because they lack the funds.

The Biggest Danger:
Kraft- The Walmart of Food (if you can call it food)

I'd like to start at the top. Kraft Foods is a subsidiary of Phillip Morris, and Altria Group. To think that a cigarette company owns the largest food and beverage corporation in America gives me the creeps. But I wonder how many Americans care to know which companies Kraft now owns. Its list of subsidiaries exceeds 60 brand names, which can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kraft_brands

Kraft is very involved in politics, which also gives me the creeps. If we are going to eat ourselves to death as a nation, it will be with the express help of this company. To see their lobbying efforts with the Federal Government of the recent years, check this out:
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Kraft+Foods&year=20...

Another danger: corporations in the pockets of medical physicians. Drug companies are not the only culprits when it comes to lobbying the doctor office.

Far beyond recommending the purple pill, doctors are now recommending brand name foods, which in my opinion are not only devoid of nutritional value, but are also quite detrimental to health. Pedialyte and Cheerios are two I'd like to consider.

Pedialyte is a sport-drink of sorts marketed to parents of children who are suffering from dehydration. Beyond the fact that it is merely sugar water, is a dangerous list of artificial colors and preservatives. The ingredients, from RxMed.com:
"water, dextrose, potassium citrate, sodium chloride and sodium citrate. Nonmedicinal ingredients: FD&C Blue #1 and Red #40 (grape flavor) and FD&C Red #40 (bubblegum flavor)."

Cheerios has become a favorite recommendation by doctors to combat cholesterol. My mother was eating Cheerios for a while-- (even though she was told to avoid salt as well, and Cheerios happen to have a higher sodium count that potato chips)-- because she was told that this product would lower her cholesterol. When I informed her that it was simply the oats that were beneficial, she exclaimed, "Oh, so I can just eat oatmeal? Regular oatmeal?" yup.

Where consumerism can be of use in this issue, is of course in the pocket of the consumer. As Gary Hirschberg of Stonyfield said in the film 'Food, Inc', while defending his decision to allow Walmart to carry his product, “everytime we go to the check out counter, we cast a vote”. This is a very important point! Walmart is not the enemy, is not evil, though it is easy to make them into this-- Walmart is out to make money. To provide the supply for the demands of its consumer. We can choose to incorporate these entities into our larger schemes- to use the power they hold over the mass public- to sway the attention and send a different message.