A Rant About the Food Industry

Maybe this blog post came to be because I live in a city with two Wal-Marts, or perhaps its because the current state of the economy has hit locally and torn many jobs out from underneath people but...I've realized people like things on the cheap, more so than ever.

Making sacrifices to save a few dollars here and there never hurt anyone, and I'll admit, my family has the same mentality. The problem I have is...when we go into grocery stores with such a mindset we end up compromising our health because - as I'm sure it's no secret - the organic, and healthier food is invariably more expensive than say Great Value or Food Club.

Why the hell is this? Why would manufactures consciously make their food more expensive when they know its worlds better than the other brands on the shelf? Sure, you pay for quality but...should you have to pay more just to put healthy food on your table? When I see people buying the cheapest food they can buy, I cringe. Now, obviously everyone has a different economic status, budget and preferences and I've eaten my fair share of cheaper brands as well, I just think they - and my family as well - can do better! This is just my mentality but, when I bypass the organic, healthier brand in lieu of the cheaper, most often less healthier brand I feel guilty. Guilty for putting stuff into my body that's no good and packed with things that are even worse, guilty for not seeing the payout of buying that more expensive brand and compensating for that higher price in good health.

Because that's how it works isn't it? You pay the higher price for better food and in the long run find yourself free of all those incredulous additives cheap manufactures put in food and finally gain the mentality that yeah, I've paid for that higher price ten fold because I'm eating healthier. Of course, eating healthy is one step to the plateau of living a better life, another component is exercise. Whenever I hear that word I think of jogging, or running. Both of which I happen to like. This is going to sound like an excuse but I'll say it anyway. I've never actually gone jogging or running as part of an exercise plan, in fact I never really developed a plan at all. Not only do I not have anyone to jog with but, I live in the middle of the city. Which yes, some would view as an ideal place to jog but not me. With all of these things pitted against me I've turned to riding my bike. Last summer I rode it almost every day. Granted I view my bike as a piece of junk and it makes a clunking noise in 3rd gear...at least I'm getting some exercise!

Last night I went for a walk with my parents around our neighborhood. The nighttime air and chilled wind energized me. I've always said that running, jogging or walking in cold weather is a lot more effective than doing so in warmer weather. I find that mind set humorous because in general, my body wasn't built for the cold! When the 40+ weather rolled around sometime last week I gladly shed my jacket in favor of elbow-length sweaters. I could literally feel my bones sigh with relief. Of course, it's not over yet, but...let the fantasy last as long as possible for all of us.

See? I mention exercise and this is what happens! Luckily I caught myself before I completely derailed from the track I was initially on. Back to healthy food vs. cheap food. Am I saying that all cheap food is unhealthy? Definitely not, but I'm sure you've walked the aisles of Wal-Mart or whatever grocery store you have in your area and noticed a trend. Most food items and brands associated with organic principles or healthier ingredients have a higher price tacked onto them. It almost feels like you're being mocked for choosing the healthier food. As if all of Wal-Mart points a finger at you and says "I know you'll be lured in by that low price! So why don't you just pay it? Feed your family for next to nothing! Who cares if it's stuffed with preservatives and things you don't need?" I'll admit, I'm a label reader, but so is my Mom. It all started when I first began regularly volunteering at a horse rescue farm in Reedsville, which is a town roughly forty-five minutes away from where I live in Sheboygan.

The owner, Mary Ellen, eats all organic food and doesn't compromise on anything. Of course, she finds way to get such food on the cheap but here's the headline...she doesn't compromise the quality of the food by getting that low price! Wouldn't it be a dream for all of us to find that? I know I'd feel like I'd struck the equivalent of black gold like Jed in Beverly Hillbilly's. Every time I visit Target or Wal-Mart I find myself skimming the cheaper brands but am almost subconsciously pulled towards the healthier foods. Overtime as I started volunteering on Mary Ellen's farm her eating habits wore off on me. I began checking the labels of what I ate and found...the ingredients she warned about were in literally everything! Even in products you'd never think they'd be like canned pickles, ketchup and syrup. It was ridiculous. I became furious with the food industry for unnecessarily sticking these ingredients in food to act as cheap fillers. As if some foods aren't bad enough as they are.

Of course, this could lead to the whole watch what you eat mentality, which all of us should anyway. Now, obviously, some of us are more discerning than others when it comes to what sits on our plate every meal but, on some level or another, aren't we all concerned? I mean,whether or not you're an up bright an early, every day twenty mile jogger or the type of person who walking back and forth to your car or the fridge constitutes exercise, we're all conscious on some level as to what we eat, and how it affects us.

Take my brother for example, he takes after my Dad in the fact that - there's no way to put this nicely - he's overweight. Unlike my Dad, who keeps dropping the pounds, he seems hellbent on doing absolutely nothing about it. Of course, he'd much rather sit before his video games or drive around in his car than hop on his bike and join me for a ride. In fact, ever since he got his car little over a year ago, he's all but abandoned his bike in our garage. Now I'm hard pressed to get him to join me and often times end up riding alone, which suits me fine but, everyone likes some company now and then right? Anyway, my point of bringing this up is, roughly yesterday or a couple of days ago my brother was gripping on my Mom and I for buying the healthier, more expensive brands. His reason? The price, just like everyone else in Sheboygan. Well, okay, not everyone but the fact that we have two Wal-Marts and an Aldi's - which is even cheaper than Wal-Mart if you can believe it - says volumes more than people's buying habits. To him, compromising the quality of food and accepting all those fillers into your body all in the name of the all mighty lower price...doesn't strike him as wrong in any way.

In fact, just a few hours ago, when I went to our local grocery store with him and My mom and she had to get some linguine for dinner tonight my brother immediately pointed to the Food Club brand, whereas my mom was reaching for the brand she normally used, which was a higher quality and thus...more expensive. While I convinced my Mom to choose the latter a lady approached us and told my brother indirectly that the Food Club brand of linguine tasted pasty and the brand my mom was choosing was the better buy. I'd like to say I didn't fix my brother with a I told you so look but I did. Because all along I knew that just because there's that lower price that shines out across the rocky, treacherous waters of grocery store brands and competition, doesn't mean that when you follow that light you'll be brought safely to shore.

Where that came from I don't know, and if your mind links the image to the story I told above then kudos to you! You've partially tackled my sometimes odd mental images that come to me when I'm writing. Maybe someday I will too.

In closing, I hope you don't read this and think "So, Corrina looks down on anyone who buys cheap brands?" Of course I don't! I simply want people to look beyond the low price to what that food is really offering you. More often than not it's just that...a lower price. Anything else like nutritional value, healthy ingredients and less fillers are tossed over the shoulder and abandoned like a car that's run out of gas on the side of the road and never returned for. I guess you could tie this into the whole quality vs. quantity thing. Just the other day in Wal-Mart when I was shopping with my Mom she noticed a four pack of soda for only a dollar. Of course, when she relayed this to my brother he was ecstatic. I just rolled my eyes. I've never hemmed soda out of life, because frankly I know I don't have to say it, it's bad for you anyway you look at it. But every once in a while I'll break down and drink a can and yes, I do enjoy it but again! That whole guilt factor kicks in and I listen to its persistent, nagging voice in my head. What that voice is and where it comes from is anyone guess. Perhaps its that fitness-minded person within me that's been buried all these years and is still struggling to claw its way out. Or maybe it's just that voice we all have inside of us, whereas we stuff ourselves with Dorritos and ice cream is saying should you be eating these? until we either put down whatever we're eating or drown it out with the sound of chips crunching in your mouth.

Am I also then suggesting you read the label of everything you buy? Sure, why not? I've sure learned a hell of a lot by doing just that. After all, how would I have known that one of the most ubiquitous sugar-substitutes out there, High Fructose Corn Syrup, was nearly in everything I looked at? It's ridiculous really, how many times it's cropped up unsuspectingly. I've even taken offense when I've seen it on the label of my favorite crackers and cereal. And another irony of it is, is that had I not met Mary Ellen and subsequently learned about all of these unhealthy fillers and substitutes, I would be none the wiser and continue filling my body with stuff that doesn't have any right to be there. It's obvious manufacturers are pulling a fast one on clueless consumers, and its wrong. They're tantalizing them with lower prices while stabbing them in back with quality-compromised food.

Not to say that an educated consumer would automatically shy away from the cheaper brands just because they knew about these filler ingredients, but word spreads quickly as we all know, and I truly believe that a public who knows about the compromised quality of the supposedly justified purchases they're making by buying cheaper brands, wouldn't see it as justified anymore. I know I feel angered enough to write this much, even though when I first started this post I doubted the substance I would be able to put forth. Obviously I didn't have a problem with that!

The next time you're at Wal-Mart take it upon yourself to perform a cursory check of the label, and see for yourself if some or most of the ingredients are filler. Or perhaps take a closer look at some of the organic brands, even if the price sends a jolt of pain through your reasonable side. I realize the economy is bearing down on the lot of us, and those cheaper brands are looking more and more appealing but...just because the sticker price is good, doesn't mean the car is going to be the best one you've purchased. Make sure you know how much quality you're compromising in favor of quantity.