The shape of things

I was reading an article on portion-control and americans. There was nothing really new in the article- the usual facts about bagels being 5 times too big etc. But at the end of the article I read this:

"Soft drinks: Note this last item: 8 ounces of a soft drink, not the 12 ounces in a modern can or the 24 in a typical McDonald's serving. Unless it is an artificially sweetened product, you are consuming water with 7 teaspoons (108 calories) of sugar in every 8 ounces. That's 21 teaspoons of sugar in a 24-ounce soda."

When I heard it like that... drinking a 24 ounce coke is like eating 21 teaspoons of sugar, I got way grossed out.

So if you're still addicted to cokes, maybe this might get you thinking about either switching to diet soda or cutting back significantly on your regular soda intake.

So apparently Americans like their organic products so much that the demand is exceeding the supply, causing many organic suppliers to turn to other countries to deliver the goods.

I'm still not sold on Organic foods. Sure the concept is nice, no toxins, no pesticides, etc. But is it worth the price mark-up and eventually the wait (at least until supply meets back up to the demand).

I read the article where it talked about people enjoying organic foods because it made them feel better about helping the environment and feel like they were helping the small-scale farms survive. But then later in the article it presented an anecdote of a farmer in new york who can barely get his organic crops to grow because the insects eat the seeds up and the organic seeds cost so much more. And then another farmer drove to Chicago to some expo to try to find information on how to grow organic crops...because apparently that information just isn't out there.

So I ask myself- which small scale farms are we actually helping by going organic? It seems to me if it's so difficult to learn and to grow organic, small scale farms won't have the money or expertise to go organic... therefore it will turn into the hands of large farms that have the money, labor and time to grow organic and afford a few seasons of failed crop until they get it right.

Perhaps the best way to support small scale farms is to go to your local produce stand instead of Wal Mart for your fruits and veggies. Sure it's one more stop on Sunday afternoon, but you're buying local crop and you're helping out farmers in your area. And the taste... oh it's so much better. When I bite into a local grown Cantaloupe and compare it to Walmart's... it's incredibly sweeter and oh, so much better.

To me - organic food is just another hollywood trend gone national. And frankly, I hate trends. Enjoy local grown produce and enjoy a better taste, more money in your pocket, and the satisfaction that you're helping the local agriculture economy. Nothing trendy about it, just makes plain sense.

A study shows that 80 percent of Americans check the food labels of items before purchasing them. Sounds like great news, right?

Nope - because 44 percent of them buy the food anyway, regardless if the food label information is not good.

After reading the brief article (which also states that young people are more likely to check the calories first on food labels) I was left with many questions.

Question 1: If 44 percent buy the food, does that mean that 66 percent do not purchase the food if the food label information is not good?
Question 2: Do the majority of Americans even know what  is "not good" on an information label?
Question 3: Why bother checking the label if you buy it anyway?

Wouldn't it be great if instead of stating "Calories" "Trans Fat" "Monosaturated Fat" there were labels that actually said what these things meant.

For instance next to "Trans Fat" it would state "You should not eat more than 20 grams of trans fat a day based on a 2,000 calorie diet" (that's according to the american heart association) Or even better it would say "Eat too much trans fat and studies show that you can clog your arteries - Enjoy!"

Good news is that people are in the habit of checking labels, so maybe with more information about the harmful effects of trans fat, etc. we will start making the decision to put it back on the shelf.