As someone who realizes the value of eating healthy and getting the daily servings of each food group I try to eat as healthy as possible, though I love some foods that are really bad for you. My family is Southern and a lot of the foods that I eat when I am with them are some of my favorites, so when I was looking for those particular foods I noticed that most of them were either low on the shelves or at eye level with friendly old faces. Most of them were black, but a few were of old white women to lend the air of a time when Southern food was created and the comfort of the product. This reminded me of Patel's statement, that " The story of food production to which most of us admit, almost as a reflex, owes mo
re to fairy tales and children's television programming that anything else. Without a reason to revisit the creation myths of food we learned when young, we carry around unquestioned our received opinions of pastoral bliss, of farmers planting the seeds in the ground, watering them and hoping that the sun will come out so that the plants can grow big and strong. This is certainly one description of how food is grown. It's just one that glosses over the most important parts. The tales we tell about farming stuff a sock into the mouths of the world's rural poor. When food's provenance is reduced to a single line on a label, there's much we don't understand, nor even understand we should ask." This was true for all the foods I looked at. Also, a lot of the vegetables that I looked for were frozen since you usually can't find Okra and stuff like that in the Northwest in the fresh food sections. This is probably just because there isn't a huge demand for these foods, but there is still a good portion of people that will buy it. Also, I like to eat a lot of fresh foods so starting from one end I would have to walk from the fresh breads to the complete other end of the store to get vegetables, passing all of the frozen, processed, and canned foods on my way. This is a smart setup because on the journey I would likely find something horrible for me that sounded amazing and I would likely pick up or at least consider. If I didn't have to take this walk I wouldn't eat half of the things that I pick up because I wouldn't see them or even know half of them existed. Also, I am allergic to dairy products. I can eat them but they give me a really bad stomach ache, but I love them SO much. So to try and help that a little bit I have tried to cut out as much as I possibly can and replace it with something else. So, I use soy milk often because of my love for cereal. The soy milk and many of the soy, almond, dairy free products are often in the middle of the aisles. For soy milk it is generally in the baking aisle surrounded by cake mixes and chocolate. This has always seemed like a weird placement to me since it isn't with other "alternative foods." But I believe the placement is usually so that the general population that doesn't use these products don't see them on the end of an aisle and think "Oh gross, this aisle isn't one I need to go down because it is just this kind of food." Though as they pass it they might not realize what it is and think "maybe I should try this." Though for someone that doesn't have a dire allergy when I pass all the other products to get to the middle of the aisle I find something that usually include
s something I probably shouldn't eat because it contains dairy of some sort. The soy products also mention that they taste just as good as dairy products and make themselves look wholesome (most stating that it is natural, oh the irony) and a great alternative and gladly offer that they are a GMO product betting on the fact that most people think that is a good thing. For all the products I found, from Southern foods, soy products and dairy alternatives, and fruits and vegetables there were very few choices. Usually it was only between one or two and some there were only one type of the product. So if I didn't like it for some reason I didn't buy it at all or just had to deal with it because I wanted it and it was the only one they had. When it came to fruits and vegetables this has been apparent for a while, but the other products for a while I just figured they don't make that many soy and dairy free items, though I know this is not true and they make a ton, Safeway just doesn't carry many. When I was walking through the store I kept seeing products that I liked as a child which made me think about what it would be like for me as a child going through the store and having to eat the way I do now. My family gave me dairy because I liked it, though they know now that my complaints about often feeling sick or uncomfortable were because of that. This thought about shopping with a child was heightened when I walked through the snack aisles especially. The boxes are brightly colored with cartoon characters, what kid wouldn't want those kind of snacks over a plain colored boring box of snacks? Though not all, but many of these products were on the end aisles to entice kids to come look down that aisle and were low on the shelves or in the middle at sitting in a cart eye level. Though even if my family did buy soy milk or fresh bread and fruits and vegetables they would still have to pass all the processed, canned, horrible foods that kids love and would probably end up buying something that was really bad. I know by the time I get through the whole store and usually end my trip in the fruits and vegetables I am tired and ready to go home, so I might not buy as much as I should since I spent so much time in the middle aisles. Though I never really thought about it my mother always started in the fruits and vegetables so I was always bright eyed and asking for everything in that area, and usually was treated with some kind of fruit roll up thing made from real fruit and was a better choice than most of the items in the store. And by the time we got to the aisles with all the snacks and really bad stuff I was ready to go and didn't pay that much attention to what we were carting past and more ready to watch my favorite cartoon when we got home. I don't know if she did it on purpose, but it seems like it could have been her way of working against the advertising of products and knowing that I always acted in this way. Not that it was a way to fight the "choice" we have when we shop, but perhaps my choice. After my shopping trip I realized more than ever how limited my choices are, I don't love shopping at the regular grocery store and usually try and go to farmers markets or co-ops as much as possible, but it is eye opening to think of how many people think they go to the store and choose what their family eats, when for the most part corporations make the decision of what you will eat.
The first part of this video is about war, but eventually gets into great points about the illusion of choice and is made visible by a comedian, using his voice for something pretty great.
EXTRA CREDIT:
mt. dew ascorbic acid (makes it last longer on shelf)
earths best organic baby food ascorbic acid
bread, pasta, tortilla chips gluten
cough drops and sugar free chocolate sorbitol
chips (doritos) maltodextrin
licorice invert sugar
gluten free products, ice cream cones, ranch dressing xanthan gum
candies: nerds, sugar babies, creme brulee mix, fruit jams zein
Corn and soy were found in every product I found, even the ones I bought while I was actually shopping. It just shows how pervasive these foods are and that we should be concerned by their production, how they are used in our foods and why. We might think that corn and soy production don't affect most of us, but it is in almost everything we eat, even if it is named something crazy that even my computer doesn't think is a real word. And the fact that there are so many hidden products in our food that we don't even know what it is should first of all frighten us and helps to eradicate the idea that we think our food is made by a farmer and comes straight to our table, because there are so many processes and steps that we generally don't know about.
re to fairy tales and children's television programming that anything else. Without a reason to revisit the creation myths of food we learned when young, we carry around unquestioned our received opinions of pastoral bliss, of farmers planting the seeds in the ground, watering them and hoping that the sun will come out so that the plants can grow big and strong. This is certainly one description of how food is grown. It's just one that glosses over the most important parts. The tales we tell about farming stuff a sock into the mouths of the world's rural poor. When food's provenance is reduced to a single line on a label, there's much we don't understand, nor even understand we should ask." This was true for all the foods I looked at. Also, a lot of the vegetables that I looked for were frozen since you usually can't find Okra and stuff like that in the Northwest in the fresh food sections. This is probably just because there isn't a huge demand for these foods, but there is still a good portion of people that will buy it. Also, I like to eat a lot of fresh foods so starting from one end I would have to walk from the fresh breads to the complete other end of the store to get vegetables, passing all of the frozen, processed, and canned foods on my way. This is a smart setup because on the journey I would likely find something horrible for me that sounded amazing and I would likely pick up or at least consider. If I didn't have to take this walk I wouldn't eat half of the things that I pick up because I wouldn't see them or even know half of them existed. Also, I am allergic to dairy products. I can eat them but they give me a really bad stomach ache, but I love them SO much. So to try and help that a little bit I have tried to cut out as much as I possibly can and replace it with something else. So, I use soy milk often because of my love for cereal. The soy milk and many of the soy, almond, dairy free products are often in the middle of the aisles. For soy milk it is generally in the baking aisle surrounded by cake mixes and chocolate. This has always seemed like a weird placement to me since it isn't with other "alternative foods." But I believe the placement is usually so that the general population that doesn't use these products don't see them on the end of an aisle and think "Oh gross, this aisle isn't one I need to go down because it is just this kind of food." Though as they pass it they might not realize what it is and think "maybe I should try this." Though for someone that doesn't have a dire allergy when I pass all the other products to get to the middle of the aisle I find something that usually include
s something I probably shouldn't eat because it contains dairy of some sort. The soy products also mention that they taste just as good as dairy products and make themselves look wholesome (most stating that it is natural, oh the irony) and a great alternative and gladly offer that they are a GMO product betting on the fact that most people think that is a good thing. For all the products I found, from Southern foods, soy products and dairy alternatives, and fruits and vegetables there were very few choices. Usually it was only between one or two and some there were only one type of the product. So if I didn't like it for some reason I didn't buy it at all or just had to deal with it because I wanted it and it was the only one they had. When it came to fruits and vegetables this has been apparent for a while, but the other products for a while I just figured they don't make that many soy and dairy free items, though I know this is not true and they make a ton, Safeway just doesn't carry many. When I was walking through the store I kept seeing products that I liked as a child which made me think about what it would be like for me as a child going through the store and having to eat the way I do now. My family gave me dairy because I liked it, though they know now that my complaints about often feeling sick or uncomfortable were because of that. This thought about shopping with a child was heightened when I walked through the snack aisles especially. The boxes are brightly colored with cartoon characters, what kid wouldn't want those kind of snacks over a plain colored boring box of snacks? Though not all, but many of these products were on the end aisles to entice kids to come look down that aisle and were low on the shelves or in the middle at sitting in a cart eye level. Though even if my family did buy soy milk or fresh bread and fruits and vegetables they would still have to pass all the processed, canned, horrible foods that kids love and would probably end up buying something that was really bad. I know by the time I get through the whole store and usually end my trip in the fruits and vegetables I am tired and ready to go home, so I might not buy as much as I should since I spent so much time in the middle aisles. Though I never really thought about it my mother always started in the fruits and vegetables so I was always bright eyed and asking for everything in that area, and usually was treated with some kind of fruit roll up thing made from real fruit and was a better choice than most of the items in the store. And by the time we got to the aisles with all the snacks and really bad stuff I was ready to go and didn't pay that much attention to what we were carting past and more ready to watch my favorite cartoon when we got home. I don't know if she did it on purpose, but it seems like it could have been her way of working against the advertising of products and knowing that I always acted in this way. Not that it was a way to fight the "choice" we have when we shop, but perhaps my choice. After my shopping trip I realized more than ever how limited my choices are, I don't love shopping at the regular grocery store and usually try and go to farmers markets or co-ops as much as possible, but it is eye opening to think of how many people think they go to the store and choose what their family eats, when for the most part corporations make the decision of what you will eat.The first part of this video is about war, but eventually gets into great points about the illusion of choice and is made visible by a comedian, using his voice for something pretty great.
EXTRA CREDIT:
mt. dew ascorbic acid (makes it last longer on shelf)
earths best organic baby food ascorbic acid
bread, pasta, tortilla chips gluten
cough drops and sugar free chocolate sorbitol
chips (doritos) maltodextrin
licorice invert sugar
gluten free products, ice cream cones, ranch dressing xanthan gum
candies: nerds, sugar babies, creme brulee mix, fruit jams zein
Corn and soy were found in every product I found, even the ones I bought while I was actually shopping. It just shows how pervasive these foods are and that we should be concerned by their production, how they are used in our foods and why. We might think that corn and soy production don't affect most of us, but it is in almost everything we eat, even if it is named something crazy that even my computer doesn't think is a real word. And the fact that there are so many hidden products in our food that we don't even know what it is should first of all frighten us and helps to eradicate the idea that we think our food is made by a farmer and comes straight to our table, because there are so many processes and steps that we generally don't know about.
Really interesting discussion -- I wonder how race fits into the marketing of grits and pancake batter and how this (like the image of farmer) plays on nostalgia, racial narratives, and an overall erasure of the food system. Nice work
ReplyDeleteThe examples you use in this post are great. As you were discussing about soy milk, I also think another reason they might keep it in the middle of the aisle is because of visibility. They don’t want to place it in a spot where everyone can openly see it, as you said. To add to that I also think that soy milk targets a certain person, and the majority of people who go to the store and buy soy milk probably already had that on their shopping list. Soy milk normally isn’t something a person would buy on impulse, so stores don’t exactly have to display or promote it as much. It’s odd to think that everything that’s placed in the store was meant to be in the exact spot, and if it was placed in a different spot the sales on that item might drop tremendously.
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