20 November 2009

What to Eat

Currently reading What to Eat by Marion Nestle.  She's a professor of nutrition at NYU.  Cool.

Apparently she's done all sorts of extensive research on what food companies want us to think and buy, who owns food companies, why grocery stores are all laid out the same way, and what goes into genetically modified, organic, conventional, and local foods.

If you've ever been to a grocery store in North America, it probably has either flowers or the bakery section by the entrance [to stimulate appetite by smell], long long aisles of prepackaged foods [to keep you interested while walking along slowly], bright shining bins of produce [waxed over & labelled with various countries & states of nonlocal origin] and all that placed between you and the important stuff [milk, bread, eggs, meats - all located furthest away from the entrances] so that you look at more things they have to offer than you need.

The author states that 70% of grocery store customers create lists before shopping.  10% of shoppers don't buy more than their list includes.

Next time:  Sugar - How invasive it is in our diets.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have a routine when I walk to the grocery store.

1. Look at the ice cream and make note of new Ben & Jerry's flavors. And that big container over there... will it fit in our freezer at home? Time to think about what flavor I want while I go retrieve everything else.

2. Blow past everything and go find the veggies, pasta, etc (and incidentals if I'm making chili or something) I think I'll want over the next week.

3. Start walking back to the ice cream, after having made up my mind while grabbing bread, milk, juice, etc.

4. Peer at the flowers (and possibly pick up a bunch).

5. Check out. Since I walk, I can only buy what I can carry, which means two reusable bags. Nothing else!

I think, if I didn't go with a list and if I weren't so set in my ways, I'd buy more things that are SO bad for me...