Sunday, November 19, 2006

assignment#2


1a.) There are a couple factors that go into my answer for this question, and that make this question difficult for me. One is that at this point in my life, I make very few trips to the supermarket anymore.I used to shop and cook very regularly when I lived alone, but I currently reside in a house with three other males my age, and not much cooking is done there. Also, I work at a very nice restaurant that features plenty of organic foods, and I dine there frequently. Two is that I was raised off organic foods from my start in Juneau, Alaska where my mother was a part owner of the one local health food store, to when we moved to Portland at age 8 and no matter what financial situation we faced my mom would only shop at Nature's or Food Front.. The reason I say this is difficult is because it is slightly disappointing the food choices I make when I do visit the supermarket, not to mention that it is a safeway. Why safeway? Because it is closest to my house, and is of course less expensive than health food stores, and whatever I buy will be consumed by everyone in my house anyways. Another note that is interesting is that I will try and save a few dollars on things like food, but on any given weekend night will have no qualms against going out on the town with friends and spending what little money I do have on drinks with no real heed to the price. But that is a phenomenon we'll call the college student paradox, and is a whole other matter.So on my last trip to the safeway near my house, which I might add now carries their own line of organic products, cleverly named “Organics,” I purchased the following items: “Organics” cream cheese: pretty good price. Comparable to Kraft or Philadelphia.Bulk bagels from the bakery: I always prefer actual baked bread items as opposed to bagged preserved ones.Free range eggs: meat, poultry or dairy products I usual try and by the better ones because that is where it is most important.Darigold milk: I went for this one this time because it was incredibly cheap. $1.98 for the gallon, and I hardly use milk Only for the occasional cereal.Berry Crackles cereal: Safeways version of captain crunch. It's really a dessert for me. No one should start off their day with this much sugar and artificial flavoring. I think I”m attracted to these kinds of products because I was never allowed them as a child.Tillamook cheddar cheese: Not an organic product, but a local one and their cheese is okay.Steinfeld's Crunchy dill pickles: two for four dollars. Great deal. I love pickles.Caprisun juice: It was a good deal. 4 boxes for $5. Good for my house with a lot of guys, they're inexpensive so it doesn't matter when everybody drinks them all, and they are good for being on the go. But honestly I'm emberassed that I bought this product as it's completely unatural and produces way too much waste.
1b.) For the most part I don't think advertising or marketing has ever really played a huge role in my decisions for what to eat. I mean, sometimes a nice label or good design will attract me to it more than another, but price and ingredients will outweigh that. I've really never cared what a celebrity or athlete drinks or eats. I'd say that for pretty much all of these products my decision is made by a cost to quality ratio. The only product that I can say is probably more influenced by markting or advertising would be the Caprisuns. They definitely have a strong brand image that make them appealing to buy.
2.)So for one day i chose to eat only fast food, much like the movie “Super Size Me.” And to stay totally true to that film I also only ate McDonald's for that day. I avoided breakfast as I often do anyways, but at around noon the fun began. I started my day with: Quarter pounder with cheese- delivering 510 calories, and 25 grams of fat.Medium fries- 380 calories and 20 grams of fatmedium sprite- 210 calories and 56 Grams of sugar!!So of course I felt great after this. Actually, the first one wasn't terribly bad other than it sat like a bomb in my stomach and I felt like washing my hands and face after consuming it. But being my first McDonald's food in some time, it was somewhat gratifying. Of course it wasn't too long before I was hungry again, so on my way home from school around 5:30 I stopped for some dollar menu snacks. This time I only got sandwiches because I really never drink soda and didn't want anymore fried potatoes. So for my snack I had:1 McChicken- 370 calories and 16 grams of fat1 Double cheeseburger- 460 calories and 23 grams of fat1 apple pie- 250 calories and 11 grams of fatFrom here needless to say I was ready to eat some real food, but I went home and commenced doing schoolwork. Finally around 9:30 I was hungry again and ready for the grand finale. For my last meal I had:A big mac- 560 calories and 30 grams of fata cheeseburger- 310 calories and 12 grams of fatsmall fries-250 calories and 13 grams of fatsmall coca-cola – 150 calories and 40 grams of sugar!!small hot-fudge sundae- 330 calories, 9 grams of fat and 48 grams of sugar!After this final meal I felt like more than anything i needed to take a shower, and/or go to the gym, but pretty much didn't want to much else but sit on the couch for a little while and watch t.v. And then go to bed. So that's what I did. Today I consumed:calories- 3780fat- 159 gramssugar- 157 gramsSo I consumed probably twice as many calories as I needed and easily 3 times as much sugar and fat as I should have on any given day. It goes without saying that if this was a regular routine for me I would be grossly obese and extremely unhealthy.
3.)I visit New Seasons and Whole foods on a fairly regular basis, whenever I go shopping with my mother, which has always been a pastime for me, and an activity we both enjoy doing together. We actually mostly go to New Seasons anymore as my mom is not a fan of Whole Foods and no longer shops at Nature's since Wild Oats bought them out, but we will still occasionally step into any which one of them. I think it would actually be much easier to note what is similar about these markets compared to People's, as opposed to what is different because they are pretty much completely different. Obviously people's is a much smaller food store. They offer only organic products as opposed to the other markets which also carry conventional foods. Obviously there is the choice by people's to not offer meat which is a major difference. People's is obviously much less influenced by any sort of marketing. Most of their products are small brands or fresh food without any brand or packaging at all. These other markets all have great big delis and Bakeries which People's does not, although they do have their farmer's market on wednesdays. These stores such as whole foods and New Seasons are just a lot larger, and offer a lot more name brand goods, both organic name brands and some conventional name brands. These bigger health food stores are more like businesses and I think offer what will sell as opposed to people's which is far far more scrutinizing as to what they sell, and to me feels more like they sell what they want to sell based on what they believe in, not necessarily what is going to sell.
4.)My understanding is that the politics of the “food pyramid” are simply that the guidelines of the “food pyramid” are based largely on politics. In the words of Marion Nestle:To satisfy stockholders, food companies must convince people to eat more of their products or to eat their products instead of those ofcompetitors. They do so through advertising and public relations, of course, but also by working tirelessly to convince government officials,nutrition professionals, and the media that their products promote health.(Nestle 1)Nestle pretty much sums up the politics of the “food pyramid,” right away on the first page of the book, and within the following chapters discusses the way food companies and industries use political processes to obtain government and professional support for the sale of their products, and all of the different interest that compose the politics of the “food pyramid.”
5.) I don't really know what to say about this advertisement by Phillip Morris.Obviously what it is, is an attempt by a mega corporation to appear socially responsible and like they are some sort of philanthropic organization, and I'm sure this advertisement was effective for a great number of people. I don't what the truth is. Not the truth that Phillip Morris' website will give, but what they really truly do to help feed the world's hungry. I'm sure that this advertisement accomplished what it was supposed to, and that millions of people saw the add and felt good about Kraft foods, but anyone that knows these companies knows that Phillip Morris along with Miller is a company that distributes cigarettes and alchohol and things that are terrible for everyone and generate them billions upon billions of dollars. Ethically, I suppose I can't blame them for advertising because that is what every company does, and I sure hope they donate some of their plunder to help feed people. It's the least they could do. They should be paying for billions of dollars woth of medical bills as well.

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