Warning, Craving Food Transparency

I love food. Not the same way, that I love a good massage or a good book, but it's up there on the list of things that I love. Sometimes we take the things we love for granted, and I for one take for granted my access to clean food. So what do we do when we are craving something that's potentially bad for us. I'm not just talking about high calorie or high in fat bad. Should we be warned? Should we not be warned? Let's chat about it.

Music by Mound City by Coleman Hawkins (recorded 1929)

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This podcast is recorded in a style that pays homage to talents like Miss Monitor (Tedi Thurman) and explores topics designed to stimulate conversations. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It's not as sweet. It's fresher. It's not as big. It's just better.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Now, darling. I of course know that bigger does not mean better. My name is the lovely Ray, and I was born and raised in the US. I currently have the opportunity to speak with people from all over the world. Regular people, just like you. And I'm always fascinated by the cultural differences and similarity. This podcast is voicing the style of the Sultray Sounding 1955 Weather Girl. It is a collection of thoughts inspired by my global conversations and aims to invite you to have those hard conversations out loud and with others. Thanks for stopping by, darlings. I love to chat. Welcome back, darlings. Oh, I must confess I have been dying for something delicious yet not nutritious. Yes, it is a new year, and as many of us are doubling down on our commitments to eating healthier and being fit and strong, working out, getting those hard bodies ready for the best year ever. This girl has been craving some very naughty foods. Yes, I've managed to hit the gym a few times, but you know, that desire to indulge in a little sweet treat hasn't gone away. And as I found myself online trying to decide whether or not to put a little something good in my virtual shopping cart, I found myself taking a pause. What's this? Prop sixty five warning? Ooh, if I say yes to these calories, yes to this guilty pleasure, I'm also saying yes to the possibility that the chemicals which this food has been around, or its packaging has been around, or the facility in which this product has been housed, those chemicals could lead to potential physical harm. Yes, in California, Prop sixty-five requires that those provide food do let us know if those items have been around cancer-causing chemicals or chemicals that may induce reproductive harm. Like nasty little things like lead, like mercury. Why isn't it international? But I really want that chocolate.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Fuck. What's a girl to do? And then I started thinking, hmm.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Is it really that bad for me? I mean, after all, if this food was filled with chemicals, they wouldn't be allowed to sell it, would they? Would they? And a quick little Google search allowed me to discover that actually the Proposition 65 warnings were challenged in court not too long ago. And after much back and forth, it looks like the organizations stating that Prop sixty-five was against the First Amendment. I mean, after all, if these companies do not believe that their products have been around chemicals that could potentially cause harm, after all, the science behind whether or not these chemicals cause harm is not one hundred percent. Why is that? Well, it seems they were able to find some scientists who said, well, hey, just because that chemical caused cancer in a lab rat doesn't necessarily mean that that same cancer will occur in a human. Great. So, because someone argued that it was a violation of the First Amendment, because this company says that their product, yes, it has been exposed to this chemical, but they do not believe that the amount of exposure which may impact a lab rat is equivalent to cause the same kind of negative impact on a human. They don't have to post that warning because they don't believe it's gonna have that same effect. Henceforth, companies should not have to have this warning. And sadly, my friends, we're gonna see a lot fewer warnings about chemical exposure on our food, at least in California. Now, if you're outside of California, you might not give two shits. But I want to ask you this. We put warnings on cigarettes and people can make their choice to smoke or not to smoke. But where else could warnings be of a greater benefit? Where else could warnings give us a pause? Isn't it strange that in a country where there is an abundance of food, there also seems to be an abundance of poverty. It's very fucking weird. And isn't it strange that in a country where the shelves are lined with so many delicious treats and we have so much information at our fingertips?

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Why is it that the amount of sugar in a product, the amount of an addictive substance in a product is not the first thing we see?

SPEAKER_03 8:25

There's no major warning. There's a label saying how many whole grains there are full of whole grains by me now. Full of enough sugar in one serving to cause the average person to meet their daily requirement. Oh, just from one bowl of cereal, or serving of yogurt or bread or pasta, you pick your food. In the U.S., we like to use a lot of sugar in our food. Something sweet as a treat. Even the safe stuff has sugar. It's actually quite mind-boggling. And yet, in this very same country, where our right to know what's in our food, our freedom of speech seems to seems to be at odds with the fascination with these GLP drugs. Does anyone else find this weird? I find it very weird. I mean, look, baby. I am all for you being able to feel the way you want, to look the way you want. Oh yeah, I support it. But why is it that we're now living in a world where we literally get to have our cake and eat it too? But know that those pounds are gonna drop right off. But you may be saying, Now lovely, those GLP ones also change the appetite.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

And so we won't need to crave those sugary treats anymore. Good point. Very good point.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

But couldn't we just demand more? Demand better from those food manufacturers? Couldn't we just say, you know, I'm gonna exercise my First Amendment right, and I'm gonna tell you what I think of your hiding ingredients that don't agree with my body, of you hiding addictive nature of your food. I want you to be honest with me. I want you to be so honest with me that I am trusted enough to read that label and to make my own decision. You don't have to hide it on the side. Put it on the front the same as you would with an allergy warning. The same as you would with that protein notification that you want me to drool over.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

I want to know what's in my fucking food.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

And just like my pack of cigarettes, I am an adult and I can make an educated decision. Or maybe we should be demanding even more from these food manufacturers, and maybe we should say, I'm not interested in food that will change my body so much that I then have to spend days, weeks, months, years trying to fight the effects that those foods have on my body. I am not going to eat that food because I do not want to then have to fight with my insurance to get a special drug that I'm gonna have to inject myself with in order to reverse the effects that your food has had on my body.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

I don't know. I don't know. Isn't it weird how we feel we should be able to eat what we want, do what we want, and yet there are no consequences. But maybe that's not so weird.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

That's kind of the state of American politics right now, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

A government that does what they want, says what they want, even if it's a lie, and hope there's no consequences, or hoping there's no negative consequences anyway. So strange, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 14:09

So strange. And some of my friends who have traveled abroad have said to me, Oh lovely. The food, the food over there, it's so much different. It's not as sweet, it's fresher.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

It's not as big. It's just better.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

Now, darling, I of course know that bigger does not mean better. Size has never been much importance for me. But I always wonder why are other countries fascinated by Western cuisine or fast food or McDonald's or pizza or burgers? Because here in the US, we seem to be absolutely obsessed with the flavors of other countries. What do you feel like tonight, baby? Should we do Italian?

SPEAKER_02 15:29

How about sushi? Maybe a little Mexican. Let's do Thai.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Decisions, decisions.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

But honey, I remember there was once a time when you could go into the grocery store and you would find generic yellow boxes, no brand, just a yellow box with black letters, and you knew that was the cheaper product. It was the generic one. And you made your choice. You can get the box with the cartoon characters, or you can get the plain yellow box. Both products had labels on the side, so you had to see the ingredients.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

What if?

SPEAKER_02 16:57

I know, a marketing nightmare.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

But just what if the front of every food package, instead of showing me some athlete smiling in front of their bowl of cereal, instead of showing me cute tigers or tricky little leprechauns, instead of showing me a heartbeat and a field of wheat, or even those silly plastic windows so I could see what those noodles look like.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

What if the front of the box just said the name of the product and listed the ingredients if the nutrition label was on the front?

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Well, for one thing, there wouldn't be any sensory overload in terms of colors and all these catchphrases of whole grain here, protein this. We could just see for ourselves what's in there.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

And maybe maybe there's a warning. Just like the cigarettes. Or maybe not. Do we not trust ourselves? Or do we trust ourselves?

SPEAKER_03 18:37

But the suppliers of our food don't trust us to make the right decision and purchase their product.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Is it the old saying, if you make a good product, the people will buy? So what is there to lose? I mean, why not just give it to me straight? Bear it all, and let me decide what's good for me. And if it's not good for me, let me decide if I want to be bad. That would be something.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Now you might be saying, oh, information overload. Imagine walking down those aisles and just seeing lists of ingredients.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

What's the fun in that?

SPEAKER_03 19:51

I don't know about you, darling, but I already find myself avoiding many owls. The other day I actually rushed to the back of the store. I knew exactly what I wanted. I had a good idea where to find it, and I didn't want to be tricked by those bags of chips and cookies. Calling my name, inviting me to just take a taste. To stop for a while.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

But I made it in and out like a good little girl. Got what I needed. How silly.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

A grown woman running through the grocery store for fear she'll be tempted to do something she shouldn't. Isn't that the dining out experience? Where you allow yourself to be bad for just a moment and to be tempted by what you shouldn't. Then again, there are those of us who eat out every single night. Oh, I hate cooking. I don't know how to cook.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

It just doesn't taste as good as when someone else makes it for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Well that is interesting. How the very act of cooking seems like such a bother, so boring, so inconvenient, and yet isn't the purpose of food to sustain life. Well, darlings, I guess we'll have to explore that idea another time. But I hope this little conversation has wet your appetites. Perhaps you'll cozy up to someone you know, someone you want to know, someone you just met, and have a little chat. Until next time, darlings. It's been lovely to chat.