OK, total change in gears here. That title was up there because I had written - and posted - a completely sappy blog about the fact that Mr. Jazz and I have been together 20 years now. But once it was up, there was no way I could leave it there. I don't much do goo unless I'm drunk out of my mind. And since it's Monday morning and I'm not, it just had to go.
Suffice it to say, Mr. Jazz is the best thing to happen to me in the longest time (over 20 years now) and he also loves Trailer Park Boys , probably one of the most profane, adolescent male friendly shows on TV. It is hilarious. A pseudo reality show filmed in a trailer park. And it's Canajun, eh? From Nova Scotia more precisely.
Anyone who loves TPB, well, what can I say, my heart is his.
In other news, a Monday rant...
When, exactly did food become medicine?
Yes, I understand all those lovely antioxydants and probiotics and stuff. Thing is, they've always been in the food we eat, haven't they? If you're eating a variety of foods (and this is no problem in North America, although the way some people live at McDonald's you'd think that's the case) you're getting all those antioxydants and stuff from the get go.
But now... Now the agri-food industry has jumped onto the bandwagon. At first it was little things. But now it seems like every second food is being marketed as medicine. You have your probiotic yogurts, you have your antioxydant juices and now Catelli has this new revolutionary pasta.
It contains 300% (?!) more fibre than regular pasta (how it can contain more than 100% more is something I need explained to me).
Newsflash Catelli? There has been pasta around for years and years that contained lots of fibre. It's called whole wheat pasta! It seems sorta stupid to me to refine every nutrient out of flour to make pasta with it and then add a whack of fibre back to it. But what the hell do I know.
Yes, I know, you're not the only people doing it, they're doing it with white bread too.
But what the hell is the point? Whole grains are a good thing! How about you let them do their thing rather than putting what you took out of the grain right back in and packaging it as somehow better?
Oh! because people are stupid enough to buy into it? Because they're willing to pay more if it's marketed as healthier?
Well, in that case, more power to you.
12 comments:
We had an old saying in the newspaper biz which was: "Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public." That is, if somebody can misinterpret a piece, they 'will' misinterpret a piece. Same with consumers. People who attest that brown sugar is healthier than white sugar don't realize that brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses dumped back in. The same stuff they already took out while refining. Much like your revitalized white bread.
Enuff.
Congratulations on your 20. Well done, you guys.
The food industry has been doing that forever. I remember hearing that 4 out 5 kids didn't get enough vitamin C in their diets and people were walking around with "iron poor blood" and then there was "calcium freak out." I guess anti-oxidants are the current nutrient in the spotlight. It all keeps me really confused. And gives me the perfect excuse to ignore everything and live on peanut butter cups.
Congrats on your "Big 20!" As for food I'm still trying to figure out why they have to "fake make" buttermilk now. What are they doing with the real buttermilk? As long as they are making butter, there will be buttermilk. What are they doing with it?
I love, love, love the Trailer Park Boys. You won't catch them eating any of that 300% more fibre than regular pasta. Heh.
Congratulations on your 20th anniversary. :-)
Ian - Why are people so stupid?
Jill - I like your attitude. Besides, peanuts are good for you. So is chocolate it seems. You're on to something.
Geewits - They're probably putting the buttermilk in the pasta.
Josie - They are Canada's best kept secret.
Hypocrates actually said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food"... but he didn't mean to inject medicine into your food, he meant eat fuel your body with good natural stuff and you won't get sick. Food manufacturers are truly insane, but not as insane as the people who buy all this crap.
Congratulations on 20 years, that's marvelous!
Anything for food marketers to make a buck, eh?
It bothers me about the brown sugar (as Ian pointed out) but also about brown eggs. There's a sly suggestion put out there that brown = natural, therefore superior. And that just ain't the case!
20 years and still mad about each other. That is something to celebrate!
As for food, why don't they put something useful in it. Prozac maybe, or lovely hallucinogens for when you're sitting in a boring database class?
Urban Ped - Thanks for your comment - having read your blog I figured I should be polite and thank you for your comment ;-)
Tai - I wonder what they'd think of Araucana chickens. They lay blue eggs. I swear!
Voyager - Oh yeah. Drugs. Sounds like a plan...
Wow... 20 years you guys? You look like you just started dating when you're together ;)
As for the healthy choices that are pushed by the big names, I have been leaving them aside for a long time. I don't buy the paying double $$$ just so that it's a healthy choice, which when you think about it, is not that healthy anyway... I'm too cheap, I prefer simple stuff me...
I want the sappy post back.
You have a soft white emotional underbelly. We all want to tickle it a bit.
Okay, that weird little metaphor went very wrong very quickly.
Congrats on the 20 Jazz years. (That's like 20 regular years, only better.)
Did you know we can eat eggs, chocolate and butter now? Seems that partially-hydrogenated margarine stuff isn't a health food any more.
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