In a consumer society, there is a product to solve every problem.
Don't want to stop buying useless stuff? Well, as long you recycle you won't feel guilty.
Want to reduce the pollution you cause? No need to reduce your driving, just buy yourself a hybrid car.
Obviously I don't agree with the idea that you can be moral by just buying more environmentally-friendly crap. But sometimes even I have to agree that buying a product is an improvement.
Take the trend toward functional food. It's a concept the health food industry has been selling for years. Since everyone has to eat, you might as well eat something that keeps you healthy, slows down aging and improves your potency (to name a few benefits).
Choosing functional food pushes you toward product choices like pure, dark chocolate instead of mass-produced chocolate bars. Or a good red wine instead of a vodka cooler.
The products are getting more sophisticated. Instead of replacing coffee with chickory (the old health food option), marketers now offer an herbal infusion coffee with calcium and magnesium soaked into the beans, to offset the effect of coffee leaching calcium from your body.
If this where the food industry is headed, I'm interested. Just don't ask me to give up my coffee.
Tag: functional food
Your functional food concept resonated with me - and yoru specific examples were pithy reminders. Thank you. Timely for me.. About 8 years ago, Faith Popcorn predicted that foodicueticals would become popular, that is viewing food as one does medicine.
Keep up the good work!
Kare at sayitbetter.com
Posted by: Kare Anderson | February 11, 2006 at 03:43 PM