If you knew a kid who voluntarily gave her lunch money to the school bully every day for some cheese food and corn syrup, would you say something? The majority of us are that little kid getting taken advantage of every time we go to the grocery store.
I thought I’d gotten pretty savvy about maneuvering my way past the bullies. I would never make eye contact, the equivalent of tasting their free samples. I’d keep my money in my pocket around the biggest and baddest major label brands. If possible, I’d get some of the bigger ‘alternative options’ to run interference and I would rely on the safety in numbers at the local farmers markets. I’ve had to do a lot of recon on the cafeteria set-up since relocating from Los Angeles to Toronto. (I heart and miss Trader Joe’s) Last Monday’s challenge inspired my inner investigative journalist and validated my quest to eat whole foods.
Monday’s Manifesto was fairly simple: be conscious of the food I ate. I was successful in making most meals which kept the ingredient list short and recognizable. To avoid skipping a meal I had fish and chips from a market vendor Tuesday. Can’t tell you if the fish was sustainably harvested although it was fresh. The batter did have gluten which I’m sure wasn’t from organic wheat flour and whether the potatoes were organic or not is immaterial because the fries were some of the worst I’ve had. The. Worst.
But snacks were the biggest pitfall. I consumed most snacks prior to research or relied on out of date information. The provenance of dark chocolate covered almonds, neither listed as organic or fair trade, can be traced no deeper than the bulk store bin where they were found. Sesame Snax are made with sugar and maltose, I remember when they were made with just sesame seeds and honey. Miss Vicky’s potato chips once a gourmet Canadian treat is now a Frito-Lay product. Frito-Lay is a big company confounded by a little word like natural. Their “all natural” Tostitos and Sun Chips are made with corn and vegetable oils that are genetically modified. This is at the heart of the class action suit filed against them at the end of 2011.
Finding that Miss Vicky’s was no longer the proudly Canadian product I remembered from childhood inspired this Monday’s Manifesto. I try to be conscious of how much I support the national economy. This week I’m going to track my dollars as best I can and see if I’m really doing what I think I’m doing. I invite you to do the same, all it takes is a couple clicks in Google.
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