FOOD VIGILANTE

So I’ve been thinking.

I know, brace yourselves.

Many would argue that the world has changed drastically on the past 50 years. The world is now a smaller place. The concept of 24/7 is not some rouge advertising campaign, it is practically the norm. In order to live comfortably (whatever that is) a two income family is almost essential. The only thing keeping the world’s collective head above water is our great strides, or doggie paddles if you will, in one particular area.

Convenience.

At the onset the idea of convenience was brilliant. Take for instance the convenience store. See, there was a day when grocery stores actually closed. Crazy, huh? So, when Dad needed to run out for milk after 9PM to ensure a balanced breakfast the next day, he could stop in a convenience store if the regular store was closed. This was revolutionary, well thought out and well, convenient. Albeit a bit more expensive. Convenience, after all, has it’s price (cue ominous music).

The key was that there were no other options. This idea took care of the consumer and filled a void.

Now, let’s say it was 4:30 in the afternoon, Dad was leaving work and Mom called him to pick a few things up for the kitchen. (Or Dad called Mom at the office, , so P.C.) Would dear ol’ Dad stop at the convenience store and try to shop for his list of supplies? No, that would be ridiculous, the regular store is open and is the logical choice.

Then something happened. Over the course of a few years, everything, everywhere began to stay open 24/7, just like the convenient convenience stores. Suddenly everything was convenient.

OK, you’re probably saying, “FV, what’s your point??

Well, I think that our collective consciousness has lumped everything in our lives into the same category. Convenience has seeped into every nook of our existence. We seek out convenience for every moment of our waking lives. No one ever looks for the harder or longer way to do something, this I understand. But the brilliant advertisers and pervasive corporations have convinced us that convenience is better than anything, even better than quality, even when it comes to nutrition. As wonderful and progressive convenience is to us humans, it should have never been pushed into our food.

Design me a better car. Make me a remote control for every electronic device in my home. Build me a vacuum cleaner that cleans my floors by itself. But, please, stay the hell away from my food!

OK, let’s wrap this up in a convenient package. The big grocery stores are your whole fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. The convenience store is represented by the vitamin or dietary supplement. As the world changed and grew, time shrunk. Our lives were flooded with an endless array of pills to pop that took the place of food, or at least the nutrients in food. This was and still is very convenient. Entire stores have cropped up that ONLY sell supplements, foodless grocery stores! So now we can skip meals, eat nutritionally void snacks throughout the day and all but forget how to peel an orange, as long as we swallow our cello-pack of vitamins. Right?

Of course not. Practically any good food we need is available to us at any time of the day. I’ll even turn my head to the use of a big box store if you need fruit for your lunch, or your kid’s lunch and normal shopping hours have slipped away. For goodness sakes, you can even find a banana in a lot of vending machines these days! Healthy eating IS convenient again, yeah!