Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Yes, We Know Fast Food is Bad for Us

I've mentioned the San Fransisco law to ban toys in fast food before. The Daily Show did a great job with it.
Best moment: interviewing one of the law's proponents who admitted that the city does not have the authority to order a private company (e.g. Netflix) to change its business practices ... when that's exactly what they are doing to private companies. The fellow goes speechless for a second. Classic. Video below the fold.

Also (pictured) how to find real food at the supermarket a la M. Nestle.

Pictures that show the difference between the way food looks when advertised and when you actually buy it.

How to check to make sure your pizza is salmonella free.

Newmark presents one of the more interesting predictions for the future:
The U.K.'s Guardian assembles some experts to predict. Some are plausible; some are not. This one, from an executive at Ogilvy and Mather, made me laugh:
In 25 years, I bet there'll be many products we'll be allowed to buy but not see advertised – the things the government will decide we shouldn't be consuming because of their impact on healthcare costs or the environment but that they can't muster the political will to ban outright. So, we'll end up with all sorts of products in plain packaging with the product name in a generic typeface – as the government is currently discussing for cigarettes.
(The man knows how government works.)


And while we're at it, some tongue in cheek celebrations of farmers' markets (also below the fold)


 
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
San Francisco's Happy Meal Ban
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HT: Barf Blog

2 comments:

  1. Yes all of us understand that over a period of time, all these artificial foods are harmful to humans, but as of now we don't have any choice.

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  2. Don't we? Any? Over the last several years my various diet changes have removed the vast majority of pre-packaged foods from our lives. My family doesn't go to extra-ordinary lengths or visit farmers' markets, but we take the time to prepare our own meals so we know what's in everything. That wasn't our goal, but it turned out to be the cheapest way for us to accomplish the things we are trying to do.

    There are areas where such choices are much more difficult - expensive and/or time-consuming - but the literature on food deserts is not as unified as our intuition. I think we have more choice than we give ourselves credit, in part to reduce our own cognitive dissonance for doing things we know aren't necessarily good for us.

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