Enticing displays of juicy, tasty cheeseburgers flash across your TV screen.  Fit people in a serene setting are chomping them down voraciously.  Then, the next commercial comes on.  It starts with a person doing his afternoon jog.  He jogs right home, then the next frame shows him at the bar with buddies slugging down the newest light beer.  Next, the baseball game comes back on.  The camera pans across the crowd.  You see dozens of people munching on hot dogs, peanuts, and candy, all-the-while sloshing it down with large sodas.  The ads displayed on the outfield fence include more beer advertisements, fast food icons, soda companies, candy logos, car manufacturers, and well…you get the picture!

What does all this remind you of?

Now, think about shopping at the supermarket, especially in the inner aisles of the store.  You may be envisioning shelves lined with colorful and attractive boxes.  Picture yourself strolling through the cereal aisle where this is overwhelmingly evident.  Fun-faced characters are almost literally leaping out of the boxes, grabbing your attention.  Then, upon a closer look, you see something like “15 vitamins and minerals” or “no cholesterol.”

In many of the aisles, you see highly-branded and vivid displays that vie for your attention even more.  Every other one of them seems to be filled with some form of alcohol, soda, or snack.

Now, think of what your cart may look like when it is time to roll through the check-out lane.

Do you see these things in your cart?

But the most important question of all is:  Does all of this seem like just your regular perception of what food is?  Does it just seem to be the way it is?  Is it all you have ever known?  In other words, are these boxes, plastic bags, bottles, cartons, and cans filled with concoctions what has come to be your daily sustenance?

If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, you certainly are not the seeming minority!

In my opinion, here in North America, this is what most of us have grown up with.  As a result, it just seems to be the way it is.  Long lists of ingredients.  Lots of sugary substances in almost everything.  Salt literally overflowing.  Saturated fat very prevalent.  Loads of calories in every tasty treat.

Most of all though, lots of “flavor.”  It’s what keeps us coming back for more.

It is possible that many of our palates have become conditioned into thinking that this is what food is – lots of “taste” filled with different kinds of fats, many kinds of sugars, and lots of salt.  With endless combinations, it seems to make everything good.  But really, it may not be good for us, and it certainly doesn’t work well to help us along toward the goal of a healthy equilibrium of mind, body, and spirit.

If you do find that your diet mainly consists of items similar to what I mentioned above, and you don’t really consider yourself to be one who ventures too far out of that realm, for fear of the unknown or a remembrance of one incidence many years ago when you tried a different kind of food and found that you “didn’t like it,” just remember that there is a whole other world of food out there that awaits you.

And if that makes you feel a bit uneasy because you feel that it may not be as good as what you are used to, think again!  Now I’m not saying that you should totally abandon every type of food that you currently eat, but I am suggesting two things:

1.    Consider really looking into what is in the food you currently eat, especially if it typically comes out of a box, bag, or carton.  Pay close attention to the ingredients.  Understand the nutrition facts.  Analyze the amount of calories and fat.  And very important, see if it contributes to an overall balanced diet.  But there are many definitions about what a balanced diet really is.  More on that in another post.

2.    Learn about and try new foods, especially from other cultures and ethnicities.  Many varieties of Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, South American, and others are extraordinarily flavorful, and usually quite healthy.  They tend to be filled with vegetables, grains, lean meats, spices, and lots of flavor.  Some are lower in fat and calories too, and have quite natural ingredients.

So in summary, don’t let your current views about what food is stand in the way of breaking free from a diet centered around the box or the fast food joint.  Reconsidering your perceptions about food in general can be an important step toward the way of eating which may suit you best!

Tags: alternative ways of eating, commercial food production, the food industry, views on conventional foods