Eating without consequences

digitalfirehose (58)in #life • 7 years ago

Source: My camera.

We get a few magazines by subscription. One of them happens to be Better Homes and Gardens. I like the ideas they have for decorating and for meals, but I'm not so sure about the ads. The picture above caught my eye.

Erin imagined a world with unlimited pizzabilities. Can you?

I've been thinking about that all last night since I saw it. I recall the cereal commercials I saw while watching cartoons on Saturday morning as a kid. CocoPuffs, Fruit Loops, Trix, Apple Jacks and Cap'N Crunch. They were all advertised with kids literally swimming in cereal. An infinite supply of cereal that we can eat, with no consequences. I still can't shake the plots of the Trix commercials with that rabbit doing everything in his power to have more. More. MORE.

Even today, sometimes when the TV is on broadcast news to watch for the weather report, I see ads promoting this sort of "eating without consequences" attitude. Is it any wonder that two thirds of Americans are overweight?

Sometimes we go out to eat. I see the huge portions served at the restaurant. Often, we will split one meal between two or three people because the pasta dish is giant. Just think, Cheesecake Factory.

The Nexium ad clearly shows the pharmaceutical industry in support of the restaurant industry, the processed food industry, and perhaps indirectly, in support of the weight management industry. There appears to be a symbiotic relationship between drugs and food and this ad spells it out in bright bold letters with a stack of pizzas for emphasis.

From print, to TV to the web, somehow, we're supposed to believe that eating has no consequences. America seems to have the dubious honor of inventing the pie eating contests and other eating competitions. Competitive eating is most popular in America, Canada and Japan. Japan?

This idea of consumption without consequence doesn't stop with food. It is with everything. Cars, washers, dryers, TVs, furniture and on and on and on. Give your wife a Lexus with giant bow on top, says one Christmas season commercial. Our economy is built on consumption without consequence, at least until we get the bill.

Our news media and our institutions say, "growth, growth, growth", but few are willing to talk about the consequences. We talk a good game about global warming, but we have yet to make a connection in the media between our consumption and environmental impacts. Whenever I see discussion of the environment in the news, it is distanced from consumption, as if to say, that we shouldn't make a connection between what we buy and how that purchase impacts the environment.

I think about this every time I buy something. I think about the supply chain for a plastic sports bottle. When I buy one, that purchase goes into a computer. That record is a signal for demand. That generates another order for more of whatever I bought. Same is true for a TV, a chair, or concrete.

So when I buy something, I am willing to pay more for better quality so that I can use it for many years. I only want to buy it once. I do something similar with eating. After I eat, I check in to see if I'm full. If I'm full, I stop eating. I go for long periods during the day just drinking water because like most people, I don't drink enough water.

I like water because there are no negative consequence to drinking water. Every metabolic process in the body uses water. They say that adult males should drink at least 3.7 liters of water a day. I aim for that. For women, it's about 3 liters a day. I always feel better when I drink water rather than eat food. I have a sports bottle that makes drinking water easy. I always bring a bottle with me wherever I go.

Notice that I use a sport bottle for instant recycling. I avoid bottled water like the plague and use a reverse osmosis water filter for all of my drinking water. I need to use that filter because I live in a mining town.

In my own small ways, I've tried to limit the impact of my existence on the environment. I am caught up in a culture of consumption, and I'm aware of that now. A few small actions of restraint, reuse and mindful care of what I use can have a lasting impact. Now multiple that times thousands and even millions of people who take note of the consequences of eating.

The world doesn't need us to save it. Some day, the world will flick us off like an ant. Unless perhaps, we learn to live in harmony with the world. Then we might know peace with zero debt, better health and a place to live.