Some of these foods were simply overpriced, while others were just too...well, manufactured.
The author, Rachel Hostetter, mentioning some practical advice, and one constant she mentioned seemed to be steering well clear of "designer" brand foods, whether ice cream or bottled water. She also mentions that more natural ingredients that most people have at home can often be far better than what you are provided when you purchase things that look even somewhat reasonable.
One of the things she mentioned was something that I already had found out on my own - the little lunchables packets, with a few pieces of crackers and slices of cheeses which, like she said, probably costs pennies. Most of what you are getting is the packaging, and that really seems ridiculous. Oh, and of course, the name brand.
I was pleased to see her mention the futility of buying "designer" brand water bottles. This is one issue that I think more people should recognize. Tap water is still usually perfectly safe (recent events in West Virginia proving an obvious exception), yet the common belief seemingly being that, somehow or other, it is not.
The thing is, I can remember when those little plastic water bottles became popular. It was in the nineties, and all of a sudden, all of the women in particular seemed to be carrying them around, At the time, my only thought was amazement that people would pay money for something that they could get for free. So, I assumed that it was just a passing trend, and would die out soon enough.
Obviously, I could not have been more wrong about that one. But the thing is, tap water is still perfectly fine, despite the myths to the contrary. It almost seems like the smaller the bottle, the more expensive the product - and keep in mind, the water is pretty much the same in each one. Plus, each one comes in bottles that take a tremendous amount of oil to produce per bottle, which is very detrimental to the environment. I remember Robert Kennedy, Jr. saying that, urging people not to buy bottled water years ago during the Earth First concert. I was very pleased that the author here mentioned that as a reason that people should abstain from purchasing these things.
Of course, if you have to buy bottled water, than do so in bigger bottles, which are at least make more financial sense. You can but much bigger bottles of water for usually far less than the "designer" brand bottles (I really like the idea of referring to certain foods and water bottles as "designer brand", because really, that is what you are paying for, these trendy, flashy consumer items that are fashionable and en vogue at the moment).
There was another thing that she mentioned that I was not aware of, and that was the use of "cellulose" in certain products that you should steer clear of. "Cellulose" is just a fancy word for wood shavings - that's right, wood shavings - which are put into foods to fill you up a bit more. Yes, this is actually in products that we consume, bot literally and figuratively.
We buy too much junk here in our overly consumeristic society, and most of us already know that. But it is telling, a real reflection of our current values, that what we are buying and putting into our own bodies, is perhaps the biggest and most offensive of all the junk that we consume (and nowhere on Earth is junk consumed in such quantities, and with such enthusiasm, as right here in the United States). And really, it would just take a little effort, maybe a tiny bit of research, to do a heck of a whole lot better for ourselves on our own. How many of these companies selling us crap would even still be in business if, suddenly, everyone started doing just that, if the trend was towards a "do it yourself, and do it right" approach to food? Probably, their products would be filling the shelves for a few months at most, than the clearance racks, then the history books. And we'd all be better for it. But in this society, being so used to everything being done for us, they not only exist, they are growing stronger and more numerous every single day. And it's not always just monster companies like McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts that keep popping up every twenty feet, either. Many of the products mentioned in the article can be found in the supposedly healthy sections of your local supermarket! So, be aware! Be mindful, especially of what you put into your body. As some commercials suggest, you are what you eat (so you better eat smart).
More and more people are becoming more conscious of what we eat, and what we put into our bodies. This article should help you do so, if you are interested, and I highly recommend it. There may be some revealing surprises that you will learn about.
Here is the link:
"27 Foods You Should Never Buy Again" by Rachel Hofstetter from Dollar Savvy, published by Reader's Digest,
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/foods-you-should-never-buy-again/?trkid=taboola#slideshow=slide12
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