The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

[Thailandnotes]

No matter what you think about regulation of the food industry, this is a fun read...

"People like a chip that snaps with about four pounds of pressure per square inch."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/ma...nted=all&_r=1&

[jpatter666]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

I just read this as well and found it really interesting.

[shiny!]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

... The baby boomers were not eating fewer salty snacks as they aged. “In fact, as those people aged, their consumption of all those segments — the cookies, the crackers, the candy, the chips — was going up,” Riskey said. “They were not only eating what they ate when they were younger, they were eating more of it.” In fact, everyone in the country, on average, was eating more salty snacks than they used to. The rate of consumption was edging up about one-third of a pound every year, with the average intake of snacks like chips and cheese crackers pushing past 12 pounds a year.

Riskey had a theory about what caused this surge: Eating real meals had become a thing of the past. Baby boomers, especially, seemed to have greatly cut down on regular meals. They were skipping breakfast when they had early-morning meetings. They skipped lunch when they then needed to catch up on work because of those meetings. They skipped dinner when their kids stayed out late or grew up and moved out of the house. And when they skipped these meals, they replaced them with snacks. “We looked at this behavior, and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, people were skipping meals right and left,’ ” Riskey told me. “It was amazing.”

This says so much about the sickness in our "BUY MORE" society. It's said we're the wealthiest society in the world, but people can't even find time to eat well-prepared, leisurely meals.

Back in the mid-70's, the word was that computers would eventually make work so efficient that we would enjoy three-day work weeks. To that I said, "No, they'll just give us more work to do on the other days and we'll never be able to get away from it. We'll be working more, not less."

[mfyahya]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Back in the mid-70's, the word was that computers would eventually make work so efficient that we would enjoy three-day work weeks. To that I said, "No, they'll just give us more work to do on the other days and we'll never be able to get away from it. We'll be working more, not less."

Maybe if the distribution of wealth hadn't become so lopsided over the past few decades, we could actually have three-day work weeks as a result of the increased productivity per capita.

[shiny!]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Maybe if the distribution of wealth hadn't become so lopsided over the past few decades, we could actually have three-day work weeks as a result of the increased productivity per capita.

Without a doubt.

[leegs]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Maybe if the distribution of wealth hadn't become so lopsided over the past few decades, we could actually have three-day work weeks as a result of the increased productivity per capita.

I doubt it. I think that whatever level of wealth is available, most people would be/are suckered by the marketing machine to WANT MORE and would still be wage slaves. I think it would take a radical rearrangement of values for the general populace for things like a 3-day workweek to catch on.

[don]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

I doubt it. I think that whatever level of wealth is available, most people would be/are suckered by the marketing machine to WANT MORE and would still be wage slaves. I think it would take a radical rearrangement of values for the general populace for things like a 3-day workweek to catch on.

Ban all advertising. Should take a few years of withdrawal but there would be changes . . . .

[leegs]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Ban all advertising. Should take a few years of withdrawal but there would be changes . . . .

I guess we can ban guns while we're at it, and perhaps discard a few other things from the bill of rights eh?

Although I agree, it would be helpful.

Maybe instead just ban TV. I've often thought that if I was dictator for a year, that would be one of my first moves.

Anyway the problem is human nature - advertising just exploits the weakness that is already there.

[don]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Inside the hyper-engineered,
savagely marketed, addiction-creating battle for
American 'stomach share'.

[lektrode]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Maybe instead just ban TV. I've often thought that if I was dictator for a year, that would be one of my first moves.

Anyway the problem is human nature - advertising just exploits the weakness that is already there.

+1
its become unwatchable, due to excessive/repetitive adverts and the cable stations are The Worst of the lot.
it does make for a great soporific tho - about the only way i can make it thru more than an hour is either PBS documentaries or netflix - and then only if netflix isnt choking/buffering (which isnt netflix so much as it is the cable/bandwidth choking - and thats with TW's 15mb pkg! )

[lakedaemonian]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

+1
its become unwatchable, due to excessive/repetitive adverts and the cable stations are The Worst of the lot.
it does make for a great soporific tho - about the only way i can make it thru more than an hour is either PBS documentaries or netflix - and then only if netflix isnt choking/buffering (which isnt netflix so much as it is the cable/bandwidth choking - and thats with TW's 15mb pkg! )

Orwell was quite prescient with his telescreens in 1984.

Orwell wrote that only a few had the ability to turn off their telescreens.

I'm still mulling over what Orwell may have meant by "ability".

Maybe Orwell meant the telescreens can be physically turned off, but most people due to indoctrination and mentally unable to do so.

I watch very little TV.........but do record a lot of doccos......and watch/listen a fair bit on youtube while at the computer.


But then Google YouTube can target me with even greater precision.

[don]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Orwell was quite prescient with his telescreens in 1984.

Orwell wrote that only a few had the ability to turn off their telescreens.

I'm still mulling over what Orwell may have meant by "ability".

Maybe Orwell meant the telescreens can be physically turned off, but most people due to indoctrination and mentally unable to do so.

I watch very little TV.........but do record a lot of doccos......and watch/listen a fair bit on youtube while at the computer.


But then Google YouTube can target me with even greater precision.

Had some work done on the car and had to wait for an hour or so in the 'lounge'. I had a book and sat with my back to the omnipresent (and always on) TV, which meant I was facing everyone else who were watching the damn thing. Shutting out the noise was an exercise in itself while reading. An interminable 'game show' was asking contestants to choose from 3 choices, all more or less concealed. The ubiquitous sheeple's way out of their current malaise . . . cue the lottery.

[shiny!]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Orwell was quite prescient with his telescreens in 1984.

Orwell wrote that only a few had the ability to turn off their telescreens.

I'm still mulling over what Orwell may have meant by "ability".

Maybe Orwell meant the telescreens can be physically turned off, but most people due to indoctrination and mentally unable to do so.

I watch very little TV.........but do record a lot of doccos......and watch/listen a fair bit on youtube while at the computer.


But then Google YouTube can target me with even greater precision.

Interesting take on the meaning of "ability". I've noticed that some people easily go into trance wherever a TV is on. They can't seem to take their eyes off it, much less turn it off. I'll be at a restaurant having a conversation, when I realize the person I'm with is staring at the TV with their mouth hanging open. It can be something totally inane with the sound off, but they are just... gone.

Aside from PBS shows like American Experience and Nova there are only two weekly shows I watch. The rest of the time I'd rather re-watch DVD collections like Firefly, Buffy, Angel, Mad Men, etc. After being spoiled by such well-written shows, most TV is simply unwatchable to me. I'm always on the lookout for good series on DVD.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Had some work done on the car and had to wait for an hour or so in the 'lounge'. I had a book and sat with my back to the omnipresent (and always on) TV, which meant I was facing everyone else who were watching the damn thing. Shutting out the noise was an exercise in itself while reading. An interminable 'game show' was asking contestants to choose from 3 choices, all more or less concealed. The ubiquitous sheeple's way out of their current malaise . . . cue the lottery.

I had a conversation with someone about TV news about a week ago.

Our satellite provider offers 5-6 major news channels.

We were both trying to figure out how long it's been since we watched dedicated mass media news......at home it has been somewhere between 18-24 months I think.

Although I was watching Al Jazeera while overseas a few months ago.

A decade ago I would have had the news on constantly.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Interesting take on the meaning of "ability". I've noticed that some people easily go into trance wherever a TV is on. They can't seem to take their eyes off it, much less turn it off. I'll be at a restaurant having a conversation, when I realize the person I'm with is staring at the TV with their mouth hanging open. It can be something totally inane with the sound off, but they are just... gone.

Aside from PBS shows like American Experience and Nova there are only two weekly shows I watch. The rest of the time I'd rather re-watch DVD collections like Firefly, Buffy, Angel, Mad Men, etc. After being spoiled by such well-written shows, most TV is simply unwatchable to me. I'm always on the lookout for good series on DVD.

I'd like to think I recognize the dangers of mass media and how they can shape perceptions.

I THINK I'm a bit less vulnerable as since I was a kid I've always had a book(now book or tablet) in my hands when the TV is on.

But I still have my concerns about whether there is still a HUGE divide between being cognizant/aware of the dangers of mass media perception shaping(especially with such a small and exceptionally powerful ownership group), and actually being largely immune.

Just like how Porsche sells the majority of their cars to the upper middle class and working affluent(NOT the wealthy as many/most presume), how do we know that while we may be completely aware of the dangers of mass media in it's current iteration, that we aren't still highly vulnerable to being influenced and shaped by it?