Nutrition Labels

I want to propose a revolutionary idea, but first some background. When it comes to food, the majority of American’s are either stupid, lazy, or poor;  or at least that is what they claim when it comes to eating habits.

Quotes from almost-real people:

I eat bad because I don’t have the money to buy good food. ~Rob aka “Poor”(Mercedes owner)

Good food never keeps as well as cheap food and I don’t have the time to go to the super market every week. –Beth aka “Lazy” (Stay at home mom)

I’m on heart meds and vitamins, so I don’t have to worry about Nutrition. ~John “Stupid” (Heart-Attack Victim)

Back to reality.  Lets do a quick case study Trader Joes, Joe-Joe’s aka “healthy, addictive Oreos.”  If you were to look on the side of a box of Joe Joes you would see this:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 2 Cookies Servings Per Container 21
Amount Per Serving
Calories 130	Calories from Fat 50
	% Daily Value *
Total Fat 6g	9%
Saturated Fat 2g	10%
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0g	0%
Sodium 80mg	3%
Total Carbohydrate 19g	6%
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 11g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A	0%
Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	0%
Iron	6%
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Now quick survey.  How many people in America eat 2 Oreo’s?  Exactly.

Here is what the Nutrition Label should read:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/2 Box Servings Per Container 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1300	Calories from Fat 500
	% Daily Value *
Total Fat 60g	90%
Saturated Fat 20g	100%
Contains bad Fats	Yes
Cholesterol 0g	0%
Sodium 800mg	30%
Total Carbohydrate 190g	60%
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 110g
Protein 10g
Vitamin A	0%
Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	0%
Iron	60%
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. You should only eat 2 cookies. The values here may not be 100% accurate because they were calculated by Nick.

Here comes the revolution…  Standardize the labels to either be the entire package, or half the package.  By allowing companies to control the serving sizes it allows for the marketers to massage them into healthier foods.   It would also be nice to make companies highlight in red the things that are bad, and in green the things that are better for you because I am going to guess most people couldn’t tell you what Saturated, Monounsaturated, and Polyunsaturated fats are…

Okay, now that my rant is over, time to finish the rest of my serving of Joe-Joe’s.

IPODs

Really? 

 

I was sitting in SportsClips the other day… awaiting a butchering from the hair “stylist” and there was a Woman sitting with her child.  Her child was ‘add’ing of course, swinging his legs, head bobbing like he was ridding in a car on an African safari, picking up magazines, picking his nose, basically doing anything to entertain himself.  Now this is normal child behavoir  of course… but then there was the parent.  She was sitting there right next to him watching her IPOD.  Seriously ? ! Have we really come to the point in society, when we are in public and we feel the need to have to watch reruns on our 2 inch screen?  Is the world really that boring?   She could care less what her child was doing.. 

 

This really just opened my eyes to how prevalent IPODs are in everyday life.  I am starting to see them everywhere, cars, bicycles, malls, etc.    And it makes me question WHY?  

 

Are people trying to escape ? Are people bored?