Photo by USACE Europe District.
In a previous post, Ali wrote about her journey from meal challenged mom to coauthor of the book that bridges the sustainable food world with that of real families. The following is an excerpt from chapter 2 of The Cleaner Plate Club, the book she co-wrote with Beth Bader (Storey Publishing, 2011).
First, understand that food marketers have a goal that is the opposite of your own. While you hope to get in and out of the supermarket quickly, with healthful food that didn’t cost very much, food marketers are trying to get you to stay as long as possible and to buy as much as possible, without much regard to whether the items are healthful or not. If you ever hope to get in and out of the supermarket without ruining all hopes for good health, you should understand some of the strategies at work as you shop.
Some of the tactics are sensory, like the bakery-fresh smell that is piped into the store to attract your attention to the doughnuts, or the slow music that encourages shoppers to unconsciously linger in the aisles. Some tactics are about exposure, which is why food compan... Read more
