You Are What You Buy

What I want to focus on is the section of “Competing Monopolies” (page 167), specifically when Mike talks about brands and how they are practically identical, yet they seem different. I find the panel in which Mike is eating a burger and the following two panels after that to be of particular interest to me. In the same way that Pollan argues how the tag of “organic” functions as a narrative of local, small, the “old days” kind of farming/eating practices for consumers, I understand what Mike means by branding and how these monopolies spend billions of dollars just to communicate an image/narrative to consumers. It made me think about how we, as consumers, tend to become fooled by these alleged differences between products because of their diverse narratives constructed by their respective companies that we buy into. For example, in this case, Mike refers to McDonald’s and how we all know what it sells and what its burgers taste like, but the reason people might keep going is because they love the image it represents of “Fun! Clowns! [and] Songs!” Also, even though the product may be very similar, the prices are not; in the same way, prices might also function to tell a narrative as well. I, admittedly, find myself trusting brands that cost just a tad more because it makes me believe that I am spending those extra cents or bucks for supposed better quality.

This got me thinking… what kind of narrative enchants us when we chose to buy, say, Dove soap over its competitors, especially considering the commercials devoted to “real beauty” and uplifting women’s self-esteem? And why is it that we continuously pick the same brand for certain items? I have noted myself possessing this allegiance to certain brands, and I can see how it might say more about me than I think. For instance, I always buy the same brand of skin care products, made of ingredients that are more naturally derived; I’m already communicating a statement with this kind of purchase that goes against the mainstream skincare brands and their use of harsh or toxic ingredients while I’m also communicating how I espouse a certain level of concern over my skin to have gone out of my way to make such purchases. This leads me to the notion that we’re not just what we eat: we are what we buy. So, in a way, these competing monopolies that Mike refers to and the purchases we make of their products might actually function as a means for us to either express our identities or mold them because it's really the image—not the products—we are buying.  

Blog Posting #7 (due Saturday 3/31, 11:59 P.M.): INTERVENTION! So how is unregulated Capitalism treating YOU?

Here Michael Goodwin explains that his whole book is an intervention

Background (from our recent work, before we get to the new Blog project):

• Item: Three scientists from Georgetown publish a piece in Journal of medical ethics which pretty much proves that Continuing Medical Education has been hijacked by drug companies to construct new medical 'conditions' so that their drugs will find a market. As they say ' Hypoactive sexual desire disorder is a typical example of a condition that was sponsored by industry to prepare the market for a specific treatment.'  So it really isn't real? INTERVENTION! (Go HERE to read their abstract.)

• Item: The Journal of medical ethics establishes a Blog where concerned (read: pissed off) scientists can express themselves on serious, public 'matters of concern.' INTERVENTION!

•Item: One of the authors of the CME paper publishes a passionate, informed blog piece on how the very idea of HSDD is not just false (bad science), but misogynist: 'The labeling of flibanserin reveals the absurdity of this “disease” and its treatment.  In fact, hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) was invented by pharmaceutical manufacturers.'  She calls it 'regulatory failure.'  Go girl. Feminist INTERVENTION! (Go HERE for Adriane's blog.)

Item: Faced with the expiration of their 20-year patent on the blockbuster drug Prilosec®, Astra-Zenica splits the omeprazole molecule into its two enantiomers and re-patents the left isomer as Nexium® though it has no clinical efficacy.  Nexium® costs 28 times its generic, just-as-good ancestor, and Astra-Zenica spends .5 billion dollars advertising its new drug in the first year, also establishing GERD as a legitimate medical condition (which can't be diagnosed) through sponsored CME.  Robin joins in writing an amicus curae ('friend of the court') brief to the US Patent office opposing patents on enantiomeric drugs.  It fails, but in January of 2007, the European Union Patent Office rejected new patents for all 'enantiomer-based' drugs. INTERVENTION!

Item: One of the lead authors of the anti-ADDYI pieces writes a detailed article on the whole sordid, misogynist, greedy story of 'the female Viagra' for the Hastings Center.  And, in fact, the entire Hastings Center mission is all an ethical INTERVENTION!


Problem:  --> Does ANY of this matter?  Are 'minds changed'? Do things 'get better'?


This issue is central to what Science Studies calls 'rhetoric of science,' and it will engage us for the rest of our work.  At stake is whether and how we can 'intervene' in the complex web of culture to make a difference.  Writing.  Blogging.  Protesting.  Making films, songs, YouTube vids, whatever.  How do you change a mind?  CAN you change a mind?  Pretty important in the era of bots, 'fake news,' Cambridge Analytica, Facebook selling us out, and the entire 'post-truth' moment.  

Well, we know it must be possible; we know each of us has changed.  Now to look at how and why. LOTS more on that presently.

The Blog: 

But for now, how about something simpler?  How about reading a comic book?  How about looking at how we came to see the economic universe?  

Let's explore this in a nicely limited, focused way, starting with your reading of Economix (all of it, we hope by now). Start making sense of how, and how well,  it works as an intervention into the way we see the economic / political world we live in. You're looking for a place where you learned something,  And / or a place where you felt something.  And / or a place where the book tied to things in your life. All our usual analytical questions apply.  How did you feel, reading it — and why? The comic / graphic-novel format, of course. But also the particular historical / economic facts and events he includes; was any of it new? What? and did it matter?  How does Goodwin's friendly little nice-guy narrator relate to you?  Adam Smith coming in like God to remind us what he really said?  How does the tone — hipster earnest and searching — make you feel, and why?  By what methods does he legitimate his arguments — and with what effect?  Goodwin, like Lewontin and Pollan, and unlike Brang and Pinker, takes an explicit political position.  Does this bring him closer to 'truth,' 'the facts,' and/or 'reality'?  Why?  Corporation 'persons' as glowering, smoking skyscrapers?  Capitalists as Fat Cats and crooks? One of us, as we talked in my office, pointed at the little beaten guy on the cover, pulling out his empty pockets and said 'me.'  Point taken.

Anchor your piece in specifics: As little as a frame, as much as a chapter.  Characters, pages, facts, language, arguments, positions. It's a graphic-novel text, so we're close-reading the story-in-pictures that makes the arguments.

Feel free to answer any or all of these questions, in whatever order — and to go further or take your own path.  Feel free to bring in anything from anywhere you found it, if that helps you — your econ course, your crappy manager at Kohls, arguments with Aunt Mary about how we're going to Make America Great Again — but you don't need to; you can stick with Mike.  Feel free to narrate from your own life experience, if it relates.  Whatever you need to do in order to take us, in the most compelling way possible, through your encounter with the unique, perpetually controversial intervention that is Economix.  

Have fun!

If you want cheap and healthy fast food, go to Taco Bell

Recently, I was scrolling through Facebook, and I noticed an article someone had shared about healthy fast food chains. I would've simply moved right past it if it hadn't been for the actual food pictured in the link to the article. It was a pair of chicken tacos from Taco Bell. I had never considered Taco Bell to be healthy, as the entirety of my trips there result in a Cheesy Gordita Crunch or a Doritos Locos Taco, but this link was clearly trying to tell me that Taco Bell was, in fact, one of the healthier fast food options. I wanted to learn more. 

The article that my Facebook friend had shared didn't give me much information, but a quick Google search got me the information I wanted. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how Taco Bell has managed to become such a healthy fast food option, but what I read impressed me. According to Tessa Newell of Business Insider, Taco Bell's dietician and product developer, Missy Nelson, "has made huge strides towards taking out all artificial ingredients, switching to cage-free eggs, and offering lighter (but still delicious) options. On top of all that, there has been a 15% reduction in sodium across all menu items." Newell also writes, "Taco Bell now offers so much more than the traditional menu we're used to. There is now a low-calorie "Fresco" menu, a high-protein "Cantina" menu, and a vegetarian menu certified by the American Vegetarian Association. The vegetarian menu even comes with vegan-friendly selections, all of which can be found on the Taco Bell app." Additionally, Mary Bowerman of USA Today writes that the restaurant chain plans to get rid of XL sodas, eliminate antibiotics from their chicken, and remove trans fat from their menu. 

As I suspected, Taco Bell's unhealthy items are obviously still unhealthy, but simply less so. It would seem that many people don't even know this when they eat Taco Bell now, likely due to either advertising reasons, or simply where the companies values are. Regardless, I can still order a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, and it will still be bad for me. But it's nice to know I have options. Combating obesity in this country would take a big step forward if many of these fast food giants can implement healthy changes and options like Taco Bell has. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/taco-bell-is-now-one-of-americas-healthiest-fast-food-chains-2016-10

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/01/05/taco-bell-may-healthiest-fast-food-option-out-there-doritos-taco/96204454/

I apologize for the lateness of this post. Completely slipped my mind

Farmer's Market

During the summer, Minneapolis' Farmer's Market is the best spot for fresh produce. The market opens early in the morning and vendors usually pack up after noon. Early in the morning, there are busy crowds of people walking from vendor to vendor examining fresh produce, in the search for the cheapest prices. As the chilly summer breeze blows, there is constant chatter of people discussing the fresh produce and prices. In the distance, there is a man sitting off to the side, playing a violin with the case open, hoping to earn some cash.

There are rows and rows of beautifully colored fruits and vegetables, freshly picked and locally grown. Prices often range from $1-$10 and amounts of fresh produce from a little basket to large bushels. Customers often bargain prices and receive more produce for less when they buy in bulk. Often times when I go with my mother, our arms are full, plastic bags filled with produce, swinging back and forth as we walk. 

Despite the Farmer's Market being a great source of fresh produce, the hours the vendors are present along with the congested area right outside of downtown Minneapolis. There is limited parking and customers are required to walk a lot and carry all the produce they buy, often put into separate plastic bags, which can get heavy quickly. Moreover the mentality of buying fresh produce and in bulk for a cheaper price includes cooking fresh meals at home. Although parking is limited, almost all customers drive to the Farmer's Market, spending about 5-10 minutes looking for a parking spot or waiting for other customers to leave. 

The Farmer's Market is catered towards middle-class families who can access the Farmer's Market in the hours it is open with the best fresh produce, a car to get to the market along with easily transporting the customer and their goods they buy, the mentality of buying fresh produce in bulk, and privilege in having time to cook these fresh produce. 

The Farmer's Market also depicts the produce available as locally grown and healthy. However, the community is not informed on how these local families grow the produce and what chemicals may have been used in the process of growing the produce. Customers often like to depict family owned farms as producing the freshest and most high quality goods, however what if it actually looked very similar to large corporations who specialize in mass production who are often portrayed as the "bad guys" and not so "organic". Labels are important but how much worth can we put into labels and "word of the mouth". If a vendor said they picked the vegetables yesterday, customers wouldn't know for sure if they did, but would trust the vendor isn't lying to them. Customers would have to trust the vendor's "words of the mouth". There are also no refunds or receipts available at Farmer's Markets, what if someone consumed some goods and became sick? What do the vendors go through to be vendors, are their produce regulated? 

Can I Get Some Dim Sum?

One of my most beloved eating experiences, going all the way back to those earliest flashbacks to dining out with my family in the developing, crack-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants when I was little is called Dim Sum. Dim Sum is a style of food both in its preparation and serving and is nurtured by the family-oriented idea of small plates with small bites meant to be shared—plates and steamer baskets of probably the most delicious morsels of happiness one could imagine for quick, quality, and carnivorous Chinese cuisine. I actually just went to Dim Sum on Sunday because it was my aunt's first and practically fixed idea of a thing to do when she wants us all to eat together as a family. Here's what I know about Dim Sum at one of the most popular restaurants that serve this style of food and the most favored by my family:
- you cannot arrive later than 9:30am unless you would like to sit on a 1+ hour waitlist.
- you must be especially receptive to hearing your listed name because the host who has been there every time I have gone for at least the past 10 years will shout it twice from the cash register area and then move on.
- you have to be cool with being crowded and shuffling through a tight space because everyone wants to be ready when their name is called.
- at least you get to look at their live seafood on display in their gross tanks at the front of the restaurant.
- you have to be vigilant of not getting run over by the cart ladies who are speedily carting hot food throughout the entire seating area.
- also be vigilant of the miserable-looking 18-22 year old guys who are shyly serving food traditionally on a tray.
- you sit down and if there are servers flocking by you, you will get mildly harassed to pick their dishes.
- you get a little slip that has little boxes the servers can check off, and there are different boxes for varying speciality of the food which means varying prices.
- need actual silverware? more chili sauce? tea?—they have standby servers for that.
- basically, it's a madhouse.

When I had Dim Sum this past weekend, I acted as I normally would. Mostly because I forgot that we had this assignment, but also because there were pressures of what I now realize is a hybrid at hand. Everything was so rehearsed in the environment of that particular restaurant and style of eating that I didn't stop to think twice about really anything. But what I'm curious to question now is what it must be like for, say, a white person who is completely new to the experience. Having been there steadily for years on end, I've gradually seen more and more white people coming in. From the looks of it, they are mostly either married to an Asian or are meeting up with his/her Asian colleagues for a refreshing new take on a reunion meal.

Considering this dynamic, it becomes clearer to me that there are unavoidable, ever present cultural factors at hand that shape the dining experience and impression differently for anyone and everyone who goes through it. I never fully realized it, but I watched a lot of the white people at the restaurant, especially the ones who clearly were trying to get a grip on the intensity of the atmosphere. Looks of panic when servers fly by with their carts and trays of food and even more looks of panic when the servers try interesting them in what can either look impressively elegant or completely out-worldly like the intimidating chicken feet or tofu skin that looks like a soggy cheesecloth.

There are language barriers (or maybe not as one might expect) at hand as well. One time I listened to this esteemed, older woman speaking down and annoyingly slow in dumbed-down English to the experienced server that I've seen working for at least 7 years there. To the esteemed woman's surprise, the server patiently waited to speak and then shot back a perfectly clear string of English so as to answer the woman's question. Something like this isn't always the case because sometimes there are strong accents at play.

It's incredibly interesting just to actually pause and think back to how I've observed other people over the past X amount of years in how they conduct themselves in what they see fitting and meaningful to their particular Dim Sum experience—whether it be a regular Dim Summer or a newbie.

Biscuits are the Spoons you can Eat

Biscuits are the Spoons you can Eat

During spring break I drove through a number of southern states. On the way to sunny Florida I decided to have one of my favorite foods, a cheeseburger, in the different states to compare how culture can influence the same type of food. Cheeseburger number one was at the World’s Largest Culvers. Dazed from driving all day I went to order and when asked “single, double, or triple” my brain filled in the sentence with “bypass” before I realized he meant the number of patties. In due diligence for research I ordered a triple of the Midwest beef Pollan tells us about. The burger was excellent. (Please know I don’t usually do this type of thing.)

The next day I had a cheeseburger from a Five Guys in Tennessee. My god. It was more hamburger than I’ve seen (or eaten) in my life. Five guys only goes up to a double, in terms of patty number and cardiac bypass potential, so the comparison is not direct. Nonetheless, the double was larger than anything I’ve hefted to face in the past. I felt like I was Guy Fieri about to take a bite of some monstrosity and yell about flavortown. When in the Five Guys a young girl was eagerly licking ketchup off of whatever surface it could be applied to. I couldn’t help but notice the size of her and the size of those in her family, and wonder if this could be correlated to the huge portion size. I was reminded of a billboard we had driven past earlier in the which read “Biscuits are the spoons that you can eat.” I laughed at this, and then sat back to realize that it was an entirely serious advertising campaign. However, this billboard was in contention with another advertising sliced white bread as “A Dieter’s Dream at 35 Calories a Slice.”

It seems that the south, perhaps America as a whole, has a love-hate relationship with carbs. Carbs, to paraphrase Lewis Black, are what got us humans to evolve to where we are today and what we’ve always eaten. When I was thinking about the carbs eaten by my family and the carbs eaten in the south I realized that a crucial difference was in the processing. It’s the eating of bleach white bread rather than polenta or ziti. My mother, a Mediterranean woman, subsists on a diet of sausage and peppers, pasta many nights a week, wine, and then more sausage and red meat. Yet, she’s healthier than my father, and by the numbers of her cholesterol, bp, and weight, healthier than most of America. She even gets mistaken for my sibling. She is almost strangely healthy. I realized that in the south people were eating what I’ve come to think of as calorically dense foods, where the serving size is not just large in terms of covering the plate but large in terms of the number of calories conveyed to the mouth with each bite. I realized that for all of the pasta we eat, it’s the wheat talked about by Pollan as favorable to our body. It’s not been processed into the equivalent of brick of energy.

While some may say blame all carbs for making us fat, I suggest it’s the biscuit spoons.

Casa Bonita

This spring break, I went on a hiking trip all around Utah. To break up driving (and also to shower before returning to the cities), we spent a day in Denver. We were thinking of different things to do and places to eat when one of my friends suggested we go to a place called Casa Bonita. He used to go there as a kid and his mom went there when she was a kid.

What is Casa Bonita? And yes, if you've seen that South Park episode, this is the Casa Bonita I'm talking about. If you’re thinking it’s a place for high quality, authentic Mexican food, go somewhere else. Casa Bonita is a place where for $15 you can get all you can eat “Mexican food” of the lowest quality. Like the beef for their taco meat is the equivalent of bottom of the freezer, I forgot about it for several years tasting meat. You go there because people jump off water cliffs, perform gun fights, have gorillas, puppet shows, and weird cave stuff to explore. And also for $15 it’s all you can eat “Mexican” food.

As someone with a brain, I paid to get only a plate of green chili bean burritos. It’s Monday and I’m still feeling the retributions of Casa Bonita from Saturday. I had several guy friends who ate plates and plates of Casa Bonita; one friend I witness eat 6 tacos, 4 cheese burritos, 4 some other type of burrito, 2 plates of beans and rice, and 10 sopapilias.

Honestly, the place had some of the most disgusting food I’ve ever eaten. But somehow at 3pm when we went, I had to wait in line behind 40 other people just to get food. This is what my one friend said when I commented on the amount of people here, “White people never fail to surprise me.” (he’s white).

So what does this mean for us? Some of my friends enjoyed Casa Bonita because they can eat as much as they want for only $15. Some of the guys even said once they eat 3 plates full of food, then it’ll be worth their money. I mean, it honestly is a great business tactic. That food certainly isn’t high quality or organic, it’s probably incredibly inexpensive. I also would not be surprised to see that all of that food can be traced back to a corn field in Iowa either. But overall, I think this represents American society. We tend to overindulge in food, even if it sucks. We love all you can eat buffets. We can even compromise good, ethical food values to eat another cheese burrito. In all honesty, Casa Bonita is a meme itself. People know it's terrible food: just read the 1,000 google reviews. Yet, there will always be a line for Casa Bonita.