A war is being waged against us with our food.

Let’s Travel Down a Rabbit Hole of the Food Industry

Then, on top of that looming thought, I uncovered a rabbit hole recently when I was looking into the #cancelkellogs movement online. I guess I should back up a little. I recently recorded a podcast on Boycotting Boxtops. This is the marketing system set up for kids in public schools to collect little tabs off of many brands of processed foods (there is an app now, too) to turn in to their schools for additional funding for these programs. I remember at one point in my life thinking how generous the company was in donating to thousands of schools across the country! Now, I realize it was no more than a marketing expense where schools and children were doing their dirty work of promoting the most processed, sugary, and dye-filled products as staple (and nutritional) foods.

Now, let’s dig into the #cancelkellogs movement. In 2015, Kellogg’s said that it would remove food dyes (that cause a host of behavioral problems in children) along with other chemicals. Keep in mind that they have already removed these additives from their products in every other country. So when their deadline to do so came and went, two very influential women, Ginny Yurick from 1000 Hours Outside and Vani Hari known as Food Babe online, decided it was time for Kellogg’s to answer why they hadn’t made the promised changes. Unsurprisingly, the company would not talk to them and even mocked them when angry parents protested at their doors. 

I have worked in the food industry (as a quality assurance manager and food safety specialist), and I’ll tell you right now, I don’t know anyone whose goal was to poison their customers. Let’s face it, it is bad business to kill your client base. But as with any business, the bottom line was far from the last thing on their list. The problem is a much bigger issue, in that as a culture, we are being marketed to and then choosing these products as healthier, more nutrient-dense options because they taste good, are addictive, and in some way cost less. And the big companies are not going to change their practices because things like breakfast cereal cost next to nothing to product, ingredient wise. Its not about customer relations at this point, they can pay for good press. 

I can’t speak to the exact costs of producing cereal. I know that the $5-$8 per small box of cereal is nowhere close to an exponential level. What I can speak to is the cost and then customer price of a truly nutrient-dense breakfast. As a small-scale farmer, for one of my customers to buy a pound of sausage, a dozen eggs, a half gallon of raw milk, and a fresh loaf of bread, they are paying about $25 dollars. Now, could a box of cereal feed my current family of six just as easily as the above-mentioned items? Absolutely. The difference is my family will feel better, be able to work harder (mentally and physically), be able to go longer before they need to eat again, make many of those items stretch to an additional meal, and there will be no long term effects from spiked insulin levels, food dyes, preservatives, and whatever chemical the grains carried in on them.