Halitosis. Halit – breath. Osis – abnormal condition. An abnormal condition of the breath. More famously known as chronic bad breath. The cure for this condition is in a magical product called Listerine. But what came first, the condition or the cure? Surprisingly the cure was first. You see Listerine’s origin was a vial tasting yellow liquid developed for surgeries that managed to be marketed to ignorant consumers as a cure for a disease that is completely made up. Genius, I know. In today’s society our food is marketed in the same manner.

If you go to the chicken section in your local grocery store you will find your cheap chicken that is simply labeled chicken. And next to it you will find a pricier piece of poultry, but that’s because this identical cut of chicken is “All Natural”, “Gluten free”, and has “No Added Hormones”. So which one is better?

The answer is it doesn’t matter because they are the same. Thanks to government regulations and the ethics of farmers all chicken, as well as any other cut of meat is mostly all natural because having drug residue in meat is bad and isn’t artificially colored, gluten free because chicken is not wheat nor anything close to that, and has no growth hormones because it’s illegal to give growth hormones to any animal. Yes, there are outliers, farmers that mistreat their animals and give illegal substances. But that’s what the USDA is for, to test the meat and make sure it is safe for you and your family to eat. Every industry has their black sheep so don’t yell at all the farmers when there is only one or two doing what PETA says every farmer does.

So how can two identical pieces of meat be priced differently because of labeling? For the same reason Listerine is now the cure for halitosis. Marketing. Marketing that fuels on the ignorance of consumers. People that will believe whatever ad they see on TV or article someone shares on Facebook. Because, “everything on Wikipedia is true.” And since most consumers grow up in the city and have no idea what happens on those farms they pass on the interstate every summer as they go to the beach, they trust that when Chipotle says you need organic chicken and GMO free corn salsa is viable information on science. But if you recall not all of Chipotle’s policies are that sound, hence why they had an E-coli issue in their stores a few months ago.

Animal agriculture is not the only industry with a bad reputation. GMO’s which are genetically engineered seeds, are believed to be extremely dangerous and hazardous to your health as well as the environment. But based on what science?  “An exhaustive new study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, found “no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between current commercially available genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops,” and no conclusive causal evidence of environmental problems tied to genetically modified crops.” (Forbes Magazine and the National Academies of Science).

So with no scientific study against GMO’s why are people so against them? Again the answer is marketing and the spread of ignorance. So next time you see an article or post about the dangerous of some new food technology think twice before you buy into it and pay more for your food. Because if it was actually bad for your health like cigarettes and fast food then the government would regulate it and let you know the dangers. Let the farmers and engineers do their thing, because 1 in 5 children in America are food insecure and we are working to make that number 1 in 6.

Sure you can elect to spend your disposable income however you want and pay 10 dollars more for a smaller grapefruit that is not as quality of a product. But I will buy the GMO grapefruit and use the 10 dollars I save to help someone that is going hungry, all the while enjoying a delicious snack. But go ahead and enjoy your less juicy, “gluten free” organic grapefruit, I won’t judge.

So I challenge you not to simply accept everything you see, because sometimes it is not backed up by any logic. Don’t waste your money on things that do not matter. Instead do your research, trust your government regulations, and don’t be ignorant. As always make good choices, share if you like what I said, comment if you have something to add, and I will see you on Thursday.