My Foodprint

I began this blog to discuss the good and bad in food culture in our society. But, as is the case with so many things, the good seems to be select and subtle, while the bad, are ever-present and overpowering. So it is with a wince of regret for the future that I read an article in Ad Age today about Kraft Foods new line of products designed to make their existing line of highly manipulated, barely recognizable food products easier to use. Even equating food with an easier to use ethos is spine shivering. To Kraft, food is a product, product is profit, and profit comes with user friendliness. The change for the company comes at the behest of surveys in which Kraft’s customers claimed their foods were too difficult to use. In its new line-up are a revamped Cool Whip topping. No longer will one have to shuffle to the freezer, crank the freezer door all the way open and spoon the cloud-like mix of corn syrup and hydrogenated oils onto their favored dish. Now Cool Whip will come in an aerosol can. What else is in the planning for Kraft Foods? Why, Jell-O pudding single-use packets (an unrefrigerated powder which when mixed with milk congeals into the loved treat), and microwaveable bagels with cream cheese already applied.

If this were the 1950s these would be considered innovations, but we live in a different age now. Added packaging is a shame. Food which is chock full of hydrogenated oils and corn syrup being designed for ease of use is misleading and damaging to uninformed people everywhere. The idea that companies are constantly attempting to make food the easiest it can be is offensive. Stop dawdling, Kraft Foods, and come out with a one-shot meal pill already, why don’t you.

–Nick