omnivore's dilemma-week2

Truth be told, reading chapter 9 drives me crazy.

This chapter and the other chapters that we have read this week focused more on consumers' perspective.  In chapter 6, the author mentions that Americans start intaking more calories in terms of drinks and food because of the overproduction of corn. And what makes me most surprised is that 6 pieces of chicken nuggets have only 10 fewer calories than a cheese burger. I'm not a burger lover. However, every time I go to a fast food store, I will order chicken nuggets with the thought that it should contain less fat and calories than a cheese burger.  

Further, what the author talks about the chicken nuggets makes me doubt the delicious  taste of them.  "The most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butyhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box comes in to help preserve freshness." According to the description of the book, I feel the good smell of the chicken nuggets is only a trick, which always attracts me to pay over and over again. Also, even though I do not know what exactly the ingredients are, I believe it is not beneficial to my health. Petroleum? Isn't it supposed to be in a car instead of in our food?

Despite this (the author cruelly reveals what we are truly eating when ordering chicken nuggets in a fast food store), I doubt that I will stop eating them in the future. Is that part of dilemma I'm in as an omnivore? or for author as well？ who still buys fast food for both him and his family and eat them in his car.

In chapter 9, I skipped the middle part of it, and focused most on the final part. The author "analyzes" the organic food from a wide range of aspects. In the end, he questions the idea of organic food since there are no scientific evidences to prove its better qualities and nutritions.  However, although we now know that "organic food" is only a label that marketers use as a marketing tool, I don't believe that we will stop buying them. Here, again , the dilemma comes again. Most of us tend to believe that the so-called organic food should benefit more our health because of its higher price and its label. We are wiling to pay more as long as the food can keep us fit. On the other hand, not everyone would like the author, thinking in a deep way about the true ingredients that composes the organic food. 

In my opinion, the dilemma is that, most consumers, me included, are willing to be cheated by those marketers, hoping that the food we buy, despite a higher price, can contribute to our health. Otherwise, they don't know who else they can believe and  what else they can eat. Maybe this is called "psychological comfort".