Food For Thought
Sunday, July 11th, 2010I have been thinking about the analogy of American life in a product called “American Cheese.”
Here’s the Wikipedia definition:
American cheese is a common processed cheese. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily. American cheese was originally only white, but can sometimes be modified to yellow in color. It has traditionally been made from a blend of cheeses, most often Colby and Cheddar. Today’s American cheese is generally no longer made from a blend of all-natural cheeses, but instead is manufactured from a set of ingredients[1] such as milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein, and salt. It therefore does not meet the legal definition of cheese and must be labeled as “cheese product.”
As it is now, any processed cheese may be referred to as American Cheese. It’s words like common and processed that should never go together. Never mind that it no longer is actually cheese.
I know how easy and nice it must have been for Mothers like mine to find (not-real) cheese neatly wrapped. How convenient! Think of all that wasted time getting out the cutting board, knife or cheese cutter, and slicing cheese for a sandwich or snack. Individually wrapped slices of (not-real) cheese ready to go! It was convenient and affordable. I’m sure the food manufacturers knew they were on to something – convenience was king.
Affordable and convenient…isn’t this what we Americans gravitate toward? Affordable definitely is cool but why are we so busy that we can’t slice a piece of cheese (or apple or…?) I own this one. While I won’t eat American Cheese, I have stood looking in the refrigerator in a flash only to find blocks of cheese and thinking, “that will take too much time.” TOO MUCH TIME? I’m heading to the couch to watch something that will definitely take too much time, and I can’t stop to slice cheese? Fortunately, I found some organic Mozzarella string cheese so I didn’t have to waste my precious time.
It’s not just about the cheese. Take a look at all that is convenient and completely unnecessary as you walk the isles of your local market. Someone eats this junk; and a lot of it! Did we really trade convenience for health? I think we did and do – by the pound! We’ve trained our taste buds and body chemistry to want and need to consume processed products that aren’t to be found anywhere on the food pyramid. Please don’t mention that we needn’t worry because the FDA is making certain that what is produced is considered healthy and good for us.
With layoffs and less work to consume us, maybe some will find it is more economical to buy foods that actually need someone to prepare them. I’m not naive enough to think an economic downturn will convert non-cooks to cooks, but maybe we’ll have the time to look at things differently – one slice of a cheese at a time.