8/14/2009

Friday, August 14, 2009

Happy Friday everyone! Here's hoping that you do something fun or relaxing this weekend. I will be spending mine having a catch, playing Tiger Woods at Fredie and Mel's, kayaking, golfing and playing the bass. B-e-a-utiful. =)

While browsing NYtimes.com today, I came across an article titled "The Expense of Eating with Celiac Disease" and have some thoughts on it that I want to share. (Interested readers can find the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/health/15patient.html?ref=health)

First, allow me to clarify that I do not have Celiac, and am fully gluten tolerant. I just have an above-average awareness and understanding of gluten-free (GF) and empathize with people who do have Celiac or are gluten intolerant. So when I see something in the news, I read it.

The premise of the article is that when people go GF, their grocery bills increase significantly as a result stocking up on "gluten-free versions of breads, crackers and pizza made from grains other than wheat" that "can be expensive and might not even be that healthy, since most GF products are not fortified with vitamins."

Now, some GF products out there are more expensive than their non-GF counterparts. When you're talking about a $1.29-cent loaf of "bread," everything is going to be more expensive. But hey - now if you're on the price is right and they ask you how much the loaf of bread costs, you know the answer.

I'd like to argue that for most people, the grocery bill increases aren't a result of going GF or even supply-side market conditions. Consider this: The only part of the food pyramid that deals with gluten is "Grains." Meat, nuts, beans, dairy, fruits, vegetables... all GF. Not to mention there are also grains that are GF (any kind of rice, quinoa, oats). Personal note: If you actually eat the proper amounts of meat, nuts, beans, dairy, fruits and vegatables each day, 6-11 servings of grains seems a bit much! (And don't tell me you won't be getting enough fiber - that's what the beans and fruits and veggies are for.)

So, let's say someone has to go GF, and they've already been shopping according to the Food Pyramid. Why should there bills increase much, if at all? The fact is, they probably won't. So that means going GF isn't the real reason people see increases. I propose that true reason for the increases is that people were not buying the natural foods recommended in the food pyramid. I know when I went from eating processed this and frozen that to eating 3 balanced meals comprised of actual food each day, my bills increased.

The NY Times article is awesome for bring attention to the cause of GF - particularly its mention of how Celiac is ignored by the drug industry because there's no way to treat it with a drug (and therefore, no profits to be made). But in my opinion, the article might as well have been called, "The Expense of Eating Real Food - Gluten Free or Not."

That is all. =)

8-2-2009

Sunday, August 02, 2009

[a la Bill Lumbergh of Office Space] "Whaaat's happening? Yeah.... if you could just... write in this blog more than once every 4 months, that would be greeeeeeat. Mmkay? Thaaanks."

It's been a long time coming, but here is a new entry! I could say that part of the reason why I haven't written is that life has been pretty routine, or consistent, during the last few months. However, that's not entirely true. Another part of the reason is that once I fell behind, it felt like the next entry would have to make up for lost time and be even longer... and then more time passed... and the cycle perpetuated itself. Anyway... highlights of the last 4 months:

• May: The things that I remember most about May were the events behind two trips I made to Arizona. The first was my sister's graduation from NAU; and the second was my best friend's wedding.
• June: Did anything happen in June? For some reason I'm drawing a blank on this one, so I will say the highlight of the month was a trip out to CT to play golf with Justin and Kim.
• July: July was a great month. I visited friends in DC for Independence Day, and was lucky enough to attend the concert at the Capitol featuring Aretha Franklin. I turned 25, celebrating three times with friends in Arizona, New York, and Connecticut. And I reconnected with one of my favorite people in the world.

So now it's August, and I have just started reading a book called Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely) that delves into the "Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions," or behavioral economics. The first chapter of the book was enjoyable and thought provoking, and largely inspired me to write this new post.

Consider the following statement (the last sentence of Chapter 1: The Truth About Relativity). The more we have, the more we want. And the only cure is to break the cycle of relativity. The premise is basically that in a perfect world, we would be able to make decisions based solely on who we are and what we need - like living in a vacuum. However, in the real world, we are constantly comparing with other people, products or services - consciously or not - and this skews our goals and desires.

It's such a strong impulse that marketers can use it to their advantage by introducing options of different prices and feature sets designed to steer you toward the one they want to sell. How often do you go to the store for something basic only to walk out with an upgraded (and slightly more expensive) version?

For a while now, I've been pretty aware of the possibility for people to become the possessions of their possessions. It really started when I heard someone talk about not wanting to amass lots of material things because they would ultimately become something of an anchor. As I furnished my apartment in June of last year, with each major purchase (i.e. bed, TV) lurked a thought in the back of mind: If you ever move somewhere, these things are now your responsibility.

Anyway, from now on I will be attempt to be more aware of when I'm comparing or skewing my decision-making process away from what it would be in a vacuum. I consider myself to be a pragmatic person, but it really seems like this is a pervasive element in daily life that can always be improved upon.

That's all for now! Hope you are well.