This is a quote from a comment I made on another thread:
"Hyper-palatability. Is this really true? I know it gets tossed around alot, but I personally cannot believe it. Yes, I know that processed and fast foods are "the bad guys" but everyone still eats them "because they taste so darn good". Or, low carbers don't eat them, but then are consumed by cravings, "because they taste so darn good". But really? Is it a factor of my age (66), or my upbringing, or my genes, or what? None of that junk appeals to me, never has. None of it elicits feelings of loss now that I "can't" eat it anymore. Why would I choose a substandard fast food hamburger over one I could make myself at home? Why would I think that cinema popcorn was superior to freshly popped corn that I used to make at home? Why would I prefer some over sweet cola to homemade lemonade (OK, I can sort of see that, through my friends' eyes, though I have never liked them myself)?"
So, to carry that a bit further, is this really "hyperpalatability", or is it rather "hyper convenience"? Or just a reflection of many people not wishing to/not having time to/not knowing how to cook?
For your own "hyperpalatable" weakness, do these things really taste SO good to you that you crave them (or once upon a time craved them)? Is it the taste, or something else?
(And yes, I know that Big Food has supposedly been manipulating ingredients in such a way as to make them hard to resist. I see no reason to doubt that that is happening to a certain extent. But I do often wonder when I hear people say that they "really miss" fast food, or don't quite know what to do when Girl Scout cookie time comes around. Really?)
Educate me, Folks. I was born too early to have had ready access to fast food, and I had a mother who a) was a good cook, and b) didn't encourage snacking, and c) absolutely forbade eating in the car. She also actively discouraged us from chewing gum, so I never got the feeling that I needed something in my mouth all the time.