Originally Posted by aj_cohn

On a tangent about Big Food is Mark Schatzker's new book, The Dorito Effect. Schatzker's thesis is that (a) food flavor evolved as a cue for nutrition, and that all animals evolved to seek out the flavors associated with the nutrients they need at any given time (there's a reason babies usually shun broccoli). Big Food, once they figured out how to mimic natural flavors, have hijacked this relationship to promote their own products. They are now sophisticated enough to map flavors to emotional need states, and can craft flavor combinations in junk food that render their targeted populations craving the empty calories.

At the same time, Big Food has made traditionally nutritious food blander in pursuit of more efficient production. Schatzker's prime example is the chicken, which, he explains is slaughtered at what would be the human equivalent of 2 months and 220 lbs, if we could grow kids as fast as fowl. Baby animals are extremely bland, as those who eat veal know; lack of exercise and unnatural diets amplify that blandness. Similar trends exist in creating mutant vegetables grown in largely artificial growing media.

You can get an overview of Schatzker's in his interview on Underground Wellness, either on iTunes or on Facebook (plays on page).