Day 9

6. Avoid food products that have more than 5 ingredients.

Related to yesterday, while raiding my refrigerator and pantry, I happened across these crackers.

While they don't contain high fructose corn syrup, and they don't list a sweetner among the top three ingredients, they do have way more than five ingredients. And some of them sound way more like science experiments than actual food.

The thing is, prior to this experiment, I would have put these guys on the Good List. I'm always pretty conscious of eating healthily, and I would have certainly rated these crackers among the acceptable, healthy things I could put in my body: they're low enough in calories, they're not fried in grease, they've got some whole grain in them.

It's not that I wouldn't have noticed the modified corn starch, invert syrup, sodium bicarbonate and monocalcium phosphate. Aversion to words like that has been drilled into me since childhood. It's just that I would have accepted it. Boxed foods come with words on the side that make you sad, and there's nothing you can do about it. And crackers come in boxes, so if you wanna eat crackers...

This is what it's about: I thought I didn't have a choice. Now, following the Food Rules, these crackers fall so far outside the bounds of what I can eat it's unbelievable. So I avoid them. And I haven't missed them.

Since I've gotten over my initial shock, I've been eating well. There are plenty of good, fresh options for meals and snacks that have nothing to do with these crackers. Even if my standards were considerably less rigid than they are for this project, there's no reason to seek out this box or others like it.

I know I spent a fair bit of time yesterday complaining about how little choice I have about how certain foods are processed, and that's true, and it still makes me angry. But I also discovered yesterday how complacent I've been, without even realizing it.

I do have a choice. I have more of a choice than I thought I did. If I'm just a little more aware and a little conscientious, I don't have to accept the little boxes I am given.