Yahoo agrees with me!

...on HFCS!

An article on what nine ingredients to avoid in food, and guess what! they are overwhelming fake or manufactured ingredients!

Some things to avoid include: 

Artificial flavoring, colors, and sweeteners, even "friendly"ones like Splenda.

High Fructose Corn Syrup made the list. Our body processes it differently than sugar-sugar. Apparently, it has to go through the liver.

Shortening, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Go on, try to say that three times, fast. These are palm and soybean oil, among others. These have high levels of trans fat. So, don't simply believe the nutritional fact graphic, because if the content of something, per serving is 0.4 grams or less, they can round down to 0. Sooooo - something can have partially hydrogenated oil, but still claim to have 0 grams of trans fat in their nutritional facts section. Can I just say how mad that makes me? 

I'm also upset to learn that Yoplait yogurts have HFCS in them. We were at the store, buying yogurts to have on hand for breakfast, desserts, and sweet treats (trying to be good and avoid ice cream!). Dannon and Yoplait were both on sale for 50 cents a single serving carton (I know the big carton is more cost effective - but the flavors!!). I looked at the ingredients for several flavors of both, and quickly put the Yoplait down. I suppose it is nostalgia that makes this loss sting more than others. I remember my mom getting Yoplait, and collecting the tops to send in. Guess I won't be doing that anytime soon.

Even if HFCS are/were fine in moderation, who can eat them in moderation without being vigilant in an attempt to avoid them!

Just wanted to share!

We try to be thrifty and green...

....and then this happens. They really don't make things like they used to. This article outlines a few of the items that are actually designed to wear out or need to be replaced, not repaired or re-used. This is frustrating to me, in multiple ways. It makes me feel like the companies are lying to me, and just duping me into a vicious cycle of consumerism. It's hard to break that desire for new things. Hey - I may as well be honest - it is hard for me sometimes. And, it's not green to design throw-away things, especially throw-away electronics, and such. And, it is not frugal to buy things that are simply going to wear out on you, with little to no hope of being repaired.

There are only five things (or categories of things) on the list, and most of them are things that we can do without. Like MP3 players. I really like my iPod; it was a Christmas present from my husband a few years ago, and I love the portability of it, and how much of my music collection can fit in such a convenient package. (In total, I think I've spent less than $40 on iTunes - the vast majority of music on my iPod is uploaded from my CD collection.) If it broke down, or required a super expensive repair, I'd probably go back to listening to my CDs, the radio, or to playing the songs in my head.

I can't say that I was super surprised by fashion, textbooks or ink cartridges being on the list. I just shared an article about saving money on printing by being savvy with your font. So, there's that. And textbooks, especially college ones, where you actually have to go buy the books yourself (something I didn't have to do at public high school).

I could probably rant and rave about textbooks for a good while, but won't. I'm just happy that as a language and literature major, I was spared the exorbitant cost of science and math textbooks, for the most part. I briefly talked about what I did to recoup the investment in college here. I would also try to buy what I could from these sources, saving me money.

Fashion. Well, I've never been particularly fashionable myself, although, sometimes what's "in" cycles around to include my tastes. This is when my packrat tendencies work in my favor, and I can dust off that old pair of stockings or pants, and wear them with confidence. Although, truth be told, I was probably wearing them even when they weren't "in." I like wearing some current pieces, and new clothes do make me feel special, but, having been a youngest child, I'm used to wearing hand-me-downs, and while it took me a while to get this attitude, they are just clothes. As long as they are clean, well-kept, and fit (and I like them), I'm usually ok with not being "current." It is just easier to focus on a few, classic pieces that look good on you, and are well made.

Anyway. The deliberate making things to be a lesser quality, so that consumers are essentially forced to re-buy things really upsets me. It feels like they are lying to me. Not a big fan of that.

Does any of this surprise you? How do you feel about it?