I’m sure this is a controversial issue but I have a question and a fair one at that. If ‘junk food’ is sinfully bad for us then is ‘organic junk food’ any better? I mean to borrow a line from the immortal princess of tragic romance, Juliet Capulet, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”
So technically junk food is still junk food no matter what we call it right? The formal definition of junk food is food that is high in calorie content (calorie laden)but low in its nutritional value or alternatively it could be referring to food that contain unhealthy ingredients – this can be unhealthy to consume in large amounts or at all. Above all it is ‘sinfully and addictively tasty’ and available conveniently and edible in mere seconds/minutes.
Now if those are the definitions/criteria for labelling food as junk then having conventional ingredients swapped for their organic counterparts can really only help our health that much. Yes, it will be fantastic news for the environment when organic junk foods replace all conventional junk foods but I can’t exactly see the same success for our battle against the bulge and health complications.
The main issue with junk food is how it’s a tiny portion of food laden with the weight of calories beyond your imagination. It drives obesity and hypertension to the top of our list of ‘modern day most common health complications’. So organic chips would be made of organic potatoes, organic salt etc, even the oil it’s fired in is organic vegetable oil but does that actually significantly reduce the calories in a bag of chips? So much so that it can be considered part of a healthy diet recommendation? I don’t think so. It is undeniable that when compared against a conventional bag of chips of the same Nett weight content, the bag of organic chips would reign supreme (no artificial flavouring or colouring to poison the body) but ultimately the question remains, “Can you safely and confidently say that organic snacks are not fattening?” I know I can’t so the best that I can do is remember that while buying it organic will save my body from the deadly chemicals, it does not protect me from the high calories so moderating consumption of it is still required.
Thus at the end of it all, junk food is still junk food no matter what it’s called and the same rules apply – moderation, so don’t be lured into a sense false security by the word ‘Organic’ on the bag.
The brand you have chosen to depict as having a miss leading name on it is not purporting to be healthy. It is a brand which is doing what it can to produce an item the consumers are willing to purchase, without harming the environment. Nowhere on the packaging is it stated that the product is any healthier for you than any other snack food on the market, although this particular brand doesn’t have any of the trans fats which are so common in other chip brands.
The idea of Organic is, as you stated to help the environment by reducing the harm we cause as a result of cultivating for production.