Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Thesound of a passing flock of birds goes.. Strangely, I have observed such soundand flocking elsewhere recently,to be specific, it was in the media. It was the chirping of the flock of health freaks about so called ‘super foods.’ All these exotic grains and berries from places even more exotic, have been portrayed as providing health benefits far beyond normal foods capabilities. But, the big but is, is all this gossip true…
When one does a little research on seeds sold as superfoods, it is not unlikely that one will come across articles that say that these seeds, not long ago, were merely bird food. So what has happened here? How have some of these seeds made it from chicken food in farms, to expensive ultra-healthy seeds for human consumption?
Apparently we humans are very sensitive to advertisements and marketing, and just like a flock of birds, follow each other into believing that for example this ‘exotic’ (bird food?), known as chia seeds, is superiorly healthy for us humans compared to other foods. Ahhh how marketing can trick us eh, lovely. I love watching impulsive health freaks tell me ‘you have to try this quinoa, I’m going to eat it for the rest of my life!’ And then come around next week with chia seeds, and then goji berries, and then some other dubious looking seed, which seems like something impossible for our bodies to break down. But whatever, I am not a biologist or doctor so there is a large chance that I under estimate our digestive capabilities you know. But yes, this extreme form of obsessive health obsessions is very present in our society today. What makes me sad is that most of the people buying this, only do it because of product branding and advertising, and are very prone to believing that these products sold as superfoods are truly the triumphant ultra-healthy food that they are advertised as.
Tricking people into believing that superfoods are extremely good for you is very easy when things such as diseases, illnesses, and obesity is very present in our society. To have people living in fear of getting a disease or becoming obese believe that an exotic berry which has been discovered in a valley far beyond civilization contains super vitamins that are good for you and have them buy it with a large profit margin for the seller, seems rather… capitalist to me… And ‘superprofitable.’
Even when sellers of superfoods say they do not do it for profit like many of them state, and say they do it to make the world a better place, makes me wonder if this is not just one big marketing extravaganza. I have quite a hard time believing that they do not try to make a profit of this hype. What this situation has revealed to me is the power of marketing in order to gain sales. Ever since the label ‘organic’ appeared on foods and drinks, the craze of buying all natural foods has grown unstoppably. And now the organic market has been saturated, something new had to be developed, which resulted in superfoods. The rate at which superfoods are flooding the market right now seems unnatural. Superfoods have gained their popularity because of their assumed higher nutritional value compared to other foods in the supermarkets. Also, these superfoods are often claimed to even be life-changing e.g. ‘this superfood will give you more energy!’ Through smart marketing techniques, the copywriters of superfood packaging can point out that for example a banana has more potassium but less vitamin C than a pear, making it a ‘super’ food (because of its exceptionally high levels of potassium), whereas they could also argue that a pear has more vitamin C but less potassium than a banana, also making it a ‘super’ food (because of its high levels of vitamin C). The fact that these two fruits differ in nutritional content does not mean that one is less than the other, it is only a smart tactic of copywriters to argue that they are super foods.
A good example of witty copywriting can also be found here in the Netherlands, where one of the traditional recipes is called ‘boerenkool.’ This recipe is pretty much a mixture of mashed potatoes and kale. The recipe is not something associated with superfoods here in the Netherlands, at all. But not long ago, kale has somehow become infamous in the superfood world in America. This has made me wonder about ourselves, and if we are not just very prone to believing what we do not know. Like all the different kind of berries and seeds might just be normal foods in other countries, but because of the fact that it seems exotic and somehow logical for it to be healthy, in combination with good marketing and branding of the products, we want to buy it and believe it to be super healthy. Even though a food such as boerenkool, might just be as healthy if not healthier as products branded superfoods, and is also locally cultivated here in the Netherlands, it is not gaining any popularity or headlines here. On top of that boerenkool also has a much lower carbon footprint, which is a factor that I associate as important to the people who partake in the superfood craze. Although superfoods such as Goji berries are believed to come from far, in the KRO it became clear that these are actually wild berries which grow in the Netherlands. The only reason we are led to believe they come from far is because they actually also exist in other countries. Hence, marketers technically do not lie about the (plausible) origins of these berries. Do we have to reevaluate all this?.. I think so.
Another interesting comparison we can make of superfoods and ‘normal’ food can be made using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. For decades, people have been buying ‘normal’ food in (street) markets. After increased transparency of the food industry, people started questioning the origins of their food, as well as their ecological footprint. Marketers saw this as an opportunity to integrate what they started calling ‘biological’ food. This is when ‘market’ food became a ‘basic’ need, and ‘biological’ food became a self-actualization need. People started buying it to create a sense of self-actualization and morality, because buying normal food was now just a basic thing. As mentioned before, after this biological hype started becoming the norm, as it is now, marketers conveniently starting naming certain foods as ‘superfoods’. This is when biological food became a basic/psychological need, and ‘superfoods’ became the new way to self-actualize and make a statement towards those around you. All this, just causes people to spend more money on something they already spend money on. And this is just a smart way to make more money.
The inspiration to write this piece came after seeing the documentary:
http://keuringsdienstvanwaarde.kro.nl/seizoenen/2014/afleveringen/30-10-2014
