Is Moving Towards "All Natural" a Good Thing or Commerce Gone Too Far?

All Natural television seems to be the new fad these days. Every single commercial I have seen has either included the phrase, "100% juice" or "All Natural". It's even come to the point where I have become sick to my stomach every time I see children running through back drops of wheat fields or families eating dinner outside in a beautiful serine country side. Now in my opinion how much of a reflection is this actually of everyday life for Americans? How many times have you sat down in the countryside and had an exquisitely tossed Asian grapefruit and chicken Salad with fresh brewed green tea picked from your own herb garden? Not too many of us. Maybe except for those hardcore vegans who live in the woods, pick their own berries, and make their own clothes out of wild grown cotton. Well the simple truth is people don't live like this. In a modern driven society, where fast pace moving means everything from getting that promotion or making that paycheck to get by for the week, simple living is simply non-existent. Maybe only a select few Americans can afford to buy organic or 100% natural food when about 70% of Americans including myself find $5.95 for a half gallon of milk to be insane when we can buy a gallon of the regular stuff that tastes pretty darn good for about $3.00.

Now even though I kind of bashed the whole organic industry, that's not my reason for writing this. I mean if I had the funds to splurge on organic tomatoes that probably taste a whole lot richer than those ones wrapped in plastic then I probably would. But I don't have that kind of money, so of course I stick to the other options out there for the rest of the population who are like me. To meet the demands of a green driven society, tons of industries have now gone all natural themselves. If you take a walk down each and every isle of your local grocery store you will find that most of the items on the shelves claim to be 100% something, or organic. Even industries such as cotton have claimed to be 100% cotton. However this leaves me to question just how far society will go to be so called "green." Everything manufactured, produced, and developed cannot be "simply made" with no preservatives, or some kind of outside, unnatural production method. In fact, what does natural mean? What makes us think that just because this cow was not pumped with hormones that it is natural? Or because this kitchen cleaner is claimed to be organic, then it must be natural and safe to use...right? How can society really know that what they are buying or how they are living their lifestyle is better than what they were living before if the media and industry just keeps on abusing the term "natural?"

Well first let's take a look at what the FDA calls "natural." According to a Chicago Tribune Staff Reporter Mike Hughlett, the FDA has no real definition of what the term natural should mean when being used by food industries. Some members argue that the term natural should only be used by products that do not contain food coloring, artificial flavoring or synthetic substances as stated by the USDA according to Hughlett's article. Even experts on food safety and nutrition seem to be having trouble on defining the term "natural." Do any of us truly know how our food is produced? Do we have the time to sit down and research where are meat comes from, or what happens after they pick the oranges off the trees? I'm sure most people know that producers don't just sit there and squeeze each and every orange into a big bin and call it orange juice. That is simply impossible in a world that demands so much from such little resources. Producers and manufacturers have to use some kind of outside, man made influence to meet the requirements of our hungry market and in order to compete with the health industry they must exploit the meaning of "all natural." This is why we see every commercial for food claiming that their product is pure and free of man's evils. Almost every brand of juice has added some kind of vitamin to their brew to make it healthier and most foods have advertised the phrase "no preservatives" to their label. But honestly, how many of these items are really natural? It is only now that we are seeing such a boom in organic and healthy foods. If it was so easy to just take out all of these preservatives and synthetic additives that were so harmful in the first place then why didn't they do it before? I mean there hasn't been any decrease in production since the beginning of this natural revolution. So why did they feel the need to add them in the first place? Obviously this means that most producers and manufacturers are simply using this loose term to their advantage and creating a phony new standard for Americans to fall for.

Honestly, I hope Americans reconsider their all natural lifestyles and put their money aside instead. Instead of believing everything your television is telling you through commercials and endorsements, know that they are selling you a product. Not for you own good, but for theirs. Industries are trying to make a profit on what society demands, and most of the time our demands, even the healthy ones, will be exploited.