Check ballot box please

Do you remember Captn' Crunch? What about Coco Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles, or TRIX? The shiny, sparkly sugary goodness of my childhood past. If you were an 80's kid (me being part of that demographic) you too, will remember looking for the box with the best free toy inside the cereal box. Thinking of this bring me straight back to my frizzy perm and plastic Hello Kitty faced watch.

But I'm not here to talk about sugary cereal perse. I'm here to talk about the sudden disappearance of aforementioned breakfast foods. Notice, how over the years they have basically vanished from the face of grocery store shelves? Well that folks, demonstrates the power of voting with your money, and an example of how individuals have power over large corporations.

We are in an age where cheap and unhealthy foods is as accessible as a mouse click away. We don't see that living beings are cruelly raised and slaughtered for our taste buds (no this is not a blog entry about being a vegetarian), and making us sick or dead in the process (listeria, mad-cow etc…)

for those of you who have yet to watch Food Inc., this is 2 hours of your precious time worth spending in front of the boob tube. It's scary, but eye-opening stuff.

Going back to the cereals of my childhood…they have almost altogether gone the way of the dinosaur because people no longer purchased them. Somehow, parents realized that no matter how fun or tasty these cereals were…they weren't too good for the kids…so they stopped buying them. Here's a hot tip, if no body buys certain product lines, guess what these big food manufacturers do…they stop making them!

I know I'm stating the obvious, but I'll still say it: retailers, food manufacturers and share holders look at what sells, what doesn't and they react to what YOU WANT. People make their living studying growth and declines in the market (I used to be one of them), and rationalize product lines so that they maximize profits and sales.

Did you notice, a few years back that EVERYONE was getting into the organics game? All of a sudden. your local grocer started carrying certified organic teas, cookies and snacks. A small, but obvious section was carved out at the butcher section for free range chicken or eggs? Head honchos realized that they could actually make money from these ethical choices, because everyone and their uncle started asking for them.

So every time we go to the grocery store, every time a barcode passes that creepy red laser…we are, in essence, voting with our purchase. When we buy GMO or pesticide laden foodstuffs, we are essentially saying…it's okay…keep producing this stuff which could or will make me sick. When we buy that toxic laundry detergent that was on sale for 1.99, that will be fed back into our water supply, we tell them it's okay to keep producing this sick stuff.

On the flip side, when we purchase free-range chicken from foul that actually saw real sun-light, we are supporting that farmer and entire production line that promotes ethical treatment of animals raised for consumption.

And if sustainable becomes the norm and expected, guess what happens?? Competition between manufacturers..which means…better/affordable prices for you and me, and eating hormone laden protein will be likened to eating asbestos…we wont stand for it.

Let us vote with our money, and as much as I love Captn' Crunch, I'll only be eating it in my fond memories of childhood.