Eat your greens

Although I have never considered myself to be a political activist, there are one or two things that occasionally go on in that area of my brain. The poll tax was one. The second Gulf War is another. Here's a third.

Books that have influenced my life, part the third: McLibel, Burger Culture on Trial, by John Vidal

It may sound hypocritical coming from someone who currently works for a global corporation, but this is the book that opened my eyes to the view that unquestioning belief in the rightness of market forces is an unsustainable madness, and that this madness is particularly grotesque when it hits the quality of the stuff that we put in our mouths.

The book describes what happened when one of the world's largest companies felt the itch of a couple of environmental activists handing out pamphlets outside its front door, and decided to scratch the itch with a libel case. The two protesters refused to shut up. The case initially lasted for seven years, and has been followed up plenty more since that. If you haven't read about the whole saga, it is fascinating stuff.

Of particular interest to me was a description of and partial transcript from a section of the court case in which the company defended a description of its product as "nutritious" on the grounds that it "contains nutrients". So can a glass of tap water.

These days, as far as food shopping is concerned, if there is an organic alternative easily available, I usually go for that. And although I do eat fast food in a number of places, including some burger "restaurants", I have not eaten at McDonald's since 1989.