Froot! It’s better than fruit. June 13, 2008

First, let us ponder prune buying on Amazon. Hmmmm.

Next, the bag claims that these morsels of pruney golightly are better than fresh fruit. This claim is elaborated in the product listing on the aforementioned site:

Better than fresh fruit. Ounce for ounce, bite for bite, better than fresh fruit ! Better than bananas. That’s right, just one ounce of Sunsweet Prunes delivers more potassium than one ounce of bananas. So more over fresh fruit, it’s time the once humble prune takes its rightful place as nature’s ultimate convenient and nutrient-packed snack. Potassium per ounce: prunes = 208 mg, bananas =101 mg. [Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 17 (2004).] So when you need energy, antioxidants, potassium, fiber, or just an irresistibly delicious snack you can take anywhere, reach for Sunsweet prunes. Grower certified: We reserve the highest quality prunes in the world for Sunsweet Gold Label packages. Diabetic exchange: 1 1//2 fruits. Dried fruits have fiber along with carbohydrate and can be a good choice in your diabetic meal plan.

Ingredients:

Pitted California Prunes (Dried Plums), Potassium Sorbate (As A Preservative).

At least they have cited their source information. Snap.
They have included exchange information for diabetics. Snap.
The ingredients list is short. Snap.

Dried prunes being wholly better than fresh fruit is our main assertion here with the following as support:

• K_prunes > K_bananas

Let’s even go so far as to say that:

• 2K_bananas = K_prunes

It’s actually even:

• 2K_bananas + 6 = K_prunes

where weights of the fruits are identical and K = potassium.

This is a real losing position for bananas whose claim to fame is based on just two things: high potassium content and slippery skins who work as part time comedians. Okay, there’s some celebrity from the tarantula-in-the-banana-shipment folklore, but that’s it for bananas. The whole of their import is based on their potassium content. They are BIG in potassium circles.

Listen here, these prunes have more potassium. That’s how we know they are better than fresh fruit. I mean, they have more potassium than bananas for God’s sake!

The claim is appealing because prunes appear to provide a concentrated source of a nutrient that we all know cures hangovers. Moreover, the claim attempts to distract us from the real reason people buy and consume prunes. It’s not the potassium, K?

You could do a lot worse than these minimally processed 2-ingredient humble prunes. They’re not bad as far as packaged food goes, but they aren’t better than fresh fruit.

Knock knock. Who’s there? Skepticism. June 12, 2008

A few months ago, I planned another blog to address a pet project of mine…but I can’t exactly be trusted to update this blog regularly, so what are the chances that I’ll manage two successfully? For that reason, the Vox Hortus blog is about to get pretty eclectic – chaotic even.

I already talk a lot about horticulture, agriculture, science and landscape aesthetics here. Then awhile back I added entomology and general biology, and after much deliberation added knitting – these are all things I spend a fair amount of time on. Another thing I do frequently is rail against the diabolical shadiness in advertising, most frequently the form that takes in the selling of food. Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver made an impression on me.

So at one time, I intended to create a blog for sustained railing in this same vein, but alas, I think I’m just going to go random and chaotic here at Vox Hortus, and God help you, on any given day, you won’t know what to expect. Don’t be mad.

On second thought, do be mad. Be mad that collectively, consumers are so passive, we can be told anything, and not only will we not reel in incredulity, not shake our fists or demand the truth, we’ll believe what is said and pays our money and takes our chances.