The Modern, Industrial Cornucopia: In America at Least, the Good Life Is Almost Too Good to Be True

May 25, 2007

Perhaps the greatest thing about being alive in this day and age is that you don't have to hustle anymore for a meal. Anything you'd ever want at any time of the day for any reason is available within the United States all year long, every year. Moreover, not only has there been no letup in this situation since the Second World War, it's gotten better every year.

Let's say, for example, that you want pork and beans. No problem: there are literally millions of cans of just that item sitting on American shelves right now, for just pennies a can. Vegetarian? You're in luck: there are special varieties of vegetarian baked beans just for you. Best of all, pork or no pork, you don't even need a stove to enjoy this classic side dish, which is almost better cold. Add some ketchup—any brand will do—for some extra flavor. But let's say you're in the mood for something fancier. Again, no problem: Italian-style wedding soup (with meatballs), to choose just one example, is now a grocery-store staple. From Campbell's to Progresso, you can have it any time you want, heated or cold.

The thing that's so great about this situation has little to do with food, however. The revolution is in time saved. You don't have to spend more than a few minutes every day thinking about food. And if you're really smart and know how to take advantage of all the modern opportunities, most of this time is spent not in the procuring and preparing of it but in the eating and enjoying of it.

Food is a huge topic, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming. Thanks to the universal availability of so many convenient and delicious choices—at least in the United States—a few examples should suffice to suggest the nearly unending range of possibilities. The following table lists food options for a typical day's worth of eating and includes the benefits of each choice.

Table 1. INTELLIGENT FOOD CHOICES FOR MODERN, ACTIVE PEOPLE
	FOOD	BENEFITS
Breakfast	Bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from a favorite fast-food restaurant, washed down with a large, cold cup of orange juice and some coffee, creamed and sweetened to taste	This is a great-tasting, hot breakfast option that can be eaten one-handed in a matter of a minute or less. To speed up the coffee portion of your meal, add enough refrigerated cream or milk to make it suitable for gulping. The time saved can be spent working or sleeping or whatever you love to do.
Midmorning snack	Cold ravioli out of the can	Use a microwave if you have one, but, as with most canned goods, there's no need to spend the extra time. Grab your favorite can opener and spoon—and enjoy.
Lunch	Deli sandwich from the grocery store or local sandwich shop, washed down with Coca-Cola	In this day and age, there's no reason to prepare your own sandwich. Show your support for the economy's growing service sector and pay someone else to make it. Try roast beef and provolone; ask for additional toppings as desired. If it's offered, try something other than the usual french loaf. Experiment.
Afternoon snack	Dry-roasted peanuts, washed down with plenty of water	Opt for the fully salted kind. If you have a sweet tooth, consider the honey-roasted variety. Always get shelled peanuts. It's possible to "drink" these right out of the bag or jar. If you opt for the jar, you can use the lid as a cup and pour directly into your mouth (don't forget to chew). If you're sharing with others, be considerate and don't touch the lid to your lips or teeth—unless it's your turn to drain the jar to the dregs.
Dinner	Take-out or delivered pizza, washed down with lots of water or beer	Order enough to ensure leftovers. Save money by limiting yourself to no more than one topping.
Evening snack	Beer and bagged snacks	Especially for snack time, choose a cheap beer with high alcohol content. Milwaukee's Best Ice is a good choice. If you're extra hungry, mix several snacks in one bowl. If you're prone to drinking too much, tip the balance toward the snacks and away from the beer. You'll thank yourself in the morning.
Midnight snack	Cold milk from the refrigerator	Sometimes there's no reason to stray too far from what's worked since childhood.

So there you have it. A typical day, yes, but an almost embarrassing surfeit of incredibly tasty food—all with little or no preparation on your part.

Now, for the sake of comparison, let's take a look at the kinds of foods that you should generally try to avoid. Many of you will have no trouble staying away from these options, but others—haunted by guilt or curious about the slow-food movement—might find themselves slipping into bad habits.

Table 2. FOODS TO AVOID UNLESS YOU HAVE A PERSONAL CHEF OR SIMPLY ENJOY SPENDING YOUR TIME IN THE KITCHEN*
	FOOD	DRAWBACKS
Breakfast	Shiitake mushroom and asparagus frittata with smoked salmon	The typical instructions for preparing this meal—which I will not reproduce here—run to more than a hundred words. Worse, wild salmon, once the world's most magnificent river creature, has been reduced to near extinction.
Midmorning snack	Low-fat yogurt covered with ½ cup canned unsweetened tangerines and some raisins	This snack may not be suitable for those who are neither professional fashion models nor senior citizens, and it has to be assembled from separate ingredients.
Lunch	Roasted red pepper and kalamata olive sicilian salad	Though it sounds interesting enough, this dish has to be prepared, by hand, from eleven different ingredients. Worse, it may not provide enough afternoon energy for anything more demanding than corporate deskwork.
Afternoon snack	Cacik with cauliflower	Not readily available in stores; see "midmorning snack."
Dinner	Warm spinach salad with chicken, apples, and toasted almonds	This dish contains spinach; preparation requires a large bowl and a skillet and at least moderate sobriety and may take time away from DVD movies and other diversions.
Evening snack	n/a
Midnight snack	n/a
Source for 2nd column: Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., You: The Owner's Manual (2005)

So you can see that, aside perhaps from some fancy-sounding names, the typical offerings in the second table entail significant drawbacks without delivering, by way of compensation, the extraordinarily satisfying experience of the items outlined in the first table.

But if you are one of those people drawn more to the sorts of foods in the second table than those in the first, don't despair. Almost all the fancier grocery stores—especially those in upscale urban and suburban neighborhoods or on the fringes of major college towns—offer prepared dishes to suit your cravings. No one with a car, at the very least, should have to go without. Bon appétit.

*You may also choose to eat such foods if you plan on a lucrative book contract documenting a return to basics in a world gone awry.

© 2010 Russell David Harper