It is a common saying of mine, “It’s like potato chips, pop and shoes…just pay more to get the get good stuff and be done with it.”    

     I normally don’t watch much TV.  Okay, okay, I know, I watch a butt-load of Law & Order and Sportcenter, but that is normally between the hours of 3 & 6 AM.  On this fine Sunday, the wind was howling.  Plus, I had the odd fact that I actually didn’t have to be anywhere and NOBODY was scheduled to be at my little piece of paradise.  This doesn’t happen very often.  So, I took a nap.  Then filled feeders and waterers, then watched Duke walk barrows.  Then, I came inside and flipped channels.  I ended up on the National Geopgraphic channel.  They were showing back2back episodes of EAT:The story of food.  This was some really good tv.  I learned that 100 years ago, the average American ate 4 pounds of sugar in a year.  Now, we eat on average 75 pounds of sugar.  

      One episode dealt with our addiction to sugar, another with seafood and another with guilty pleasures, ie processed foods.  The first item mentioned was Lay’s potato chips.  These shows are really well produced, scientific while still being interesting.  They dealt with why the name brand pops were more popular/addictive and that Lay’s potato chips were “worth” more.  A lot of our food stuffs were developed as a result of World War II and the years after, marketing directly to baby-boomers.  Convenience became a key item.  

     One episode focused on sea food.  I did not realize that lobster used to be a crap food that was fed prisoners and this crustacean was considered a pain in the ass that got in the way of catching other sea food.  But, now….things have changed.  Which reminds me of the goat industry.  They used to be a second class citizen.  I kind of chuckled to myself today, as the priest had a sermon that involved that JESUS seperated sheep from goats.  The part that sheep are worth more than goats is one reason of seperation caught my attention.  I was sitting in a house of the LORD, so I couldn’t think out loud.  But, I did laugh and think, “The goats that I’ve been trying to buy are worth WAY more than any other sheep.”  Oh, and when the Priest asked all of the kids “Why would you want to seperate the sheep from the goats?”  and a kid yelled out, “Cuz goats stink more.”  My first thought was, that young lad has never smelled a wet sheep before.