You may have heard the saying:” You vote with your dollar.”Every time we make a purchase we are choosing one product over another. What influences our choices? Are we truly choosing or are we being manipulated by sophisticated marketing methods, carefully designed to influence our monetary vote? Let’s take a look at how we can retain our power while being bombarded with advertising.

Needs and Desires

It’s not always easy to tell the difference between a desire and a true need. As human beings we all share certain basic physical needs: air, food, water, sleep, procreation and protection from adverse elements in the form of clothing or shelter.

We also share some psychological needs: love, a sense of belonging, and a chance to express ourselves in some way. There may be some others, like the need to connect with God/Spirit, or the need to learn and grow. Even so, when we group them all together, the actual needs we have as humans don’t add up to a lot and can be fulfilled in many diverse ways.

One might think that once those basic needs are fulfilled, a human being would be content. Some people are, and sometimes I wish I were one of them! Most of us, however, have this little nagging attribute called “desire” which undermines our contentment and keeps us striving to acquire more. Unfortunately, our desires are one of the most potent forces causing us to relinquish our personal power.

Exercise #1

Think about your belongings. If you lost everything in a fire and could only replace a limited amount, which would you replace? Which things wouldn’t you miss at all?

Conscious Consumption

We are surrounded by so much abundance in North America that it is often difficult to choose what to buy. Our ancestors a few hundred years ago had very few opportunities to buy ready made consumer goods. There simply weren’t that many available. The country store didn’t need to advertise because sooner or later, everyone within miles would walk through the door and purchase items like fabric, food staples or building supplies they were unable to produce themselves. For the most part, they were conscious consumers, rarely doing what we call “impulse buying”.

Things are different now. Impulse buying has become a national epidemic among the affluent as well as those of lesser means. With so many competing products, well-designed ads, window displays and junk mail promoting sales can mean the difference between success or failure in the free-enterprise marketplace. Research studies are done and psychologists hired, all for the purpose of gauging how best to capture the buying impulse of Joe and Jane Public. The result is many of us are becoming increasingly unconscious of why we buy, when we buy or what we buy.

When our credit card bills mount up (many people are unable to pay more than the minimum payment each month and so pay exorbitant interest on the remainder) we may feel guilt or anxiety. To alleviate the bad feelings, we may go out and spend more, thinking that the next purchase will “fill the hole in the belly”. It doesn’t for long, of course, leaving us feeling increasingly powerless in the face of overwhelming debts and a pile of consumer goods that never seem quite good enough after the initial thrill of buying wears off.

Exercise #2

For the next few days, pay close attention to every impulse you may have to buy something. Think about where you first saw or heard of the item, of any ads you may have seen promoting the item, and whether it fulfills a need or a desire. Become aware of that “hole in the belly” feeling when your experience a desire for something you don’t really need but feel you must have for some reason. Will the item enhance your physical, psychological or spiritual health? Imagine yourself having owned the item for a month or so. Will it still give you the same satisfaction? Evaluating your motives and feelings in this way will assist you in becoming a conscious consumer.

Food Facts

When it comes to food purchases, slightly different factors come into play. Fact #1: we all need to eat. Fact #2: we have an abundance of foods from which to choose. Fact #3: we can only eat so much. Fact #4: very few of us deal directly with the food producers, so most of our food passes through a number of buyers and sellers, making shelf life a priority.

These factors pose a unique set of variables for the food seller that sellers of other products don’t have to deal with. If people can only eat so much, how do they convince people to spend more and more money on food? After all, plain potatoes are not only cheaper; they are also a lot healthier than French fries. Fresh meat costs less than its processed and preserved counterparts.

My belief is we have all been cleverly manipulated by the multi-national food conglomerates that processed food #1: equally nutritious (or in the case of “fortified” foods even more nutritious) #2: tastes better, #3: is more convenient to prepare and #4: lasts longer than the basic raw materials it is made from. Unfortunately, only #4 is totally correct. Processed food often does last longer than fresh food, but that is because it is no longer alive and may be totally devoid of nutrients that bacteria need to live on, so it won’t spoil. It doesn’t seem to occur to most of us that if bacteria aren’t nourished by it, maybe we aren’t either!

Exercise #3

Take a look at the advertising flyers that are delivered to homes in most parts of North America. If you don’t receive any, check the local supermarkets…they usually have copies of their flyers on hand. Notice how many advertised items and items available with a coupon discount are heavily processed and packaged. Notice that they are also more expensive per unit of weight than fresh produce.

Now think about the items you buy regularly. Do you choose by price or by brand name loyalty? If you are loyal to certain brands, can you remember why you first chose the product? How resistant are you to trying competing products? Do you read labels to find out what ingredients are used? Do you check the nutritional analysis tables? Honest answers to these questions should start you on the road to becoming conscious of your food choices, which is the first step to being an empowered consumer.

Dietary Confusion

It’s no accident that so many of us are confused about what to eat. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements proclaiming the magical health qualities of one food or another. It seems that every year another book is released with a new diet plan, promising health, weight loss and boundless energy.

What many people don’t know, is that a lot of the “studies” on which these diet theories are based are funded by the food industry or by various pharmaceutical or chemical industries that stand to make a profit if people purchase the recommended foods. In the face of so much conflicting information, it is very difficult to be an empowered and conscious food consumer.

So what do we do? I wish I had an easy answer for you. I have spent years researching various diets and delving into the theory behind them as well as the anecdotal evidence of their successes and/or failures. My way of reclaiming power in the face of ad campaigns is to educate myself as much as possible and remain conscious of my consumer choices.

Wherever possible, I choose to vote for natural, unprocessed, real (rather than man-made) foods with my consumer dollar. To put it bluntly, I do not trust advertising. Ads make me suspicious and my “ad radar” is turned on full force whenever I go grocery shopping. The more claims made for a processed product, the less likely I am to buy it. I always look at ingredients and follow a simple rule: if I can’t pronounce it, I don’t buy it!

Fast Food

Let’s face it; fast food is a reality for most of us living in the fast-paced, big cities. We’re juggling careers, family responsibilities, recreational activities and relaxation time, so many of us don’t have time (and increasingly don’t even know how) to cook complete nutritious meals. It’s no accident that McDonald’s is one of the most successful corporations in the world. Many other fast food chains are also thriving, so it’s obvious fast food is here to stay.

The trouble with fast food chains, and restaurants in general, is we have very little knowledge about what is put into our food. Government regulations ensure that each bottle or can on the grocery shelf has a full-disclosure label. Not so with fast food. Does your hamburger contain extenders like hydrolyzed vegetable protein or soy protein isolates? Even if you ask, chances are the young cashier won’t have a clue.

I used to feel my only power of choice was whether or not to go to a restaurant. However, I’m realizing that even if I choose to go, I don’t have to blindly consume the non-nourishing choices offered. One burger chain now offers “protein burgers” which is a meat patty wrapped in lettuce instead of a highly refined white-flour bun…definitely a healthier choice.

The more people start asking for unprocessed alternatives, the more restaurants will provide those options. It is simply another example of how you can reclaim your personal power in life: you make your wishes known and you vote with your dollar!