Hey y'all,
This week's open question: Are health food labels BS? Which can we trust?
Labels like "Organic," "non-GMO," and "high protein" make your food more expensive without necessarily making it better for you, NPR's Planet Money podcast reported yesterday.
- Are any of the labels trustworthy? Which ones?
- What's a label you fell for? What made you stop?
- Is "organic" a fact, a vibe, a tax, or something else?
- There's an FDA rule proposed that would stamp Low / Med / High for sugar, salt, and saturated fat on the front of the box. Good idea, or the government picking your dinner? (would love to hear from Europeans on this too)
- Where else are you paying extra for a word (schools, therapists, software, "ethical") anything?
Lots of love, and see (some of) you at 5p central today here.
Jordan Myska Allen
(UpTrust CEO)
p.s. Why this question?
- It's the UpTrust thesis in a grocery aisle: a label is a cheap trust signal, decoupled from the thing it points at. Stated trust vs. revealed trust, priced.
- Breaks the AI streak. Three of your last four have been AI-centered. Jun 10, Jun 24, Jul 22, Jul 29.
- Cross-cuts the usual political axis in a useful direction: MAHA-right and Whole-Foods-left both care and both get implicated.
- Concrete external object we can hold in our hand and argue over.