If you read my prior two posts you will see that I have been on an anti-meal replacement roll this last week. While I am getting a little tired of the topic today (though I plan on pursuing this cause vehemently even if I am foaming at the mouth), this photo, provided to me by the awesome outreach worker who schlepped the shit around twice, is too absurd not to share...It also debunks one of the top justifications for maintaining this "industry standard:" Cost Effectiveness.
This is what 1200 dollars worth of Ensure looks like--thankfully this flat was on its way back to the Superstore warehouse and will not be given out to street-entrenched, HIV positive clients. The entire non-profit/medical industry in the DTES (and probably beyond) relies on this product as a "cheap" and convenient solution to the nutritional vulnerability of the populations we are meant to assist.
Clearly this is not an inexpensive product. It is expensive in terms of the physical repercussions of ingesting a synthetic and chemical cocktail, but also in terms of $$ amounts!
1200$ can buy a second hand fridge and enough ingredients to make and serve whole, nutritional smoothies several mornings a week, or to purchase less involved options such as bananas, hard boiled eggs, even natural energy bars (i.e Larabar).
Convenience a euphemism for lazy? In some cases yes, but at best the industry is uninformed. My manager spoke to a whole class of future social service providers who were shocked that Ensure is not a healthy choice.
And if people would like to counter my stance, I urge them to do research on the first ingredients listed on the label and to demonstrate to me how these could benefit people in precarious health (or any one at all.)
Water, Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin Corn, Sodium And Calcium Caseinates, Sugar Sucrose, Canola Oil, Corn Oil, High-Oleic Safflower Oil, Soy Protein Isolate, Soy Lecithin, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Carrageenan, FD&C Red No. 3, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1.
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