The other day I needed a boost. It was one of those cold days last week, the garden was almost stark naked — only a few intrepid lettuce seeds had sprouted (I almost required binoculars to see them), and I dumped my evening BBQ grill plans into the crock pot. In my uninspired stupor, I decided to put the time to some sort of productive application and went to tackle the grocery shopping.

Little did I know what a remedy it would be to read labels on food products. My mood lifted as I discovered gleeful promises of “new and improved,” “40 percent more,” “40 percent reduced fat,” “wholesome goodness,” and even “100 percent real cheese” (this on the Cheez-It box). And there were plenty of other labels on my aisle-wandering excursion that jumped out, singing words like “organic,” “minimally processed,” “no artificial ingredients or preservatives,” and “free Shrek hat mail-in-offer.” But after awhile all the labels began to look alike.

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