This is why plain old cooking from scratch feels like activism now. In my 20s I used to attend protests. Now, I cook dinner using real ingredients most nights if the week and try very hard to shape my children's palates towards actual food, and not food-like substances (I wrote this piece in the Guardian about that attempt: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/apr/20/ultra-processed-foods-diet-healthy-eating).
Chekhovian writing and sense the sardonic smile. I especially adore- "a world where a brick of silly putty in a gold wrapper...." this kind of commentary and observation on food is so exciting and energizing - love it!
Love the title! This is exactly what I’m seeing in hiring, and most companies don’t realize it yet. The system didn’t just optimize for cheaper ingredients, it optimized for a certain type of operator in this environment.
Big Food spent years promoting margin managers and cost optimizers. Now they’re trying to pivot back to quality, trust, and “real food” and realizing they don’t have enough people who actually know how to build it or a brand from scratch.
That talent exists, but it’s sitting in smaller brands, supply chains, and founder-led companies. And now everyone is going after the same profiles at the same time.
As a nurse, diabetes educator and former restaurant chef I try as hard as I can to fight the effects of hyperpalatable foods on my family and my patients. There are so many reasons why this is difficult, not the least of which is the fact that they're addictive. Thanks so much for this article and I'm glad I found your Substack.
General Mills paid $820M for the trust Annie's built by being the opposite of Kraft. Then they replaced butter with cornstarch and called it a 'delightful upgrade.' That's the whole pattern. Buy the loyalty. Cheapen the promise. Book the margin improvement this quarter. Watch the trust erosion show up two years later as a velocity decline nobody can trace back to the reformulation because by then the people who made the decision are in a different meeting, at a different company, doing the same thing to a different brand
In Jamaica Pepsi is made with cane sugar and real cola, it's my favorite. When I'm in the States and I do find one it tastes horrid. I also don't drink Coca-Cola here or anywhere, it also tastes horrid.
Interesting that you mentioned Coke. I live in Mexico, and the Coke sold here is made with sugar. That drink is terrible for you so I seldom have it, but when I do, I get to enjoy the version made with sugar, which to me is more satisfying.
we should all consume sugar in moderation but when we do, I'd much rather have a modest amount of real sugar rather than a load of HFCS or sugar alts. I mention Coke because its the classic example (In the US) of how we got rid of the real sugar and went to something worse--which is the thesis of the whole essay.
They still sell Coke (with sugar cane) at Costco. They sell it by the case for $40! It's from Mexico and still in the glass bottles. I just can't plop down that kind of $$$$ for soda. I don't buy soda unless it's a holiday and we have guests coming over and when they leave, I usually give them the rest of the bottle.
This is why plain old cooking from scratch feels like activism now. In my 20s I used to attend protests. Now, I cook dinner using real ingredients most nights if the week and try very hard to shape my children's palates towards actual food, and not food-like substances (I wrote this piece in the Guardian about that attempt: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/apr/20/ultra-processed-foods-diet-healthy-eating).
Jen, this link doesn't work. I would love to read your piece, any chance you can post it some other way?
AND...it saves a lot of money!
Chekhovian writing and sense the sardonic smile. I especially adore- "a world where a brick of silly putty in a gold wrapper...." this kind of commentary and observation on food is so exciting and energizing - love it!
Spot on, and the reason I've spent my entire career in the natural foods industry trying to effect change.
May I complement you not just on the important message but on the beautiful writing which is a model of clarity in explanation!
thank you!
Fantastic piece, Mike!! Especially your point about bars - crazy that people would rather opt for a highly formulated product vs real foods
Love the title! This is exactly what I’m seeing in hiring, and most companies don’t realize it yet. The system didn’t just optimize for cheaper ingredients, it optimized for a certain type of operator in this environment.
Big Food spent years promoting margin managers and cost optimizers. Now they’re trying to pivot back to quality, trust, and “real food” and realizing they don’t have enough people who actually know how to build it or a brand from scratch.
That talent exists, but it’s sitting in smaller brands, supply chains, and founder-led companies. And now everyone is going after the same profiles at the same time.
Brilliant comment!! I had the misfortune to work under such a person. It was soul crushing.
As a nurse, diabetes educator and former restaurant chef I try as hard as I can to fight the effects of hyperpalatable foods on my family and my patients. There are so many reasons why this is difficult, not the least of which is the fact that they're addictive. Thanks so much for this article and I'm glad I found your Substack.
General Mills paid $820M for the trust Annie's built by being the opposite of Kraft. Then they replaced butter with cornstarch and called it a 'delightful upgrade.' That's the whole pattern. Buy the loyalty. Cheapen the promise. Book the margin improvement this quarter. Watch the trust erosion show up two years later as a velocity decline nobody can trace back to the reformulation because by then the people who made the decision are in a different meeting, at a different company, doing the same thing to a different brand
Thanks for an informative article! Also, the title is perfect.
What’s wrong with corn starch?
In Jamaica Pepsi is made with cane sugar and real cola, it's my favorite. When I'm in the States and I do find one it tastes horrid. I also don't drink Coca-Cola here or anywhere, it also tastes horrid.
Loved this essay. Featured it on Breadtopia: https://breadtopia.com/bake-real-bread/
I predict trouble over the horizon for Big Cola if corn subsidies vanish: https://ourfermentedfuture.com/our-fermented-future-episode-1-the-collapse-of-corn-syrup/
Ingredient lists are looking increasingly like foreign languages. Printing beef in a laboratory. What?!
Interesting that you mentioned Coke. I live in Mexico, and the Coke sold here is made with sugar. That drink is terrible for you so I seldom have it, but when I do, I get to enjoy the version made with sugar, which to me is more satisfying.
we should all consume sugar in moderation but when we do, I'd much rather have a modest amount of real sugar rather than a load of HFCS or sugar alts. I mention Coke because its the classic example (In the US) of how we got rid of the real sugar and went to something worse--which is the thesis of the whole essay.
Is there any other country in the world where they use HFCS? Because it's also made with sugar in European countries.
They still sell Coke (with sugar cane) at Costco. They sell it by the case for $40! It's from Mexico and still in the glass bottles. I just can't plop down that kind of $$$$ for soda. I don't buy soda unless it's a holiday and we have guests coming over and when they leave, I usually give them the rest of the bottle.