Truth in Labeling
Eggbot Nutrition Label by dnewman
Have you noticed the recent marketing of prepackaged produce? I’m not talking about washed, bagged lettuce here. I’m talking about a prune or a banana in a single serving plastic wrapper. The prune, okay, maybe. Unless you’re buying prunes individually this just doesn’t seem to be worth the effort. As for bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, avocados, kiwi, mangoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and any other fruit where you do not consume the exterior… I just don’t get it. Perhaps it’s more pushed by a desire to utilize more marketing space on produce?
Dnewman’s solution is beyond elegant. Why not just print the nutritional information right on the produce using an Eggbot?? I just LOVE this idea! I would absolutely buy eggs from any producer that did this. Not only is this idea so so so cool, but it opens the door to all kinds of other food labeling robots. I mean, who wouldn’t want a Mangobot 2000? Oh, and if you’re going to buy an apple, pear, or other fruit or vegetable where the exterior is consumed, why not just print with an edible ink? 12
- I suppose this would cause an infinite regression of trying to then print the ink’s own nutritional information on the ink itself… [↩]
- Wibbly wobbly… [↩]
- I’m just letting it be known I had to restrain myself from using a number of other adjectives here. [↩]
- Frankly, this is the mark of incredible self-control [↩]
- I didn’t use the words extraordinary, example, or exemplary. [↩]
| Tagged with | egg printer, eggbot, food, nutritional label, printed, printing on eggs, printing on food, produce | 21 comments |
21 Comments so far
Dna
Eggscellent, I’m so glad you refrained from being punny.
Donald Pelton
That egg decorating machine would be a great hit at an Easter Egg party for children.
tre3
I think you get it, you just don’t realize it
You would absolutely buy an egg that had some information printed on it… That’s a fairly clear indication that putting such labels is a value adder. It is purely social psych. Sell a “premium” product for higher than those “lesser” ones.
There’s nothing wrong with it – this is done all the time. “Brand name” is a very good example. Most stuff you buy (including, say, MakerBot stepper motors) come from some ODM factory overseas (be it China, India, etc.). In college, I had some “knock off” branded mini fridge whereas a friend had a brand name. The parts, warranty and features were identical – that even includes the part number sticker on the compressor.
Now, as one of those “productive members of society” – I’m working with ODM factories doing the exact same thing. I’m testing and vetting these products – that’s the value add (the same applies for the individually wrapped produce).
That said… Do I personally like plastic wrapped single serving produce? Hell no. I like it as much as the love ballads they play in grocery stores. I, however, am not the audience being targeted (those love ballads actually increase sales).
nrp
Interestingly, laser etching produce is already being commercialized.
TonyS
Please, for the love of God, don’t give them any ideas. The nutrition facts won’t end up on your egg. An ad will. And the last thing we need is to be even more thoroughly bathed in advertising every second of every day of our lives.
coasterman
This is SO FUNNY!
But please, DO NOT MAKE AN EGG PAINTER THAT PAINTS IN COLOR! If that happens, we’ll likely start seeing cars on our eggs. Advertisements…
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slippery elf
How to turn nature’s produce into something that looks manufactured and separate our next generation further away from the fact they can look to the Earth for sustenance (thus relying more and more on corporations as the provider). When bottled water hit the stores years ago, I scoffed – “SELLING WATER??!!! It’s falling out of the sky!! Haha – Good luck!!”. I wonder if they thought that when they first saw fruit and veg for sale… “It’s growing out of the ground, for Pete’s sake!!”
Now the food industry is so heavily relied upon, it’s become a fully fledged system of control. Half the kids at school probably don’t even know what a tomato plant looks like, and thus are so reliant on being provided for by the commercial sector, with lists, labels, warnings, pretty coloured packaging, status, stigma, brands, they’ve got an entire generation cornered. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” also does an excellent job at presenting to a young, impressionable audience that food is something artificial and requires a third party.
It’s growing out of the ground, for Pete’s sake!!
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alan newcomer
Good Cholesterol or Bad?
Whites verses yolks?
Can the machine be tweaked to weigh the eggs for accuracy?
Since bananas* contain radioactive potassium will that info be added?
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose
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