It’s no secret that consumers’ food choices are influenced by the stores they shop in and the foods they eat – but how do they do it? Both Michael Moss, in his article “The Extraordinary Science of Addicting Junk Food,” and Marion Nestle, in her article “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” attempt to answer this question through slightly different lenses. In each of their respective articles, Moss and Nestle describe different ways that both food producers and grocery stores work to push consumers to buy certain products. Together, their articles form an easy-to-understand, brief history of the changes made in food companies to further influence customers. Both authors focus on the science behind the changes made in the companies making and …show more content…
In each of the men’s stories, he emphasizes the point that each of them makes when looking back at their career – they regret the work they have done to help food companies make their products more addictive (Moss). While Nestle does not reference individual researchers or company employees in her piece, she mentions a discovery made by Vance Packard, a man who wrote a book uncovering the secrets of supermarket retailers – “Corporations were hiring social scientists to study unconscious human emotions, not for the good of humanity but to help companies manipulate people into buying products” (Nestle). She goes on to explain the guidelines used for designing grocery store layouts, like putting ‘necessities’ like milk, meat, and produce on the outskirts of the store, effectively forcing customers to browse through aisles of other products while shopping for what they originally came to the store for (Nestle). Both authors highlight the use of science by both food producers and retailers to make consumers want their products – namely the most profitable ones. Moss and Nestle each emphasize the importance companies place on making