#pre-packaged

[...] But really, what can one get out of a five-minute interview that has been groomed and pre-approved by a team of public relations experts? Jefferson writes about the relationship between celebrity, public relations and journalism in a post for GOOD.

Jefferson is sure to note that there are great reporters who work the entertainment beat, but that pre-packaged interviews are the norm, not the exception.

Several years ago, I was offered a 15-minute interview with a well-known and well-respected musician. "You can't ask him about any of [his band's] internal drama," his publicist told me, "but everything else should be all right." Restricting what I could talk about rubbed me the wrong way, but I was young, inexperienced, and excited to speak with an artist I really liked, so I agreed to it. On the day of the interview, I waited for the musician and his publicist to call me, and then I waited some more. By the time I finally heard from them, they told me that, instead of 15 minutes, I now had "about nine or 10." I got flustered trying to decide which of my questions were most pertinent considering the new time constraints. Then, at the five-minute mark, the publicist cut in to tell me to wrap it up. "Has he been listening in this whole time?", I thought, which flustered me even more.

In the end, the publicist and the magazine for which I was writing the piece both told me they were happy with how it turned out. But I couldn't ever bring myself to read it. The whole process made me feel silly and amateurish. I had been somebody's mouthpiece, and it sucked.

As I would eventually learn, that kind of incident is not a rarity, nor is it relegated to the music world. Actors, politicians, and all kinds of self-important people often reach out to media outlets requesting coverage. It's only after you agree to provide that coverage that the caveats begin: "He doesn't want to talk about his divorce"; "The band's not here to discuss their legal troubles"; "Actually, she doesn't want to speak to those allegations at all, and if you bring them up, we're walking." The celebrity interview is a strange beast: Something that should make the celebrity feel at least a little bit vulnerable ends up being taken over by the celebrity and their publicist. The "journalist"? They're just there to transcribe.

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The Mouse picked up from Times Supermarket deli, refrigerated section. Gandule Rice and Pastele Stew Enough to contribute to at least two bento for The Cat this week. That being the goal, the package is “cheap eats”. The Mouse tried a piece of pork for dinner last night, mmm, wish I bought two. 😋 Be well, eat well. The Mouse. p.s. May not post regularly tomorrow, The Mouse has an early…

If you have read some of our previous blogs, you will know that we are not the biggest fans of pre-packaged meals.

There are a number of reasons why that is the case, though not all of them are necessarily directly to do with weight loss programs.

Here are just a few of the reasons why we are firm believers in freshly self-prepared food whether in the home or the workplace.

You will have far more control over the specific ingredients of your meal than may be possible with pre-packaged foodstuffs.

You will be able to tailor your meal so as to include the ingredients that your body needs for optimum health and also exclude any that may be less beneficial for you as an individual. This, of course, is also important in weight loss recipes.

Times can be tough and many of us need to watch our family food and drink budgets carefully. As a general rule, pre-cooked and pre-packaged meals are far less cost-effective than when you prepare the same meal yourself.

You can be sure exactly how a home cooked meal is prepared, taking steps to cook it in ways to protect all of the best of the natural ingredients. You may have rather less assurance that similar steps were taken in the case of mass-produced pre-prepared meals. It’s as much about making sure that good things are still in your food as checking that nothing untoward has been added.

It’s important to note that not all pre-packaged meals are ‘the same’.

Some are prepared using the very best ingredients and the ultimate in healthy eating care but unfortunately many are not. Can you be sure which is which?