Years before I went to graduate school, when my son was still young enough to sit in the front of the grocery cart, I learned a powerful lesson about the persuasive nature of media. We were in the cracker aisle when my normally calm toddler began begging for a box of Ritz party crackers. As an organic shopper, these weren’t on my list, but somehow my son seemed to have intimate knowledge of their salty deliciousness. I struggled for a few moments before agreeing to his youthful demands. After all, what harm could a few Ritz crackers do?

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