Article June 25, 1984 Issue

What is natural?

JUDITH A. SCHULTZ

In a recent television commercial various people were asked if they could remember what they'd had for breakfast that morning. Those who had consumed the advertiser's "all natural" cereal had instant recall of munching wholesome, fiber-filled, nutritious, absolutely "pure" ingredients. Those not fortunate enough to have partaken of this nutritional wonder admitted that they could not remember more than eating something resembling "light brown flakes."

Then there's the commercial where a backwoodsy fellow strolls through a rustic farmhouse setting telling us how a hearty loaf of bread can get us "back to nature" with its pure goodness.

In light of this huckstering of the "natural" on television and radio, or in magazines, books, and newspapers, we may ask ourselves: If we focus our search for the 100 percent "natural" in foods, exercise programs, cosmetics, vitamin supplements, etc., and follow the prescribed routine, will we become a more "natural" person? And what does it mean to be natural, anyway? Does our concept of natural relate to a particular height, weight, hairstyle, or color and texture of skin? Or does it mean a life style free from any impurities of the body and mind? Is what is natural to you necessarily what is natural to your neighbor? Where can the searching mind find satisfying answers to these and other questions relating to man's true substance and harmony of being?

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Get off the fence
June 25, 1984
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