Posts Tagged ‘obesity’

Wow, after reading this article in the NYT about the government’s involvement in marketing unhealthy foods, our jaws are on the floor.  The article is rife with points that deserve mentioning such as the incredible unhealthiness of Domino’s Pizza and other major food chains and a US government so cumbersome that while the first lady leads a national campaign to fight obesity, groups in the Department of Agriculture receive millions in funding to help find ways to make Americans more unhealthy.  And don’t even get us started on US government employees, essentially functioning as lobbyists for private industry, getting paid 600k in salary by taxpayers!

Most shocking of all though, was that the article illustrated the true power that advertising has on the eating habits of Americans.  And when the US government throws its weight around in the marketing department, their power to influence our eating behavior increases exponentially.  It shouldn’t be surprising, but it seemed as though food-interest groups like Dairy Management will not only jump onboard with any data that casts their products in a positive light, but actually frame multi-year national ad campaigns around studies that are skeptical at best.  The sad fact is that the public just can’t trust the messages coming from the current “food industry establishment.”  And this not only includes the companies and interest groups that turned real food into a processed industry, but also the government itself.  We believe real change will occur in the food industry only when the majority of the population becomes educated on the basics of what food is and should be –  fuel and nourishment for our bodies.  But even when the population becomes educated, it will take transparency and honesty on the part of food companies and food producers to allow an educated public to make informed, nutritionally sound decisions.