Hot Topic (6/14): Has The Food Industry Led Us To Obesity?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 

“Public balks at obesity lawsuits”

Per a Gallup Poll conducted July 7-9, “nearly 9 in 10 Americans (89%) oppose holding the fast-food industry legally responsible for the diet-related health problems of people who eat that kind of food on a regular basis. Just 9% are in favor.

Those who describe themselves as overweight are no more likely than others to blame the fast-food industry for obesity-related health problems, or to favor lawsuits against the industry.” (Lydia Saad, Gallup News Service, Jul. 21). Some opinion pieces: Kathleen Parker, “A ludicrous premise for a lawsuit: Obesity is the food’s fault”, Chicago Tribune, Jul. 16(”It’s hell living in a rich country with too much to eat, isn’t it?

The idea that restaurants are trying to make food taste better by combining sugar or fat to their protein, also known as ‘cooking,’ hardly qualifies as criminal conduct.”; Robert Tracinski, “Reductio ad Totalitarianism”, Ayn Rand Institute, Jun. 26 (quotes our editor)(”The problem with the ‘reductio ad absurdum’ argument, one of my philosophy teachers once warned me, is that your opponent may simply embrace the logical end result of his ideas — no matter how absurd it is. And that’s exactly what is happening now.”); Patti Waldmeir, “In America it takes lawsuits to change lives”, Financial Times, Jul. 21 (”the point is publicity, not liability. … My children have never seen a McDonald’s advert: they know instinctively that fat is good”).

How do you feel?

Is it time the food industry is regulated for their "hidden ingredients"?

Why is unhealthy food cheaper?

Has the food industry led us to an Obese Nation?

[mmtosam06]

 Its the fact that the junk food on store shelves being cheap & the healthy foods being expensive its not the fast food chains fault come on no one holds a gun to your head maki9ng you order fast food

[Eilish]

I think the reason why one of the "seven deadly sins" is gluttony, is because of obesity and the health problems associated with it. No one has anyone to blame but themselves. If the food industry was indeed to blame for obesity, then we'd ALL be fat. Take some personal responsibility, educate yourself about nutrition (it's not that hard - go to the library) and then eat right.

[stormcris]

The key always has been and always will be moderation and self control. No one is to blame for a person's constant consumption of fast food but the person.

[Raintree]

I blame the food industry for trying to remove food from nature. For convincing the public that they needed food scientists to eat right. For thinking of the almighty dollar over people's health.

I blame the government for being stupid enough to be bought out by this thinking, and subsidizing certain plants for so long that we have nothing more than an utter mess in the way of grain prices, surplus, and a nation of people made out of one plant- check your carbon!

[Eilish]

Quoting Raintree:

I blame the food industry for trying to remove food from nature. For convincing the public that they needed food scientists to eat right. For thinking of the almighty dollar over people's health.

I blame the government for being stupid enough to be bought out by this thinking, and subsidizing certain plants for so long that we have nothing more than an utter mess in the way of grain prices, surplus, and a nation of people made out of one plant- check your carbon!

True ... but I blame the American people for allowing themselves to be dumbed down and voting these idiots in office. No matter how you slice it, in a republic, it's the people's fault.

[Godgaveme4]

Blaming the food industry for obesity is like :

Blaming pencil makers for mis-spelled words.

Gun manufacturers for all the murders.

Wood for the sliver.

Alcohol for DUI's and deaths related to it.

Come on people.  Lets start takng responsibility for our own choices.  You choose to make bad food choices than deal with the consequenses.  It is not the governments responsibity to tell you how to or what to eat.

[Raintree]

Yes, people like those in the food industry. When food is so controlled- like it is here- those that handle our food are mostly to blame. Yes, I do blame the american people for being so easily duped by big business and corporations- and in some instances by my church! for this very problem.

We have to remember that nutrition is not a finished science. People hear that oat bran is good for them and they go all out for it until someone comes along and starts in on how carbohydrates are to blame for our health problems. Then, when people's kidney's begin to fail because they've been consuming nothing but protein for six months, someone in 'the food industry' comes along and tells them that they made an oops- that Dr. Atkins was completely wrong- blahblahblah.

People think carrots grow on trees. Why? Because we don't want to work to provide sustenance anymore. That's beneath people to do- and we've bought that one hook, line, sinker! But also- we live in housing communities that tell you what kind of plants you can grow in your backyard. We spend our money on bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger everything and expect food prices to stand still. We don't know how to feed ourselves properly any longer. We don't know what food is.

I worked in the healthfood industry through the late 90s before I was married. People would come in and say things like this- 'I want to bulk up', 'My 13 year old son is constipated, is there a pill he can take?' 'I was wondering if there is a pill I can take to keep me from getting hemorhoids, acne, etcetcetc.' Besides being completely embarrassing- these people didn't know that eating a diet made of .... FOOD... could help ease these difficulties. And they weren't interested - nothing but a pill would do. However- WHY did they form these prejudices against food as medicine? Why did they not 'get' that their problems could be solved by a simple change in diet? Because they're flat out too busy.  Because for as long as I can remember and even before that- we have been sold on the idea that the makers of these processed 'foods' know what they're doing and have our best interest at heart. Well, if our best interest has something to do with their bottom line- then I'd agree- but since it doesn't...

I blame EVERYONE. But I think that the source of this problem rests in the hands of diet gurus, sanitariums, big business, government, and the food industry. Plain old people may have been too stupid to realize they were being duped, but they didn't start the problem.

Oh, and people don't have a clue about gardening anymore. Victory gardens anyone? The nation's heartattack and stroke rate fell dramatically during the war years. Why? Because meat, sugar, flour were all rationed, and people were growing their own vegetables and some fruit. It spiked right up again as soon as the war ended and our weapons manufacturing plants switched to food industry purposes, people stopped growing their own food, and the fun stuff wasn't rationed anymore.

Quoting Eilish:

Quoting Raintree:

I blame the food industry for trying to remove food from nature. For convincing the public that they needed food scientists to eat right. For thinking of the almighty dollar over people's health.

I blame the government for being stupid enough to be bought out by this thinking, and subsidizing certain plants for so long that we have nothing more than an utter mess in the way of grain prices, surplus, and a nation of people made out of one plant- check your carbon!

True ... but I blame the American people for allowing themselves to be dumbed down and voting these idiots in office. No matter how you slice it, in a republic, it's the people's fault.

[Raintree]

The current thought is that the ratio of omega 3s to omega 6s has had a profound effect on our obesity rate - and other health problems as well. Because we use so much vegetable oil- and especially that that has been hydrogenated- we carry more 6 than 3 and that's basically backwards.

Also, the meat that most of us eat has the same problem, because most cattle aren't grass finished, which would supply more omega 3 within the meat.

Unfortunately, our approach to fix this problem will be to supplement rather than change our food system to it's original state.

[Raintree]

Quoting Godgaveme4:

Blaming the food industry for obesity is like :

Blaming pencil makers for mis-spelled words.

Gun manufacturers for all the murders.

Wood for the sliver.

Alcohol for DUI's and deaths related to it.

Come on people.  Lets start takng responsibility for our own choices.  You choose to make bad food choices than deal with the consequenses.  It is not the governments responsibity to tell you how to or what to eat.

Well, you miss one point. Do people NEED guns? Do they NEED alcohol? Nope.

So, let's see. Pencils, well, what you had for breakfast could adversely affect your spelling- not so much the pencil. The wood for silver thing is an odd analogy for something your body needs to survive.

Let's talk about what YOU view as a good food choice. Then I'll show you the tricky part.

And I'm not sure anyone said anything about the government- they're as much to blame as the food industry on this one, I'm afraid.

[IsaQ]

Hamburger or salad??? Hamburger? It's your fault for being fat, not anyone else's.

Now, if you want my conspiracy theory....I think there is no coincidence that the food most readily available to us makes us fat and lazy, inturn.....well, I can take this many different ways. Fat and lazy people are for one, consumers. Consumers of lots of food and lots of things to facilitate their lazy lives. Sadly, I am one of these people at times. I am lazy and if I am not careful, I can be fat soon.

More importantly, I believe obesity is a direct consequence (for lack of a better word, I'm sleepy) of addiction. Some people like drugs, some people like alcohol, some people like food.