A Runaway Train- the Business of Food and Health “Care”
The New York Times today had an article entitled Costs of a Crisis- Diabetics Confront a Tangle of Workplace Laws which really had me thinking about a lot of seemingly unrelated things that have come into the news lately and to my attention in other ways. A few of those things-
- NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s new law that forbids the use of partially hydrogenated oils in restaurant foods because of the health implications.
- The fast food and spinach e coli breakouts recently and the reasons for those ecoli breakouts.
- the reasons why a diabetes epidemic exists where it didn’t a few short decades ago
- A discussion on the Robin Brande Blog where health and food were the topic with Robin mentioning giving up sugar and me telling her it was damn near impossible unless she produced all her own food.
I have removed partially hydrogenated oils from my diet at home, though I’m sure in restaurants I still end up ingesting them. Because I made the conscious decision to do this I’ve become nuts about reading labels before buying anything. The bottom line is that I’ve become disgustingly aware that there are two ingredients that are in damn near any prepackaged food available in any US supermarket. Those two ingredients? Trans fats (aka hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils) and Sugar, both of which can make people gain weight and which may contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes, as well as other health issues, like heart disease. Yet the Big Food Corporations hire lobbyists that ensure that no ban on this unhealthy practice will ever occur. These ingredients are approved by the FDA.
There are other issues here. Health Care is Big Business. Pharmaceutical Companies make millions from drugs used to treat diabetes, heart disease and other health issues resulting from an overabundance of these ingredients in the US diet. Pharmaceutical Companies have huge lobbies in Congress and at the regulatory agencies. And, at least until fairly recently, most doctors are taught in Med School from the standards of treatment rather than prevention. Add to that evidence that the FDA is quite possibly pushing an agenda harmful to the health of US citizens if the Codex Alimentarius is adopted in the US.
Part of the problem stems from the lifestyle choices we all make. It’s just easier when you’re working, taking care of kids and keeping a full schedule to just nuke a few prepackaged meals or stop at the local fast food stop rather than take the time to cook a healthy meal from scratch. Also, big Agribusiness makes the purchasing of the ingredients to make a healthy meal from scratch an exercise in futility, since feedlot cattle, fish, chicken, produce, and other ingredients sold in supermarkets are suspect.
I don’t at all like the idea of further regulation, but what are the alternatives? The processed food companies do not at all care if they’re selling us stuff that kills us, as long as it’s addictive enough that we keep buying it until the point that we croak. The US farm subsidies ensure that the cattle will be kept in the barns and eating corn, which endangers our beef supply as well as our environment (feedlot manure gives off more carbon monoxide, and can’t be used as fertilizer since the more acidic pH takes away much benefit and causes it to be an ideal e coli medium.) And current FDA rules encourage agribusiness and hurt the small food supplier, not to mention encouraging technological big scale solutions to problems instead of looking at ways to allow small scale solutions. The power of the MegaFood Corporation and Pharmaceutical Corporation Lobbies will ensure that this status quo is maintained to the detriment of the small food producer, hurting virtually all US citizens.
No easy answers here, unless we head back to locally produced foods, the limiting of processed sugar as an ingredient in everything (why do we need sugar in PIZZA???), banning trans fats nationwide, and start taking prevention seriously. Funny, I can remember when I was in high school there was an apple machine that dispensed fresh fruits, and a fruit juice dispenser. By the time my son was in school there was a Coke Machine and sugary, salty and fatty snacks in the snack machine. The school board makes a profit off this, but what’s the real cost?
Technorati Tags: Food, Trans Fats, Diabetes, Sugar, Prevention, FDA, Health Care Costs
12/26/06, 9:54 PM |
Yep to all that. And as for your comment to me that if I wanted to avoid sugar I’d have to start producing my own food–I’ve been cooking about ten times more than usual lately for just that reason. Because I, too, have become an obsessive label-reader, and I can’t believe all the things that have high fructose corn syrup, including my beloved yogurt. Out it goes. Out also go the processed bread and all those other things that seem healthy enough until you look more closely.
So my house smells like fresh-baked bread, I’ve been cooking lots of soups, and so far so good, but I recognize that not everyone is willing to set aside the time it takes to do that. I try to make a bunch ahead on the weekend, but that still takes time.
I think the answer here is not to drive ourselves insane, but to be more aware and do what we can. Ultimately feeding ourselves good, real, non-doctored food is just one more nice thing we can do for ourselves, like sleeping when we’re tired. If I look at it that way, rather than as some punishment or strict new rule, I’m much more willing to take the time to knead myself some bread.
Thanks for this post. Very interesting.
12/26/06, 10:24 PM |
Problem is finding places to buy that non doctored food. Buying “organic” doesn’t make it so, since if you read the FDA requirements for that “organic” label they’re a joke. Really. I’ve been slowly finding local suppliers for many things. I can’t always get there, but I try to buy my milk locally from a farmer who sells it in glass bottles (OH, the TASTE is so much better!) and whose dairy herd is in pasture most of the year. Beef and chicken are bought from local producers who do not use antibiotics as a remedy instead of a rule like the large producers do. We have a few good local bakers who don’t take the FDA guidelines for organic as the right way to do things, and they would NEVER use trans-fats. I just am NOT good at doing the bread thing. I do garden and freeze some stuff, but my garden here isn’t big enough to supply me completely for the year. Someday . . .
12/26/06, 10:27 PM |
Oh, and Robin? It’s not just the corn syrup, it’s also any ingredient ending in the letters “ose”. They’re all sugars and sometimes there are three or four different types in one food.
I buy plain yogurt and cut up fresh fruit, and use a little honey for sweetening.
12/27/06, 11:31 AM |
Yep, I know it. Generally I’m running away from all chemicals. I feel so much better when the fuel going in is all recognizable as food.