[caption id="" align="alignright" width="249" caption="We are losing the battle for nutrition (Photo from the National Obesity Forum, UK)"]
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Personal responsibility for public health.
We can't achieve perfect health, and I'm really not recommending you become so scrupulous with your diet that your quality of life is diminished in any way. People have immune and detoxification systems for a reason; we can handle a lot of the garbage that gets thrown our way. People live long, fulfilling and often extremely health lives while eating tons of garbage they shouldn't.
So why should you care? I chose a strong name for this site intentionally, but the fact is, food is inanimate. It may cause death, but food cannot kill.
But there are people out there influencing what foods make it to your plate, from advertisers to politicians to lobbyists to executives and board members and share holders of food corporations. These people have been proven again and again to be harming consumers for profit.
I talked to you about the lies on your food label regarding trans fat, wherein companies may advertise "0% trans fat per serving" when hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are right there on the ingredients list.
I also mentioned the cement dust and other industrial byproducts used in farm animal feed, fattening animals up while loading them with toxins.
What's your opinion of high fructose corn syrup ads, which make it seem like large amounts of sugar in your spaghetti sauce and whole wheat bread (let alone ketchup and candy bars) is totally normal?
Thankfully, the plastic BPA was recently exposed as a dangerous carcinogen, despite its prevalence (this plastic is being phased out of water bottles, soda and soup cans, and even baby bottles). Dow Chemical Company spent millions of dollars in an unsuccessful campaign to prevent great research about this from coming to light.
Currently, around 25% of American high schools offer fast food from major chains like taco bell and pizza hut.
In many of the poorest neighborhoods in America, with some of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes, basically the only restaurants are fast food. Grocery stores and access to fresh produce is often missing entirely.
What about marketing to children? American children see 40,000, yes 40,000, advertisements on TV every year, and more than half of them are about food. Did you ever see a cartoon character slinging bananas? What about a cucumber company teaming up and advertising together with the latest superhero movie? How about education about organic produce? The fact is, food corporations market so much to children because children don't know any better. And with such a high sugar diet, lacking real food and balanced meals, it's no surprise that 20 to 25% of American boys are on Ritalin.
Look at the health of young people in the Western world today. Around 18% of 6-19 year olds are obese, and that number is on the rise. One third will be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within their lifetime. Shockingly, more and more are being diagnosed as children. One half with develop cancer. People under the age of 45 are increasingly at risk for heart attacks. This is all saddening and tragic. There is nothing listed above that is not preventable.
All this, and I haven't even talked about Monsanto. Really, I'm only scratching the surface, folks. Take a look around; things are not all right.
Food corporations don't give a damn about us unless our concerns mess with their bottom line. But out of all the money spent on food, around 90% goes to processed garbage foods.
I'm advocating personal responsibility for public health.
Take care everybody, comments are appreciated.
Original source: http://foodkills.wordpress.com/?p=201
