America’s Food System: The Problems With Our Plate

PART 2
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM : HOW TARGETED CORPORATE MARKETING AND GOVERNMENT LOBBYING AFFECTS OUR FOOD SYSTEM

Big junk food companies spend nearly 12 billion a year in marketing efforts aimed primarily at children.  Some 80% of American schools have contracts with soda companies.  As discussed in Part 1 of this blog, over 15 million children and adolescents in the US are not just overweight, but obese! Conditions related to obesity (even among adolescents) include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems such as asthma and sleep apnea, and joint problems.  Current childhood obesity rates (average ages 6-18) are fast approaching 22% in the US. In our country alone, some regions (ex: southern states like MS, KY, and LA) or ethnic populations experience even higher obesity rates.  In fact, obesity prevalence is 26% among Hispanic children, 25% among Black children, and 29% among Native American youth.  Two-thirds of the world’s obese population live in low or middle income-class countries; this is reflected in America’s slums as well.  The populations in these “food ghettos” are preyed upon hardest by junk food companies’ marketing; in fact, big food companies often time their junk food marketing to air right before SNAP benefits are released each month.

“U.S. minorities are losing more kids to the sweets than the streets; drive-throughs ARE NOW MORE deadly than drive-bys.”

In my travels across many isolated Indian reservations, I’ve been appalled to see an abundance of cheap, sugary, or fried foods packing the only grocery stores in tribal towns, while the few healthy fruits or veggies in supply cost three times as much! Truth be told, there is a long-running history of our government subsidizing junk food to relocated tribes.  As natives who historically grew corn and lentils and hunted buffalo and deer for many years, many tribes were accustomed to storing limited amounts of body fat over long periods of time in order to survive long seasonal droughts when crops or game were scarce.  But upon being newly introduced and bombarded with white refined flour, confectionery sugars, and alcohol in the early 1800’s – and having no metabolic enzyme adaptations in place for their digestion – the Indians quickly gained excess fat, and their health began a long downward spiral that continues today.

So how do we move on from being a fast-food nation?  How can our federal trade commission (FTC) allow Big Food to market billions worth of junk foods that cause weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver? With more and more Americans dying earlier from poor dietary habits than ever before, wouldn’t it make more sense for us to go after the predators rather than the consumers?  It requires a cautious approach.  For example, at least 35 countries now have a federal soda tax – some tiered based on each beverage’s sugar content.  But these sugary drink taxes are often regressive (i.e., they hurt the poor most in the wallet).

Another dilemma is that the food industry spends just as much on nutrition research (over $12 billion each year) as they do on marketing.  This becomes a problem when companies promote false science by tainting the design or analysis of their study…which happens more often than we’d like to believe.  If CEOs don’t like the study’s results, they retain the monetary rights to keep it from being published.  Furthermore, faculty researchers and health professionals are constantly accepting gifts, meals, and additional funding by industry reps of Big Food, Big Ag, and Big Pharma – contributing more pressure to skew the results in their favor.

 In the last decade alone, Big Food companies have spent over 50 million lobbying to fight laws requiring labeling of GMO containing foods.  Public health groups designed to protect us (like the ADA, AHA, and AAP) are still accepting millions in strategic donations from food industry giants whose products continue to poison the American people.  This needs to stop.  We need regulations to make sure that researchers have full independence to publish study results – while allowing companies to contribute less directly to research efforts.  And instead of regressive taxes on hard-to-eliminate junk food or drink, we must instead incentivize food producers so we can lower the prices of healthy foods.  Giving everyone access to them.  To better America’s food system, before we can get to our preferred destination, we need to begin taking steps in the right direction. – CHRIS BORGARD