It isn't as though this hasn't been a priority in the past in the USA. There have been some rather dramatic documentaries outlining the problem with the junk food industry. But, quite frankly, I believe First Lady Michelle Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have provide a real boost to the idea of a sincere stand for a healthier American.
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us (click here) author Michael Moss discusses just how apt the Lay's slogan "Betcha can't eat just one" is.
Joe Fassler
April 30, 2013
...When I asked Moss to contribute to "By Heart," we agreed he shouldn't follow the standard formula for this series. He wanted close-read a potato chip, not a paragraph. So we discussed how these addicting little treats work magic on our tongues—making the classic Lay's slogan "Betcha can't eat just one" even truer than its originators intended....
...As I researched Salt, Sugar, Fat, I was surprised to learn about the meticulously crafted allure of potato chips (which I happen to love). When you start to deconstruct the layers of the chip's appeal, you start to see why this simple little snack has the power to make a profound claim on our attention and appetite. "Betcha can't eat just one" starts sounding less like a lighthearted dare—and more like a kind of promise. The food industry really is betting on its ability to override the natural checks that keep us from overeating....
And you can place a real bet on that being a promise, too. After all there are profits hanging in the balance.
There is not only income inequality within the USA and The West, but, global income inequality. So, when Wall Street markets a product the first question is "What is the size of the market?" The next question is how do we maximize profits regardless of any moral content to a society.
by Anup Shah
Sunday, March 6, 2012
Global inequality in consumption, while reducing, is still high.
Using latest figures available, in 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%:...
This brings to the forefront of what is occurring and has occurred across the entire Wall Street paradigm. They market to The West because that is where the money is. That is why people understand consumerism. Wall Street exports the employment to third world countries to increase profits, not because they are interested in the outcomes of any people including their consumers. Why does The West have regulation? Does anyone actually believe a CEO awaiting his next bonus will see beyond the millions due him? Does anyone actually believe having a Fat America is out of the question for the President of Frito-Lay, Tom Greco?
Frito Lay has two thirds the sales of PepsiCo sales. That is amazing. In that reality is a greater one. There are a handful of companies in the USA that actually feed this food addiction designed for profit, not for health.Tom Greco (click here) is president of Frito-Lay North America, where he leads PepsiCo’s $13 billion snack and convenient foods business....
Here now superimpose Monsanto and their GMO seeds. While companies like Frito Lay state they seek only production of the highest quality, greatest tasting food in the world and seek to meet or exceed stringent safety and quality standards while using only ingredients approved by government and regulatory authorities, they will never state they don't use GMOs. They do and they buy crops produced with seeds from Monsanto.
A consumer will never see a Frito Lay package stating "GMO Free" because they could never use that claim.Along with the leadership the USA is finding in it's political venues to improve the quality of food, hence quality of life, in the USA; there are also others taking on the brave new world of wellness in America. They are leaders as well. They lead the dialogue Americans have avoided for far too long.
The dialogue in the USA has to change to accompany a healthier America. The USA can't simply 'talk the talk' anymore, they have to 'walk the talk,' literally. The brave new American diet has to include real rewards for talking about an American diet that is REAL. One of the leaders at the forefront of changing the dialogue is Mika Brzezinski, a journalist and author willing to bring her own experience as a woman to others needing to find that 'space' in their lives to relate to what has been old and hasn't worked to a place where 'the she' is safe, fit and happy.
Now if changing an entire paradigm weren't enough which may very well leave Wall Street in the breach; there are also realities that could be stated to be guilt inducing. When the truth is there to be realized, it is time we, as mothers and expectant mothers realize the profound impact we have on the future of our children and our nation.
By Claire Goss
May 4, 2013
A study from the University of Adelaide(click here) released this week on EurekAlert! shows that mothers who eat junk food while pregnant have programmed their babies to crave a high sugar, high fat diet even after weaning.
I think we’re all familiar with the “high” you get from eating junk food. When you bite into something high in fat or sugar your body produces opioids, which stimulates the happy hormone, dopamine. The researchers discovered that being exposed to a high fat, high sugar diet in-utero desensitized the baby to this happy hormone “high” so later in life the child will have to eat larger quantities of junk food to achieve the dopamine response....
Let no woman deny their importance in the life of another. And. Neither should their country. Not by entrapping them in relentless parenthood, but, by protecting their diets, air quality, water quality and health care to provide very opportunity for a healthier nation. Regulations are important and let no one ever state otherwise.
Contact: Beverly Mühlhäusler
beverly.muhlhausler@adelaide.edu.au
61-402-143-949
University of Adelaide
When this new brave American world takes shape and Wall Street realizes they can't make profits off real change based on 'bubble and burst' economics that place the American conscience between dieting and eating, they might realize they have to make capital investments (what a dirty word that is) in other nations, raise salaries, raise standards of living and actually market to the people they oppress. When that happens Wall Street will have stockholder dividends that reflect 'real growth' and not simply more dipping into the USA Treasury.Let no woman deny their importance in the life of another. And. Neither should their country. Not by entrapping them in relentless parenthood, but, by protecting their diets, air quality, water quality and health care to provide very opportunity for a healthier nation. Regulations are important and let no one ever state otherwise.
Contact: Beverly Mühlhäusler
beverly.muhlhausler@adelaide.edu.au
61-402-143-949
University of Adelaide
Maternal diet sets up junk food addiction in babies (click here)
Research from the University of Adelaide suggests that mothers who eat junk food while pregnant have already programmed their babies to be addicted to a high fat, high sugar diet by the time they are weaned.
In laboratory studies, the researchers found that a junk food diet during pregnancy and lactation desensitised the normal reward system fuelled by these highly palatable foods.
Led by Dr Bev Mühlhäusler, Postdoctoral Fellow in the University's FOODplus Research Centre, this is the first study to show the effects of maternal junk food consumption at such an early stage in the offspring's life. The study was published recently in The FASEB Journal....
This gets real simple from here. A global economy where people in Bangladesh actually make enough money to practice CHOICE and purchase imported American products while we purchase those made in other nations without a trace of 'blood money' to be found. Every nation has to participate in a real global economy, not one cherry picked for profits. Manufacturing in every country, meeting high standards of quality. This is hideous already. It is time to shift the paradigm and the American consumer can do this, oh yes they can!
If Wall Street wants profits than it is time for them to actually seek them rather than reaching for subsidies to rely on.
