Obesity a matter of markets

[CollegeB]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html?_r=1&em&ex=1177560000&en=955cc305987d1146&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

[Michelle]

Excellent article.

[offense74]

Pisses me off

In Europe they're putting butterfat in everything these days. My favourite marcipan is no longer vegan because of this. I believe the EU is dumping it's surplus of dairy fat on the European market almost for free, killing competition.

This shows that voting with your money isn't the only thing you have to do to stop people from getting rich by destroying the planet and it's inhabitants.

[andgbr]

i agree with you there... in brazil.. buying whole foods is actually cheaper than the garbage people love to buy.. there i'd be able to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and etc.. and it would usually cost less than these ready-made foods.. cheaper than mcdonald, and coke... and etc.. it's quite the opposite of ''developed countries''

well, that's in Belem/PA it's in the north of Brazil ( it's near amazon ).

, but in Sao Paulo ( it's the biggest city in brazil, located in the south ) they're starting to eat like the ''average'' americans nowadays..

[chesty leroux]

i agree with you there... in brazil.. buying whole foods is actually cheaper than the garbage people love to buy.. there i'd be able to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and etc.. and it would usually cost less than these ready-made foods.. cheaper than mcdonald, and coke... and etc.. it's quite the opposite of ''developed countries''

well, that's in Belem/PA it's in the north of Brazil ( it's near amazon ).

, but in Sao Paulo ( it's the biggest city in brazil, located in the south ) they're starting to eat like the ''average'' americans nowadays..

 

it was like that in africa too. stuff is way more natural. junk is expensive. its the way it should be, it makes the most sense.

[rdandrew]

Thanks for posting.

[andgbr]

i agree with you there... in brazil.. buying whole foods is actually cheaper than the garbage people love to buy.. there i'd be able to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and etc.. and it would usually cost less than these ready-made foods.. cheaper than mcdonald, and coke... and etc.. it's quite the opposite of ''developed countries''

well, that's in Belem/PA it's in the north of Brazil ( it's near amazon ).

, but in Sao Paulo ( it's the biggest city in brazil, located in the south ) they're starting to eat like the ''average'' americans nowadays..

 

it was like that in africa too. stuff is way more natural. junk is expensive. its the way it should be, it makes the most sense.

 

yep.. the funny thing is that i became interested in 'natural' food and veganism here in the usa... in brazil i was trying to follow the junkfood diet.. lol

the 'vegan' movement still really small in brazil.. vegetarians and alike are treated like aliens there..lol

when did you go to africa? i've been there once..with my parents who wanted to visit, but i was really young to remember, it was in Lagos/Nigeria.. the only thing i remember is that we were in a beach.. where they had wooden houses, and chairs.. and stuff like that.. i wanna go there again someday..

[Guest]

The thing is all of our food is attained less than optimally. Everyone gets huge tax cuts to make our food cheap...I just wish we didn't get taxed at all(in terms of money going to food production) so we'd have more money and just pay more for food. Meat would cost a ton do to the food costs(same with gas). Organic food would cost more but so would inorganic food. I think this is what we should be aiming for.

[andgbr]

The thing is all of our food is attained less than optimally. Everyone gets huge tax cuts to make our food cheap...I just wish we didn't get taxed at all(in terms of money going to food production) so we'd have more money and just pay more for food. Meat would cost a ton do to the food costs(same with gas). Organic food would cost more but so would inorganic food. I think this is what we should be aiming for.

 

i agree, that'd be fair, at least we would be paying a ''realistic'' cost.. ( you get the idea.. )..

that'd totally save the health of millions of people.. and even the environment...

[CollegeB]

Thanks for reading this everyone!

 

I think we should be pulling for no government money going to fund agriculture. This would give a fair market value to the foods in this nation, and also would allow other countries to produce their own food. We currently subsidize corn growers so much in the US we are flooding mexican markets with this stuff so their farmers cant make a living growing their own corn! Organic foods would actually cost about the same since they are not receiving a subsidy, and if their prices were comparable to conventional foods more people would buy them which would lower the price to a certain point.

[andgbr]

ok, now we have a point.. let's make the revolution..

Edited May 6, 2007 by andgbr

[CollegeB]

We are the revolution!

[cubby2112]

With how out of control the obesity problem in America is becoming, hopefully congress will actually change the farm bill this time around. Eliminating subsidization would be wonderful, but it isn't likely to happen anytime soon as it would deplete far too many wallets of special interests. I hope it happens someday, but this time around, I am being conservative and hoping that some funding is shifted over to vegetables and fruit, because I want to eat a lot of them. That said, I agree, we should push for the elimination of subsidies. Hell, it might not even be as far off as I say, people love lower taxes. Maybe Kucinich could jump on this and say he is going to lower taxes, that would be great coming from a candidate like him.

[CollegeB]

He wont lower subsidies. he might seek a shift, but he's got a lot of farmer interests to consider. As for what is subsidized, I was reading somwhere that soy corn and wheat are the most heavily subisdised ag products...which is an inirect subsidy to the meat industry because it makes the animal food cheap. Berries, watermelon, and I think spinach were some of the products that receive no assistance.

[offense74]

I won't vote for any of the parties that are currently in our parliment the next time around. I'm tired of the BS. I will probably vote libertarian (or not at all) even though they don't stand a chance to get in (they need 4%).

[cubby2112]

He wont lower subsidies. he might seek a shift, but he's got a lot of farmer interests to consider. As for what is subsidized, I was reading somwhere that soy corn and wheat are the most heavily subisdised ag products...which is an inirect subsidy to the meat industry because it makes the animal food cheap. Berries, watermelon, and I think spinach were some of the products that receive no assistance.

 

Yeah, I also read that veggies and fruits receive little to no subsidization. What really irks me more than anything about all this is how foods that come directly from plants that are subsidized, such as tofu, are a similar price to or often more expensive than meat, which when you really look at it basically per pound has ten pounds plus worth of tofu in feed invested in it. It is because of supply and demand and extra subsidization of the meat, dairy and egg industry of course, but it is nonetheless annoying when a diet with no "middleman" should be so much cheaper.

[Guest]

I doubt subsidies will end within the next 15 yrs or so. As ending one will lead to ending others. It will send precedent to end all subsidies like welfare(which I don't like in most cases but is OK in a small percentage), and very very low interest loans to small business.

[Odidnetne]

My main problem with subsidies is that they "mask" how wasteful meat, dairy and eggs really are. People don't consider just how much goes into producing these.

[andgbr]

My main problem with subsidies is that they "mask" how wasteful meat, dairy and eggs really are. People don't consider just how much goes into producing these.

 

i know, that's true... and that bothers me a lot..

a lot of veggies that aren't so wasteful and hard to produce are as expensive as meat...

i feel like i'm paying for the meat-tax everytime i buy veggies so meat-eaters can buy their cheap meat..

it's so unfair..

[Wobbly Lifter]

Although I'm against subsidies on an idealogical level, we have to understand that getting rid of them will have a huge negative impact on the large number of americans struggling to feed themselves already. The issues we face are not single issue and trying to confront them one way won't work. The problem is that we have an economic system that is focused on profits and controlled by those with power.

[CollegeB]

I dont think getting rid of them will have a negative impact. The article made the point that people are eating the subsidised food which is very low in nutrients. Considering the health costs of eating these foods all the time, they'd be much better off just trying to eat less of the stuff. We know you can make very cheap vegan dishes. I think its much more likely that work to end subsidies would be fruitful than changing this profit driven economic system however it seems everyone would agree that neither is going to happen anytime soon.

[Guest]

Thats true. If people actually realized eating a salad is cheaper than a ham sandwich they'd save money. Also most Americans struggling to feed themselves are also overweight. Impoverished Mid-American whites and impoverished African-Americans are the most obese people in the country yet have the least money. I've been to a few third world countries and our average homeless person is heavier than the average person in the Philippines who has ready excess to food. This makes no sense other than the fact that all Americans simply eat too much...eating less will lower demand...increase the supply and keep prices from going overboard.