The consequences of cheap food
A lot of people are made to feel guilty about being overweight which has a stigma attached to being lazy and gluttonous.
If you listen to the government, they will say that this is down to individual choice and we all need to take responsibility for our own health. I partly agree with this, but after following campaigns like Action on salt/sugar and the Bite Back 2030 campaigns, it really has opened up my eyes to the powerful marketing tactics that they use.
In my view, the food industry has played a significant part in the rise of obesity and preventable diseases and the government has let them get away with it. The people affected most by poor quality, cheap foods are those who are unemployed; on zero contract hours, and people on low incomes.
The problem is more complex than individual choice. Katherine Jenner from Action on Sugar writes:
“Obesity is not a ‘lifestyle condition’ …..becoming obese is not a lifestyle choice. Half the population has not chosen to become overweight or obese. The problem is not with the individuals, the problem is the unhealthy nature of the food that’s affordable and that we’re constantly surrounded by and coerced into buying”
What you can do about it
Follow Bite Back 2030
Founded by Jaime Oliver and Nicolai Tangen, Bite Back 2030 is led by youth board activists. Most noteworthy, Bite Back highlights how food giants and influencers, promote their products to young people.
For example, young people are exposed to twice as much unhealthy food advertising as healthy advertising. Hence, this is part of the reason why 3.3 million children are overweight and the UK has the worst childhood obesity rates in Western Europe.
Professor of Cardiovascular medicine, Graham MacGregor chairman of Action on Sugar, explains, the underlining cause of obesity is the Food Industry; 80% of price promotion foods are for unhealthy foods which encourages greater consumption.
Follow Action on Salt and Sugar
Action on salt and sugar are a group of independent scientist and doctors who work with the food industry and lobby against the government to reduce the amount of salt and sugar in our foods.
Continued pressure
There is still lots of work to do to pressurise the Government to take measures against the Food Industry. As a result, these campaigns continually fight to get them to reformulate their products; reduce availability and ban the advertising of unhealthy products.
Play your part
Understand your food labels, we also have to take responsibility and realise the damage unhealthy foods can have on us long term. I will be posting a blog on this next month so stay tuned.
