I have been reluctant to get into this one. Its personal. You see I am morbidly obese and have type 2 diabetes. I wasn't always like this. In my mid 20's I was a healthy young person who could run five miles. And when I was diagnosed at 58 over a year ago I immediately changed my lifestyle and am slowly but steadily loosing weight 73 pounds so far (but am still fat!) On one hand I am the victim of self inflicted gluttony and I take responsibility for where I am today and where I am going and my type 2 diabetes. So that puts me at a considerable disadvantage in suggesting that there is a terrific amount of bullshit in Canadian nutrition today. But there is.
I know what the problem is and as a retired person who doesn't work for any of the groups with vested interest in food- I will share it with you. You can agree (and be correct) or not. In any event I learned the hard way. You don't need to.
Dishonesty, greed and cowardice. The people who supply us with food are often dishonest and they know exactly what the food they supply is doing to our society and they supply it anyway. They are greedy and know that the type of food they supply is inexpensive to produce and can be sold at a good profit margin. And we have cowardice in our society on the part of organizations and individuals whose job it is to regulate food quality and set nutritional standards and report the reality and consequence of nutritional behaviors. We have trained scientists who perform poor science to protect the interest of food suppliers. We have a real mess and the is wailing away to beat the band.
I also know what the result is:
- Obesity, reduced quality of life
- Type 2 diabetes related to obesity which causes insulin resistance, high sugar levels, damage to organs and accelerated loss of life
- Heart disease caused by high fat, salt and sugar food
- Cancer caused by food additives
Who can we trust? NOBODY! Well just about nobody but there are a few good sources out there that will give you good advice on nutrition (see the links at the bottom of the page)
- Health Canada - These people set the national health nutrition guides. Unfortunately they must deal with large food producers including the meat and dairy producers who absolutely insist that their foods be included in the food guide. As a result the guides are written as not to offend the special interest groups and simply do not do the job despite the billions of dollars spend in this area over the years.
- Large Food Producers- These people produce nutritionally unbalanced foods that are bad for you. They cannot be trusted as their bottom line is simply to make a profit. They really are disgusting people who I suspect don't sleep very well at night.
- Large Food Stores -These people have sold you foods of poor nutritional quality for many years and continue to do so and cannot be trusted as they simply wish to make a profit off you. They are rats.
- Advertisers- These people make billions of dollars convincing you that you wish to eat foods which are nutritionally unsound. They cannot be trusted as their bottom line is simply to make a profit. Crooks!
- Media- These people make billions of dollars each year in advertising revenue convincing you to purchase foods which are nutritionally unsound. They cannot be trusted as their bottom line is simply to make a profit. Whimps!
- Fast Food Restaurants. These people make billions of dollars selling you food of poor nutritional quality that is bad for you. They cannot be trusted as their bottom line is simply to make a profit. They should be in jail.
- Government -These people are attempting to keep everyone happy and in doing so have become complicit with the objectives of the food industry. They cannot be trusted. They are a bunch of whimps with no backbone.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency Understaffing and poor leadership has resulted in a bunch of frustrated food inspectors who sit around offices ticking off reports and who know full well that the system is not working.
The SOLUTION
In the short term my opinion is that the next five years will not see a solution in this area in our society. Things will just go on as they are today. The solution on the individual area is to educate yourself and change YOUR behavior. You will simply need to avoid the advice that the people in control of our food industry are giving us. You will need to become educated regarding the proper types of food to eat and how to find it and -prepare it. If you don't you will suffer all the consequences that are being generated by our society's present behavior.
I wish there was a simple answer but I don't think that there is.
I will start placing some good links here so that you have a source of good quality information on the problem- hopefully that will help.
Good Luck!
The Exceptions
Whenever a general statement is made there are exceptions to the rule. But the exceptions don't mean that the general statement is wrong rather that in some cases it does not apply. In fact there are brave souls out there that are fighting for good nutrition. There are a few food producers that have a genuine interest in providing a nutritious product. There are those in the media that do raise the problems in our society and then take the heat from the special interest groups. There are government employees that will uphold the law even if the rich and powerful don't want them to. There are fast food restaurants that offer healthy meal choices. Unfortunately these folks are exceptions to the rule.
A good exception is Panago Pizza in Victoria BC who decided to reformulate their pizzas so that they would be better for school lunch programs. They did a hell of a good job and produced a totally healthy and nutritious product that the kids actually liked eating. Can't beat that. Well done!
Links
Michael Pollan -In Defense of Food. Mr Pollan's website offers excellent links to information about good eating habits and nutrition. An excellent place to start. I watched him on THE HOUR with George Stroumboulopoulos and there was certainly the ring of truth there and a lot of reasons to visit his website and read his book. In fact the interview motivated me to start up this topic.
Dr. Mark Sherman MD,CCFP wrote YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT in the March JAMES BAY BEACON (Victoria BC) ..."...the act of eating is one of the most sacred and intimate in our lives....it is a telling trend that our pharmaceutical drug use has tripled in the last ten years while our diet quality has continued to deteriorate...consider whole foods over refined and processed ones...try to bring some of the sanctity of eating and food back into your life...make an effort to eat in the kitchen or at the dining room table instead in front of the TV...slow down savor the taste and smell of your food , chewing everything well and putting down your cutlery every once in a while before rushing to the next bite...
It looks to me that Dr. Mark is giving some excellent advice here. Well done!
George Mateljan Foundaton I was curious about the nutrition content of Swiss chard and discovered this site when looking it up on Google. They appear to have a lot of really good information here -check it out yourself. I am just learning how to cook Swiss chard but so far after three attempts I am liking the taste. It seems to come out best in my rice steamer and adds a nice flavor and color.
Consumer Council of Canada I was listening (aug 24/08)to VP Eleanor Friedland speak about the Maple Leaf foods disaster and she nailed it. She asked the right questions and put the Minister of Health Tony Clement in his place. Its good to see people like this looking out for us.
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