The offical name is the obesity epidemic! My not so nice friends call it Fatpocalypse. hehe fatpocalypse, sorry i snicker every time they say it, It is humbling to realize that ones self is really douchy. So how do we as a county avoid what is coming? I mean, half the nation...over weight! thats going to be a problem. The healthcare costs, the cost to national dignity! Hot people are America's bread and butter! I mean you have lost alot to Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama... Canada is producing our actors, comedians, and we raid other countries for our sports stars (We still have Basketball, swimming and "not real football" ball I suppose). How do we turn this tide of obesity? (No, kill all fat peope is not a valid response ) How do we get back on the path of self control, and health, six pack abs and butt's that are firm yet shapely! How do we break the chains of these malicious mounds of manly mammeries? How do we fight the fiendish forces of flab?
One thing I noticed when I was in France was that soda costs a lot more than it does here. And it was considered a treat, people didn't drink it to quench their thirst the way they do here. That's one step.
Well the french allegedly say fromage ou dessert. In America it's more fromage et dessert et Cheetos et Taco Bell et Snickers. And then wash it down with a Slimfast.
Canada was producing our comedians long before there was an obesity issue in the US. Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Jim Carrey, Tommy Chong, Dave Foley, Mike Myers, Rick Moranis, Martin Short.... all Canadians.
So the problem isn't the servings it is the consumers, I got that. And the damn Canadians for being so awsome.
insurance companies should stop carrying people who are clinically labeled obese or raise their rates through the roof... youd see how fast people started watching what they stuff into their gullets... because the people who live their lives like it isn't a 3 ring circus without consequences are somehow paying for the people who live life like its a 24/7 pie eating contest. than we don't need to tax things like soda and snacks, once again punishing the people who live their life in moderation. Arent the people who do the proper thing sick of the people who spoil it for everyone else. I know I am.
Yes. And stop putting high fructose corn syrup in every food that doesn't run away first. The argument that "it's no worse than sugar" only works if it is only put in foods in which one might normally add sugar. HFCS is also used as preservative. I've found that **** in hummus and tomato sauce. Who the hell puts sugar in hummus or tomato sauce?
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/ss/How-To-Make-Tomato-Sauce.htm You may also want to add: "A small amount of sugar" That's done a lot anyway.
We're evolved for surviving regular famine, but Americans live in an environment of relentless abundance. Eating and packing on extra calories in times of abundance is what we're programmed to do. 24 hours of food supply at cheap, subsidized prices, dollar meals of bad calories. Our food programs for the poor subsidize more bad calories. We need to subsidize health and nutrition. If we can make food as relatively expensive for Americans as it is for Pakistanis, we'll end the obesity epidemic in a matter of months.
I also hate high fructose corn syrup and how its in everything, but that doesn't solve the problem of personnel responsibility and how much food people shovel into their faces..
its also n pickles. which I find strange.. Im sure people know this but corn isn't look at as food anymore, its looked at as money, a commodity that is heavily traded on the stock market. Were never getting rid of it either. Too bad because our government gives little to no subsidies to farmers who grow all natural vegetables.
And so... define 'all natural' in a meaningful way. And where I disagree with you is that I'd like to use the free market here.
Which part do you disagree with. The Pakistanis don't have an obesity epidemic. We have an obesity epidemic. The Pakistanis have an incentive not to eat excessively - high food prices. We have an incentive to overeat- low food prices. There are of course other issues, like a deeply embedded food culture that Western Europeans have and we don't. They are relatively more resistant to eating patterns that don't fit into the eating culture. They've held out longer against mcdonalds.
Pakistan is a poor country. Food costing 1/2 of total household expenditures would be disastrous. It's a pretty easy concept to grasp. People are considered to be in a bad financial situation if rent costs more than 1/3rd.
**fixed. Americans don't mysteriously pay less for food, but much of the cost is hidden through subsidies & direct payments, in artificially low prices, in absolutely outrageous marketing, and just through the sheer amount of waste that our "free market" creates. This week on the radio I heard a debate about raising sales taxes in my state. Many people took the position that there should be a "sin tax" on alcohol and tobacco since they negatively contribute to public health. Not once did anyone on either side of the debate mention the effects of sugar or corn syrup and that maybe those should be taxed, by the exact same reasoning. Or even more reason! But hey, don't you tell me I can't drink pop five times a day! And pay for it with EBT! /rant. sorry guys, don't get me started before my second cuppa.
I agree. I also think it would be interesting to look at obesity statistics in poor people vs obesity statistics in wealthy people. I don't have those in front of me but I think wealthy people are probably less likely to be obese, because they have the time and the education to make good choices about food, and they can afford healthier food; unprocessed food is more expensive. Wealthier people have more time to read food labels because they aren't just grabbing something from the grocery store in between job shifts; I think they're probably more likely to exercise because they aren't working double shifts waiting tables in a restaurant or some other manual labor job just to put food on the table (let's face it, when you come home from work after an 8-10 hour shift on your feet, you're not going to want to exercise), and they are more likely to make a meal as opposed to just grabbing something on the go. Only speaking for myself, I haven't been obese but I have been overweight, and the main culprits were soda, processed food and lack of exercise. Looking back now I can't believe some of the crap I used to eat. But as well-intentioned as Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign and whatever the plate campaign is called, words don't solve the problem if the people in question are in survival mode (which many poor and working class people are) and don't have the time or energy to spend examining food and exercise choices. I don't have a solution to that other than finding a way to get poor and working class people out of survival mode. Jacking up the prices on our food will do the opposite.
