Eat Less? Eat More?

I wonder sometimes whether or not the faulty thinking that students bring into our respective programs is the same upon their departure from our respective degree and/or certificate programs.  Especially when there is a food industry that is absolutely focused on its profits regardless of the impact it is having on public health and will do whatever it takes to get people to eat more processed shit even though there is no doubt a corresponding rise in health care costs in this country.  Make no mistake -- there is a direct correlation to the drive for profitability in the food industry and that of rising health care costs and there is plenty of evidence out there to substantiate that claim if you are a continuous learner.  Case in point, I wish someone would calculate the true cost of the $1 menu in terms of their social and environmental costs.

What prompted the first paragraph of this post is the book I will be reading over the next two weeks and should have read long ago, which is Food Politics by Marion Nestle.  I just cracked it open yesterday and only into my fiftieth page and getting a better picture as to why it is the American public is confused as to those foods they should eat more of and those that should be eaten less.  I am not surprised that the confusion is deliberate on the part of food companies.  And of course, those foods deemed as those that should be eaten less by public health officials and nutritionists --such as MEAT -- have a large cadre of lawyers and lobbyists to protect the health of those industries profits regardless of the impact on public health by getting Americans to eat more.

In reality, the public -- especially our students -- should not be confused on how to drastically reduce one of the biggest killers of preventable diseases in this country -- heart disease.  As early as 1959, Ancel and Margaret Keys published the book, Eat Well and Stay Well, and in it is a recipe that no doubt would prevent other illnesses.  Had more of us lived or now living by their guidelines to reduce coronary heart disease we might be a healthier nation as a result give their spot on recommendations:
1. Do not get fat, if you are fat, reduce
2. Restrict saturated fats, such as those in beef, pork, lamb, sausages, margarine, solid shortenings, fats in dairy products
3. Prefer vegetable oils to solid fats, but keep total fats under 30% of your diet calories
4. Favor fresh vegetables, fruits, and non-fat milk products
5. Avoid heavy use of salt and refined sugar
6. Good diets do not depend on drugs or fancy preparations
7. Get plenty of exercise and outdoor recreation
8. Be sensible about cigarettes, alcohol, excitement, business strain
9. See your doctor regularly, and do not worry

I will share more gems with you as I work my way through this great book.  You can rest assured that they will be shared with my students this fall because the smarter I am the better prepared they will be to cut through the public relations and media hype bullshit out there and make sense of the world and their place in it.