Obesity & agricultural subsidies?

silverharp

Ok so I'll start by saying that no problem has only one cause but have agricultural subsidies contributed to obesity in the West. It would appear that most of the subsidies just happen to overlap with the ingredients of the confectionary/convenience food industry ,sugar, wheat, meat & dairy. So have subsidies "confused" customers into buying cheap but unhealthy food versus healthier food which by extension must be relatively more expensive

simu

The Irish Dairy council certainly produce a lot of dairy product propaganda anyways... one example that springs to mind.

brianthebard

If subsidies were to blame for obesity then the third world would have the highest levels of obesity since so much agricultural produce is offloaded in those countries. If you think there's a confectionary/subsidy conspiracy theory afoot fair enough but I don't think subsidies caused obesity.

silverharp

brianthebard wrote: »

If subsidies were to blame for obesity then the third world would have the highest levels of obesity since so much agricultural produce is offloaded in those countries. If you think there's a confectionary/subsidy conspiracy theory afoot fair enough but I don't think subsidies caused obesity.

thats not logical as the cost of food is a much greater % of income then in the west. Type the key words into google and a ton of stuff comes up on it so it hardly ranks as a conspiracy unless its a plot by the veg lobby




from the World Health Orgaisation

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/7/08-053728/en/index.html

Therefore CAP, while established on the basis of sound public health principles, may now have become a hazard to public health throughout the EU and may be promoting inequalities in health through the types of food consumed. This might controversially be described as “a system designed to kill Europeans through CHD”.15

minktrapper

silverharp wrote: »

Ok so I'll start by saying that no problem has only one cause but have agricultural subsidies contributed to obesity in the West. It would appear that most of the subsidies just happen to overlap with the ingredients of the confectionary/convenience food industry ,sugar, wheat, meat & dairy. So have subsidies "confused" customers into buying cheap but unhealthy food versus healthier food which by extension must be relatively more expensive

Excellent.Maybe people might not eat so much ''wrong food'' if it was more expensive.

minktrapper

minktrapper wrote: »

Excellent.Maybe people might not eat so much ''wrong food'' if it was more expensive.

Well, actually you're spot on. I live in China and have noticed a massive shift in the diets of people and the effects on their bodies. For mainstream chinese there is quite a bit of more disposable income, which in turn is being spent on the thing the chinese love most. technology and food. We'll skip technology since its not related, but in regards to food, you just have to look at the sheer number of KFC, McDonalds, Haggindas, etc which have sprung up everywhere.

I live in Xi'an a city of 8 million, and there is literally a KFC on every corner. Starbucks are also well represented and while they might advertise better snacks, they're also quite heavy in the Sugar department. And you can see the changes in all age groups. When I first came to Xi'an, over 5 years ago it was rare that you saw a fat person, and almost impossible to see fat children.. and yet now children are increasing in size both height and general weight. All those KFC lunches they get when they go to their private english lessons.

I could list other examples of how the changes in diet & disposable income have affected them. IF Irish people had less money to spend (or rather regain the mentality of not spending on rubbish foods) you would see a dramatic shift in body weight across the country.

Emme

Deleted User wrote: »

I could list other examples of how the changes in diet & disposable income have affected them. IF Irish people had less money to spend (or rather regain the mentality of not spending on rubbish foods) you would see a dramatic shift in body weight across the country.

Sometimes it's difficult to find anything other than rubbish foods full of refined white sugar, white flour and mass produced ingredients. These foods are cheap to produce and give retailers higher profit margins. That's why you'll see two 1 litre bottles of coke selling for the same price or even less than a 1 litre bottle of water.

I notice that in poorer areas it's almost impossible to find nutritious food at an affordable price. I work in a hospital which is in a deprived area and the hospital food is rubbish, staff canteen food is rubbish apart from a few tasteless salads and the food sold to visitors in the main hospital is rubbish. Think paninis, rolls, baps which are heavy on white flour and salty fillings but with little else.

There are a few cafes within 1km of the hospital that sell acceptable food but it is inordinately expensive. They certainly couldn't charge those prices if they were in a more affluent area where they would have more competition.

There are convenience stores in the area which again sell poor quality food at high prices along with a range of poor quality confectionery. If they sell yogurts they are the sugary flavoured kind. Every day I see obese teenage mothers pushing obese children in buggies and more often than not these children are stuffing their faces with something nutritionally void.

Call me a food Nazi, but I have a medical condition which means I cannot eat anything heavy on refined white sugar and white flour doesn't help either. I felt much better and lost weight after cutting out these ingredients and I think if most people cut down on these things they would feel much better.

Agricultural subsidies made it more profitable for farmers to produce grain crops, sugar beet (in the past), milk and meat. It's no coincidence that these ingredients and potatoes make up the bulk of the traditional Irish diet. Good for industry but any financial gains made are quickly absorbed by the health costs of health disorders caused by eating too much bad food.

minktrapper

The Third World cant pay for food.The poor will always be with us.

minktrapper

brianthebard wrote: »

If subsidies were to blame for obesity then the third world would have the highest levels of obesity since so much agricultural produce is offloaded in those countries. If you think there's a confectionary/subsidy conspiracy theory afoot fair enough but I don't think subsidies caused obesity.

If so much food is offloaded in to the Third World then there would be no problems like Etiopia

edanto

I think that's a great post Emme, and I have noticed the same thing. Every area has a chipper or two and hardly anywhere has somewhere you can get healthy food at a decent price. And klaz, it's interesting to hear of that change you've seen in China.

On the question of subsidies and whether they lead to obesity, I think it would be hard to prove a causal relationship, even if it existed.

minktrapper

minktrapper wrote: »

The Third World cant pay for food..

But they could grow it themselves. Certain parts of Africa still retain enough quality land that could be turned to harvesting various crops, cattle, etc. The only things that are stopping them are tribalism and waqr/civil war/genocides.

The "Third World" will continue to be the third world until they decide its time to be otherwise.

The poor will always be with us

The definition of what poor entails will change... But what we consider today to be poor could be removed in the future.

edanto wrote:

I think that's a great post Emme, and I have noticed the same thing. Every area has a chipper or two and hardly anywhere has somewhere you can get healthy food at a decent price. And klaz, it's interesting to hear of that change you've seen in China.

Depends on what you consider healthy.. I know a few Chippers in my home town that load the food with various food flavorings so that they can compete somewhat with Supermacs and McDonalds.

Some chippers can still be very traditional, but lets face it, the traditional chipper isn't all that healthy either. Many times what you get is swimming in grease, or other substances... Admittedly at 3 am thats not so much of an issue, but...