Ultra Processed Wars
What’s happening to food and why doesn’t anybody care?
Pay attention to mainstream media, and it might seem the only things the US cares about now are Diddy, the weather, and sports.
But something else happened this week that should be at the top of every news report.
On Monday, a panel of experts met to give Senate testimony on American Health & Nutrition. For four hours, experts including Robert F Kennedy Jr, Dr Casey Means, Calley Means, Jillian Michaels, Vani Hari, Jordan Peterson, and more, gave testimony to Senator Ron Johnson on the state of US health and nutrition.
This isn’t left or right. This isn’t political. What this should be about is what’s happening to the US population - other countries too, but the US is suffering greatly. That’s not what’s happening.
My jaw has dropped so many times this week. I want to scream and yell, jump up and down. Do whatever it takes to stop this madness. All I can do right now is write.
I started caring about health thirty years ago when my dad died of a massive heart attack at the age of fifty-four. Two years later, my mom had a stroke at the age of fifty-four. She’s been living with chronic disease for thirty years.
I started researching and reading. I picked up books on heart disease and wellness. And when my three-year-old daughter said she was vegetarian at the age of three, I fell down that rabbit hole as well.
And I’m so grateful.
The Story Unfolds …
Have you heard about the testimony? Did you watch any of it? You can watch it here:
Or read about it here. I enjoyed reading Krysten’s Kitchen and thought her article was spot on.
All seemed good. Case closed. Story told. Seems like all went well.
Not happening.
One day later, The Atlantic released an article, The Woo-Woo Caucus. The writer describes the event as woo-woo meets MAGA, or the crunch-ification of conservatism. Supposedly, the writer feels that Kennedy is desperate for any vehicle toward relevance, and this is his shot at it since he’s no longer in the presidential race.
Couldn’t it just be about making America great again by making our population healthier? Isn’t that something we should all be standing behind?
A week ago, The Commonwealth Fund released a report on improving health care quality titled: Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing US Health System. They compared health system performance in ten countries. Their conclusion says it all.
“The U.S. continues to be in a class by itself in the underperformance of its healthcare sector. While the other nine countries differ in the details of their systems and in their performance on domains, unlike the U.S., they all have found a way to meet their residents’ most basic healthcare needs, including universal coverage.”
One quick visual says it all.
This Isn’t New …
For thirty years, I have watched wars like this rage on. Carbs are good for you; wait, they’re bad. It’s sugar; sugar is the problem. No, it’s not.
We pull things out of a hat, trying to put the blame anywhere but where it belongs.
I’m not an expert - I’ll never solve this issue.
But I have watched for thirty years. I’ve paid attention to the health and nutrition industries ever since the day my dad died of a massive heart attack. The day my eyes started to open a little bit wider to what’s going on.
In three words:
Follow the money.
There’s money to be made from cheap food. Who cares about quality?
There’s money to be made from sick people. Make ‘em sicker.
There’s money to be made from dishing out drugs. Prescribe more.
There’s money to be made from making processes as lean as possible. Cut wherever you can.
And “they’ve” made a lot of money.
So when anyone pokes the bear and gets a little too close for comfort, “they” fight back. And they do it in oh, so many ways. Like “The Woo-Woo Caucus.”
And Others …
Or another recent a-ha moment. A tell-all book called Ultra Processed People. It points a finger at the problem - ultra processed food - and “they” go “to the rescue” with an article showing that ultra processed foods might not be so bad after all.
Time put together a piece initially titled, “What If Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t As Bad As You Think.” It questioned the book’s findings and asked whether ultra processed food was really that bad. The dietician quoted in the article argues ultra processed foods shouldn’t be demonized because they are affordable; it’s what minorities and people living on strict budgets eat. What!?
Isn’t that the whole point? “They’ve” made them more affordable because it leaves you in the system, making more money for “them.”
The negative response was overwhelming.
The backlash began. People could see through the garbage, and overwhelmed Time with their responses, so much that they changed the title to, “Why One Dietician Is Speaking Up For “Ultra Processed” Foods.”
Is that better? No. It’s still giving credit to something that just shouldn’t be. Damage is done.
We shouldn’t be glorifying anything that isn’t good for our health.
Where we stand …
The US has the lowest life expectancy among all large, wealthy countries.
The US has the highest maternal mortality rate on earth.
In the US, 50 percent of teens are overweight or obese.
The US uses more than 1,000 chemicals and additives in its food supply that are banned in many other countries worldwide.
I could go on and on.
Watching the above video is a starting point. The first step is to become more aware.
The second step is simply saying: No.
No, I won’t participate anymore.
No, I won’t eat your cheap, over processed foods.
No, I won’t buy into a medical system that doesn’t serve me.
No, I won’t release my wellness to others that have ulterior motives.
And only then can you say: YES!
YES to the things that matter.
It’s a start.
Lori
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