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Seeing Through Industrial Food’s 'Personal Responsibility' Smoke Screen
I grew up in a home where family meals were the norm. Nearly every night, nine of us would crowd around the kitchen table to enjoy a home-cooked meal together, recount our days, laugh and argue, celebrating each unique personality's contribution to the whole. Each meal made the fabric of our family stronger. Those experiences have stayed with me as I've grown and started a family of my own, where I happily continue the tradition of sitting down together nightly to share a meal and exchange stories.
For us, food is at the core of what makes us strong, happy and healthy as a family and as individuals. It isn't about calories, nutrients, micro nutrients and so on. It's about engaging our senses, strengthening our community by buying local foods whenever possible and sharing with our friends and neighbors. It's about creating a healthy foundation for our growing children.
We knowingly spend a greater portion of our income on food than the average American household, which works because we forgo things that bring us less value, e.g., cable television, new cars, fancy vacations and more. This sort of conscious decision making is at the core of personal responsibility, and is something we work hard at every day. Living in a rural community, surrounded by farms and dairies and being outside the reach of most mainstream media surely helps.
But today, the individual's ability to exercise personal responsibility has been severely compromised by our industrial food system. Yet defenders of the status quo consistently use "personal responsibility" as a smoke screen to cover the tracks of industrial food, tracks that run roughshod over the mirage of choice and personal responsibility.
It is clear that industrial food knowingly develops and promotes food-like substances that make us fat, spread diet-related diseases and disregard unsustainable impacts on our environment. Backed by hundreds of billions of dollars in product development, marketing, advertising and lobbying, along with government regulations favoring industrial food, there is seemingly nothing standing in their way.
Except for those who believe it is time to rein in processed foods. Our numbers are rapidly growing, making us increasingly capable of driving real, meaningful change, especially through entrepreneurial means (see Pro Food). These changes will take many forms, but here is one that I find particularly compelling.
First, we significantly reduce the number of highly processed food-like products (and the many empty calories they deliver). Next, we repopulate those now-empty shelves with whole and minimally-processed foods. Finally, with fewer processed foods, which take up considerable floor space in today's supermarkets, we begin replacing these unsustainable retail dinosaurs with intimate, community-oriented food stores (<5,000 square feet), designed from the ground up, to help consumers expand in-home food preparation, what we used to call "cooking." And with triple-bottom-line operating models (see Pro Food advantages), these new stores will sustainably balance people, planet and profits, something industrial food unfortunately can't do without ultimately destroying itself.
Clearly, such changes would rock today's industrial food system, but leaving it as is perpetuates the problems we face. As most major food companies are publicly traded they must increase sales, reduce costs or both, quarter after quarter, to increase shareholder value or face the consequences (Note: shareholders (owners) are not the same as stakeholders, which would include eaters, whose interests, beyond food expenditures, are secondary). This singular bottom line focus drives them to do whatever is necessary to maximize profit, which they typically achieve through sales of new products with high initial profit margins. That is upwards of 17,000 new "food" products are introduced every year.
These highly processed, engineered foods, never before seen, but often extending an established brand name, are not guaranteed financial success, so food companies invest tens of billions of dollars every year in sophisticated marketing programs and advertising campaigns to build demand, with a heavy emphasis on hawking heavily sugared wares to children and convenience to their ever more harried parents. Undeniably, these highly sophisticated product development and demand creation engines are significantly influencing consumers; worse, these campaigns are often coordinated to affect us in subconscious ways: the potent combination of food science and marketing at work!
Without continuous financial improvements, the value of food companies would suffer greatly. That isn't happening. Consider that since 1979 (30 years ago) General Mills stock price is up 577%, while Wal-Mart has registered an astonishing 420,000% increase (from less than $0.12 per share to $49.14; hasn't always been in food retail, but rapidly ascended to #1 in category). Then there's Cargill with estimated revenues at $120 billion, which would make it a Top 10 publicly traded company. Clearly, food companies are meeting shareholder expectations, which doesn't bode well for consumers, who are largely "responsible" for this financial success.
As for the significant financial pain and organizational upheaval the changes Pro Food envisions will have on the industrial food system, while the transition will be difficult, not sudden, America's entrepreneurs will get a running start. And if there is one thing we can count on, it's our entrepreneurs: the best in the world at picking themselves up, brushing themselves off and getting back to work.
The results of such a revolution in how we grow, process and consume food will be significant. Sustainable businesses will become the norm, offering rewarding careers for people interested in more than a single bottom line. Regional economies will begin rebuilding after being decimated for decades by large food retailers. Our food system, through hard work, sustainable technologies and a longer-term perspective, will regain its balance with nature. And, most important, food will become an enjoyable, enriching part of our daily lives, rather than just another accessory.
Join the Pro Food Revolution...already in progress.
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30 Comments so far
Show AllGood goals, where's the plan?
We need to stop gov't subsidies for corn, wheat, soy, potatoes and CAFOs. Now, we pay them to poison us and then pay the environmental and health costs of said poisoning.
Right you are. I remember what life on the farm was like as a child until the CAFOs took over. I wished my children and my nephews and nieces could have seen all this and more. The only plan that I can think of is self-constraint as best as you can. I don't think government will ever untie itself from the insurance and drug companies nor do I believe that they are determined to stop subsidizing the ones you mentioned. My fear is there are too many stakeholders at risk if government lets go of any of them.
My focus is entrepreneurial, since I believe that building real, growing consumer demand for sustainable food will be the fastest path to policy change. Besides, there are many very capable people working on the government side of things.
Check out my blog (http://everytable.wordpress.com) for more of my thinking, including a recent post titled "The Evolution of Pro Food".
All feedback is strongly encouraged!
Cheers,
Rob Smart
I always thought that there were corporations out there who produce better food for the betterment of us all. I like your entrepreneurial spirit for worthy and constructive causes. I think it's possible for both that local and entrepreneurial spirit to coexist. Thank you.
Entrepreneurial works for me. It's the lifeblood of economic development. The only problem with entrepreneurial is that Big Pharma, et. al use USDA and FDA to stomp on entrepreneurs. Unless they are restrained/destroyed it will be very hard to shift food choices. I say this as someone who has avoided most processed food for over 30 years. I don't find it difficult but most people don't have the time or motivation to swim upstream against this very strong current.
I suppose its the challenge of using entrepreneurial energy to solve complex problems against considerable odds that drew me into sustainable food in the first place. So, I will bang my head against the so-called wall until I break through, which I am confident will happen.
Here, here!
Yet I will say that personal responsibility IS important.
First, no television. It's the best way to avoid being "programmed" by advertisers. Don't subscribe to cable. Fight television addiction. It's the biggest waste of time ever invented. You'll soon find out what you've been missing.
Second, buy organic. So what it's more expensive? Your body and the bodies of all of life we share our earthly home with are worth it. If you think organic food is out of your price range, then I bet your spending money on many things you really don't need (like cable TV!). Keep your expenses low. Like Rob Smart, forgo new cars and fancy vacations. And maybe you pay too much in rent. Cut your expenses and spend a little more to get better food.
Third, support your local farmers market. It's fun! The food is heavenly! And you'll meet all kinds of fun, healthy, happy, down-to-earth folks who will be your friends for life! Plus you'll be supporting the local economy and eating food grown in your bio-region.
And fourth (perhaps this should be first), grow yer own! Yes, you too can grow a lot of your own food, even on a little balcony in the city, or a window box. Or replace your lawn and ornamentals with edibles. Or, join (or start) a community garden.
And finally, QUIT SHOPPING at BIG FOODS! At BIG FOODS you mostly see a bunch of fat, unhealthy, unhappy people who look like they've never missed a meal or an opportunity to go for seconds, and even thirds, pushing a cart full of engineered, over packaged, sugary crap. It blows me away when I see these people filling up their carts to the brim with these toxic TV dinners and Weight Watchers boxes and Wavy Gravy and Chubby Hubby. Some of these people can barely get their fat asses in and out of their big fat cars. So tragic and so sad.
Don't be like them. And if you already are, then do yourself and the rest of us a HUGE, BIG favor: CHANGE! NOW!
Moondoggy, that is fantastic set of points that must be made loud and clear. Up until I recently got added to the unemployed list, I couldn't imagine doing the fourth point. I used to work 11-13 hours a day. People can deny the fact that eating fast food compared to actually growing one's own not only makes them unhealthy but also unhappy. I have seen this in my family and with some of my relatives including my niece who introduced me to this site. My wife who I lost to cancer used to be a heavy meat eater. I haven't eaten any meat after her passing away. I can't trust the insurance and drug companies to be fair even with a clean bill of health as it is.
By the way, let me introduce myself to you in case you missed me. Last week, my niece JenniferBedingfield introduced me to this website. She admires you a lot and thanks you for helping her overcome some of that feeling she had when she misses living on the farmlands. You and Sioux Rose are her favorites.
I have a lot to learn about politics despite what I think I know from what I see on the television, newspapers, and read on huffingtonpost. I did support Obama last year after getting sick and tired of 8 years of Bush. I could never completely figure out why my niece is so angry with politics so I promised her I would come here and learn. One week in and I find that there is so much to learn here. I can see that I might get into trouble for asking that we not go too hard on Obama. As you probably know, most of us who voted for Obama knew very well that our self-esteem and happiness have been reduced to expecting very little from our leaders. I'm not what she would call an Obamabot and she forgave me for voting Obama. We all have to know what we really want in a leader and then strive for that type. I have had to get people including my niece to acknowledge if they were truly happy or not. It's always easy to deny but once you get them to sit down and acknowledge, then getting them out of it isn't as difficult. Like food, like politics. We cannot afford to deny ourselves the hard truth that junk food does not really make us happy but unhappy and causes more mood swings.
Thanks Stanley! I appreciate the vote of confidence. Also, I greatly admire your niece, Jennifer Bedingfield. I think she is courageous and intelligent young woman.
When it comes to political discussion, she is light-years ahead of me. I personally have little interest in politics, nor do I have much faith in politicians. I'm no Obamabot either, but I unashamedly admit to you and anyone else who might read this, that I did indeed vote for Barack Obama. And I neither apologize nor regret doing so (just for the record).
I would have preferred a Green Party candidate, I suppose. I mean, I think I ideally side with Green Party politics, but am not informed or engaged enough to say for sure. I just know I care deeply about our life support system, planet earth. I care about breathing fresh air, drinking pure water and having nice scenery to look at. I care about peace, and happiness and beauty.
Politics and Sports and The News really bore me, to be honest. I couldn't care less about what is popular or what people think about me. I just care about life, and future generations.
I'm not a Christian. I think the bible is the most destructive book ever written. It is directly responsible for more death and destruction than all other books combined. I know Jennifer is a Christian. I have nothing against Christians. I used to be a Christian. Some of the best people I know are Christians. I also have nothing against Christ, although I feel that he is a fictional character based on the life of a real person. But I'll admit to you and the rest of the world that I burned my bible. Yes, I, Moondoggy am a bible-burner. I burn bibles because I feel that it is not "the good book", but a very evil, insidious and harmful book.
When asked whether I felt bad, or any remorse after burning my bible, I took stock of my feelings, and my reply was, "no, I feel good actually, like a huge weight has been lifted". I feel light as a feather and free as a bird. And perhaps best of all, I turned something evil, the bible, into something good, ashes to nourish my kitchen garden with. And now I feel so at peace. And I wish this peace for everyone else. And I feel so much love, welling up in my soul like a fountain of joy and gladness.
Telling you this, I should add that I don't think everything written in the bible is bad. There are some good stories and valuable lessons contained therein. Those good stories will live on in my heart. But the evil, especially all the killing and the wrath and the confusing, contradictory babel and the judgment, hypocrisy and the religious bullshit spawned by the beliefs perpetuated by the clergy, the stealing of personal power, the crusades, the inquisitions, the destruction of whole earth-based cultures and the downright lies are best rendered into a harmless pile of ash.
Sorry. I had no intentions of telling you this. It just came out that way. I wish you and your greater family all the best!
Moondoggy, thanks for the compliment to JB.
I have a lot of respect for Ralph Nader and the Green Party but (and I know that it puts her in tears when I have to say this) they just don't belong in politics. Politics is a dirty sport and even more so than it used to be. I'm on the same page as you are on Obama but he's trying to bring down the partisan shrill despite the Republicans who just can't stop their madness. What have the Republicans done all these 8 years that makes them credit worthy? I'm disappointed in the Democrats too but I just don't see how we're going to be able to get the Greens or any viable 3rd party into politics. It just looks easier to try to alter the Democratic Party even though she disagrees with that. I'd like to shout at Obama and the Democrats too but what's the use? They're there because we voted them in. Maybe we don't know what to really expect. Much as we all hate it, people elect politicians instead of honest leaders.
I don't mind you burning the bible. I haven't been much of a church-goer either after my wife passed away. I have been even less Christian after having to help my two daughters struggle through their nasty divorces and help them find a suitable partner. I almost turned into dropping out of being a Christian when earlier this year, her father and I rescued Jennifer from a horrible date who sexually assaulted her and was about to clip her hair. It was extremely painful and traumatic to her. That same night, I was lucky I caught her just as she was about to commit suicide with pills. Sunday turned out to be just as bad. She felt pushed aside during the rest of the family reunion weekend and finally went to her bedroom alone. She denied being unhappy until I asked her enough questions and she finally wanted me to help her. I felt just as miserable watching her in pain and sorrow as I had felt when my wife passed away. I sat down and comforted her and reminded her of her accomplishments she told me about ever since she moved to the city. For a young girl who went through all that trouble in life to make the best of herself and be a somebody, I was determined to help her out the best I could. It was my fault that I had set her up to meet the son of my business partner who turned out to be a monster and I wanted to make it up to her. Jennifer doesn't sound like she's much into religion either. I had once caught her being shaken by her parents for not being Christian enough. I don't know how much of a devout Christian she is at all anymore what with her illness earlier this year. I'll email her and ask her about it.
Thank you for the well wishes and I look forward to seeing more excellent posts from you.
I don't know Jennifer personally, that is, I've never met her, but if I ever heard that she decided to take her own life, I would spend the entire day crying. And for weeks, months, even years I would feel a great aching sadness and terrible loss.
I don't even know her, but I feel love for her. She has dared to share and bare her soul, and I have such deep personal respect and admiration for her. I feel as though on some level we are as close as friends, and I'm sure there are many others here and on Alternet who feel the same way as I do.
Her life is valuable, and her contributions are treasured. Please tell her that she is loved and admired and that if she hangs in there through the tough times, she'll come out a stronger and better person. And tell her that the world is a better place because she is in it.
Keep being there for her. We all need a lot of love and understanding. We all want happiness. Warm hugs all around!
Moondoggy, I feel touched by what you said. Yes, my uncle is still looking out for me but so too are my parents and two brothers. As for Alternet, the site is getting a bit too wacky depending upon the articles. Sometimes, it's like a mafia out there. Maybe I should just leave that site and leave it to my uncle to deal with those bots. He'll probably have a better chance of reaching out there than will I. On that site, it's getting more clear that anyone who questions Obama's policies is labeled a "Republican" which I find laughable. In some ways I guess I'm getting out of my sadness. As an example, I used to get frustrated when I was called a closet Republican for questioning the DLC centrist positions but nowadays I've learned to laugh at it and away.
Hey Jennifer! Yeah, that's the attitude, just laugh it away. We have this thing we say when people make ignorant and uninformed comments, we "laugh it out of existence". It's a lot more fun than getting pissed or feeling sad.
A few years back I read a book that changed my life, called "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom" by Don Miguel Ruiz. Please find this book and read it! Here are some links:
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424319
http://www.miguelruiz.com/
The most valuable thing I learned from this book is: I've learned to take nothing personally. So when people "insult" me, I now see it as a reflection of them, not me. It's as if I'm holding up a mirror and it just bounces back on them without affecting me in the slightest.
So don't let their silly insults affect you. Just laugh at the fools.
BTW, I'm looking out for you too, in my own remote way :)
Hi Moondoggy. Thank you for the kind words. I won't give up saving her life. She is like a 3rd daughter to me. We won't give up the chance to strive for happiness out there.
Thanks for being there for her. And nice to "meet" you, Uncle Stanley!
Hey Moondoggy,
Great suggestions. My family is doing all five, so we must be doing something right.
As for the importance of personal responsibility, I am by no means transferring responsibility away from individuals, since that would lead to chaos. What I am doing is highlighting that corporations, which are treated as individuals in the U.S., must also exercise personal responsibility and be held accountable.
Thanks again for your contributions!
Cheers,
Rob Smart
Thank-YOU for YOUR contributions Rob! You indeed are smart! I have a friend Kayl Good, who really is good. I love it when somebody's name reflects who they are as a person.
I understand what you are saying about personal responsibility. And I appreciate your insights and your highlighting the importance of corporate responsibility and accountibility. I would be thrilled if corporate "personhood" was eliminated.
Keep writing insightful articles on Pro Food!
Cheers, Moondoggy
The time I spend dealing with insurance companies over bills that they refuse to pay leaves me little time to think about my food, let alone organize it and cook.
The haves have found infinite pressures to put on us never do wells so that we fall into the narrow rails they create for us to meander in.
Love
Zero
Fuck Insurance Companies!!!!!
What are you paying insurance for? It's a huge scam! They spend millions of dollars hiring people to look for ways to make sure they don't have to help you with anything. They take, and don't give back. It's giving money to criminals. Fuck them!
I never pay insurance for anything. Our insurance is our 28 acre paradise in Montana on a wild and free river fed by snowmelt pouring off the Rocky Mountains. Even if our little log cabin burns to the ground, we can live in our 18 foot tipi which costs us less than a thousand bucks.
Our land cost us nothing, actually. Initially we bought 35 acres for 35,000 dollars, and later sold 7 acres for 70,000. So we actually gained. Our property taxes are a thousand per year.
Keeping expenses low, and living a healthy lifestyle from age 20 on is our best insurance... AND IT PAYS huge dividends!
OK, maybe this doesn't help your situation, but I'm taking a chance that somebody else reading this, someone just starting out, will be inspired and energized.
Grow for it! Grow a life!
Insurance companies, health care ones anyway, are what people can take for granted so long as they're employed. Once you're unemployed like I recently was, then the high costs and ripoffs become clear.
Medicare part D is also doubling.
I propose an online voter initiative and referendum to make Industrial Food pay for health and environmental damages.
Are you doing this with every article today? :-)
Screw the referendum...the appropriate oversight agencies need to just do it on their own...you know, follow their own regulations.
"Screw the referendum...the appropriate oversight agencies need to just do it on their own...you know, follow their own regulations."
Will pigs fly?
They already do :-)
http://www.fritolay.com/
our-snacks/flat-earth.html
But, tens of millions of Americans don't have internet access.
Your typical American vs Madison Avenue and the fast food pushers is like David and Goliath.
Fast food and cheap snacks are chemically engineered by scientists to specifically light up the "oh goodie" parts of the brain exactly the same way a drug addict's brain lights up. Our very biology has been perverted to ensnare us to eat crap, and no one is immune from the urges of hunger in the reptilian mind or we wouldn't be here right now.
When it comes to selling people shit that's bad for them, "personal responsibility" is the bogus phrase that corporate America hides behind. Take smokers. Anyone under the age of 30 that smokes is a fucking idiot, but for our grandparents who were given free cigarettes, who had doctors and Ronald Reagan vouching for healthy benefits and safety, and Madison Avenue selling an appealing image to project onto...how much personal responsibility are your grandparents liable for when it comes to their nicotine addiction? (BTW, nicotine is even more addictive than cocaine.) Seen the animated black and white cigarette ads featuring Fred Flintstone on youtube? Hook 'em young and the first one is free: just like any drug dealer markets his poison.
Now, we don't have to smoke, but we do have to eat. That same strategy of "hook 'em young" is used today with regards to junk food. Cutting school lunch programs so Taco Bell is served in the school's cafeterias and cutting money to schools so that Coca Cola funds after school programs in exchange for access to our nation's children is coercive advertisement to a captive audience. Students have even been suspended from school for the crime of wearing a Pepsi shirt on "Coca Cola Appreciation Day" and adults have been prosecuted for merely discussing meat safety in certain red states. (I thought we had freedom of speech...?)
The known fact is that we respond to sugar, fat, meat and salt in a way beyond any Pavlovian dog, and we allow these advertisers direct access to our children. Have you watched children's television lately? Count the commercials for food. Watch the flashing lights and quick cuts and hear the shouting - all of it designed to grab the attention.
So don't you believe for an instant some corporate bullshit talking about personal responsibility.
The Ozzie and Harriett image of my youth was a bunch of crap also but today's children TV production is really insulting. Our granddaughter is over for the nite so I'm being subjected to "The Suite life" of several ridiculous kids!
Moondoggy you sound a little self righteous in your comments about your fellow citizens cruising the S'market aisles.
Everybody makes choices and many do not agree with our personal preferences. You must smile in consideration of what they probably think of your choices.
Personal responsibility/choice will always trump any product propaganda no matter how clever. I.e General Motors and Chrysler down the crapper in spite of he best ad's money could buy. First "W" and now "O" is throwing your money at them.
Failure is as much a reality as success.
When it comes to food, I mostly don't limit myself from anything. Now perhaps I'm a bit different, but I don't really care for big slabs of meat, cookies look about as tasty to me as mud pies, french fries are interesting...once a month or so. Basically I'm lucky to have wonderful gardens. We grow multiple varieties of all these: sweet corn, pea pods, greens, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, herbs, and much more. Different stores have interesting items from sources big and small, organic and not. We just go by taste (of course if the list of ingredients is chock full of strange chemicals, why would anyone even want to try it?)
Somehow, despite all of the marketing efforts of large food producers, Rob Smart manages to eat healthily. That by itself shows that people CAN take personal responsibility for what they eat, and that healthy food is broadly affordable if people are willing to make a few sacrifices.
By all means, let's get rid of subsidies and unsustainable agricultural practices and all that. Let's do it for the right reasons, though. The industrial food system is bad because it's environmentally destructive, exploits its laborers, and treats animals poorly. These are all very good reasons that have nothing to do with whether people eat too many triple bacon cheeseburgers for their own good. That's still their fault. At the end of the day, Coca Cola makes money because people like drinking Coca Cola. Changing the law can't make people take care of their own health any more than it can make them stop taking drugs. Some people will always eat too much, even if the only food available to them is organically grown hempseed bread, soy milk, and walnuts.
Jambutter, thank you for pointing out decentralization as the key. We cannot afford to rely on a limited number of locations for growing our food. More people will have to cooperate.
As far as personal responsibility goes, I'll admit. I was a fool in my younger years. I used to fall for all those overprocessed foods and refuse to try out what was locally offered even when it was healthy for me. I also remember times in my younger life when I would eat unhealthily when simply addicted and even worse when in depressed mode. My change of life moving from the sheltered life to the city life ironically made me realize the importance of local healthy produce in addition to changing my lifestyle. To this day, I still feel totally surprised that I actually came to respect small farms and local produce much more living in the city than when I lived in the rurals.
P.S.:
Moondoggy, nice to see you again and I see you met my uncle. :)