I recently watched a very interesting documentary called A Place at the Table (http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/). According to the film, 50 million people, and 1 in 4 children, in the United States are food insecure, meaning that they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. An interesting point that the movie makes is that the obesity epidemic is not because people are overeating but because people are eating empty calories from processed foods. Indeed, processed foods are often cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables and people with limited financial resources are forced to choose processed foods over fresh foods. This phenomenon is called the “stuffed and starved” phenomenon where people are overweight and yet hungry primarily because they are filling up on empty calories from processed foods.
There are many implications to this phenomenon: firstly, there are the health effects of increasing rates of obesity, as well as its repercussions on the medical system – increasing rates of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; then there are the social consequences of children who are unable to concentrate in school because they are not getting the nutrients they need; finally, there are the cultural implications – how is it that as one of the wealthiest nations in the world we are not able to provide food to each and every one of our citizens? It is a sad fact that large food companies are forsaking the health and well being of the nation in their quest to make profits. And, it is up to us as consumers to demand better quality foods and to let food companies know that processed foods have no place in our kitchens or our schools.
Rachel Khanna is a Certified Chef and Health Counselor. She resides in Greenwich with her husband and four daughters. Visit her website at www.liveeatcookhealthy.com.
