12 Sep 2007 @ 19:01, by Raymond Powers
This terrific online five-part video series by Peter Jennings explores how the food industry spends billions of dollars to sabotage your health.
Jennings also takes a critical look at our government's agricultural subsidy programs, and their unintended consequences on your nutritional choices and health. For example, sugar and fat receive 20 times more government farming subsidies than fruits and vegetables. Does this oversupply of fats and sugars, compared to fruits and vegetables, affect your food choices?
Some statistics, implicating both the food industry and the government as co-creating factors in the obesity epidemic, include:
* In 2002, consumers spent $174 billion on processed foods.
* 90 percent of foods marketed each year are processed foods.
* Last year, 2,800 new candies, desserts, ice-cream, and snacks were introduced to the marketplace, compared to 230 new fruits or vegetable products.
* The food industry spends $34 billion per year marketing their products.
* $12 billion is spent marketing to children.
The food industry is quick to point out that the choice is always yours -- they're not making you buy something you don't want. They also want to blame the obesity problem on people's unwillingness to exercise.
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