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Dr. Paul Phillips ColumnWhat do obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, global warming, catastrophic weather events, energy prices, water shortages, world population, and food poisonings have in common? For one thing, they have all been increasing. For another, they have all been headline news these past few months. Thirdly, they are all related to the food we eat. Finally, all are tied, directly or indirectly, to the economics – perhaps more accurately, the “political economy” – of food production and distribution (agriculture, agribusiness, food processing, food retailing, the restaurant and fast food industries). Politics and food and agriculture policy are a major factor in what, how much, and for whom we supply and market food. In fact, the quality and quantity of our current and future food supplies are under threat and the globalized market system, as it has operated in the past, is simply unable to meet the challenge without producing unintended, but nevertheless frequent, catastrophic results. This is too large and complicated a topic to deal with in a single column. In this initial column, I want to deal with the quality and quantity of the food we eat and their relationship to our health. In future columns I will concentrate on climate change and food supplies, energy supplies and (as one writer has put it) “the oil we eat”, disappearing water and our future food, and how many people can we (sustainably) feed? It has been virtually impossible to read or watch the news these past few months without reading or seeing something about obesity and the rising tide of diabetes now threatening some twenty per cent or more of our aging population. In the US, obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of death. The problem of obesity and diabetes, and many other diseases including heart disease, strokes and some cancers, are directly, or indirectly, related to the food we eat and the additives that are added to processed foods. What are these additives and why are they in processed and fast food? The most common ones are salt, sugar and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Why are they added? They enhance the flavour of food. But they are also addictive, causing people not only to eat more, but also to keep coming back for more of the same. Particularly heavy doses of salt and sugar are found in snack foods such as potato chips, nuts, popcorn and soft drinks. Sodium, from salt is directly linked to high blood pressure, a major factor in heart disease and stroke. Sugar is directly linked to obesity and diabetes. Almost half of Canadians are overweight and rates of child obesity have tripled over the last two decades. Most of this has been blamed on the growth of the fast and snack food industries and their use of fat, salt and sugar. MSG has traditionally been associated with Chinese and Japanese restaurant food, though many Chinese restaurants have ceased using it because of the growing number of people allergic to MSG. However, if you check on the labels of most soups and many other processed foods in your pantry, you will find MSG (or hydrolyzed vegetable protein) listed as an ingredient. Although MSG has been cleared as a safe food additive by Canadian and American federal food agencies, it is an excitotoxin which has been linked directly in some studies to nerve damage, brain disorders, obesity, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cancer. However, its main economic effect is indirect, the increase in the consumption of the foods which contains MSG and, hence, to obesity and diabetes. Fat also enhances the flavour of many foods such as meat, cheese and dairy products. Fatty meats are also more tender. Animal products are the source of saturated fats that are linked to coronary disease. Trans fats are used as cheaper and easier-to-use substitutes for saturated animal fats in fast foods, deep frying, baking and food processing. Snack foods such as donuts are generally loaded with trans fats. They are, however, much worse, medically, than saturated animal fats. Trans fats are a major contributor to raising levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and lowering the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, a prime cause of coronary heart disease. In 1994 in the US, it was estimated that there were 30,000 deaths each year caused by trans fat induced heart disease. Then why do we continue to promote the use of these additives and saturated and trans fats? Simply, because it is profitable to the food and fast food industry, though not to society as a whole which must absorb the medical costs of food-related degenerative diseases. However, the market excludes the costs of sugar, salt, MSG and fat as, in the economists’ lexicon, an externality. Only government regulation can deal with this problem. Next month, The production side of the problem. If you have thoughts or questions on this or any other economics issue, write me, care of: North of 50, Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0; or email me at phillipsp@shaw.ca. A native of BC, Paul Phillips recently retired to Vernon after teaching economics at the University of Manitoba for 34 years, specializing in Canadian Economic policy and labour economics. He has recently been elected Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of Manitoba and Professor of American Studies at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. |
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