An American Endless Cycle
My Mom was really into the health food store when we were kids. They had the best oatmeal raisin cookies. I’m not sure why she got on this kick, but it was the 1970s, and she believed in healthy eating. We took cod liver oil pills every day!
When I grew up, nobody was obese and not overweight either. Now, over 42% of Americans are obese. Maybe it was because we had more freedom to run around, but more than likely, this generation was the first generation to grow up on significant amounts of processed food. I remember coming to school with my lunch and high-end deli meats, and my friends would have processed meat in a package. It is unclear which was worse, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t the deli meats.
When we look at other countries also beginning to put on poundage and get sick, it is from their intake of Doritos, not Udon noodles. The other day, I saw the ingredients in Heinz ketchup for France vs. the US. That was eye-opening. In France, the ingredients are tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt, onion powder, and natural flavor. In the US, we eliminate sugar and add high-fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup. Fructose can elevate diabetes, cholesterol, and heart disease.
Somehow, it is okay in the States to have products that are killing us on the shelves even though we have an obesity issue, which leads to illness that the insurance companies would prefer not to pay for, so instead, we came up with Ozempic to fix that problem, less eating. Hmmm. There seems to be a problem here.
My Mom decided to frequent the health food store and put us on cod liver oil pills from wherever she got her information. She taught us to eat healthily. She would make comments about chips or fake foods that we were eating shit, and she was right. Today, information is everywhere. People can see what I am writing about in black and white, but somehow, we build new products to combat products that have made us unhealthy instead of fixing the core issue. I assume this is lobbying 101 to keep the large companies producing these products and churning them into our daily diet.
The food companies are killing us. When I return to Paris, I may bring an entire suitcase just for savory condiments.