JG etc.

My buddy Rahmin, over at Egathering, told me to read the Omnivore’s Dilemma. I haven’t got around to it, but I heard Michael Pollan, the author, on KQED this morning. The book talks about how our high fructose lifestyle is brought on by government subsudies in corn that has caused a huge reliance on corn syrup, corn oil, and other corn derivatives. The dilemma: high fructose lifestyle= tons of fat people

A couple of points they brought up in the discussion.

*Obesity is a class issue.

*McDonalds prices most of it’s food at a loss and makes most its money on soda and french fries.

*Pollan made the point that from a darwinian perspective, if a mother can buy 1200 calories for a $1 worth of a high fructose based substance, or $1 worth of carrots with only 250 calories, which one does she buy? Calories should equal energy to fuel her family.

*The food pyramid is battled out by the USDA to protect the interests of certain U.S. agricultural industries.

Outside of the glowing examples of how obesity is marketed and delivered to the poor with fast food, 7-11’s, etc. The city I live in, San Francisco, has other great examples of class issues around food. Check out the produce at the Safeway in the Western Addition District(poor neighborhood) compared with the Safeway in the Marina district(wealthy neighborhood).