The food system fails the alien test
Alien: What foods should I consume the most of to give myself the greatest chance of living a long, healthy life on earth?
Human: Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, a little bit of sustainably produced animal protein, while limiting intake of foods high in sodium, added sugar, saturated and trans fats. Another way of putting it, you should aim to get most of your calories from un- and minimally processed foods.
The alien and human walk into the supermarket (this is not the start of a bad joke 😉)
Alien: Why is most of the food here ultra-processed food high in sodium, added sugar , saturated and trans fats, foods you said I shouldn’t be eating too much of.
Human: Uh, not sure
Alien: Most of this ultra-processed food is also cheaper than the food you told me I should eat most of to be healthy. Why is this? I mean, I could get 4-litres of Pepsi for the same price as a litre of milk!
Human: Uh, not sure
Alien: Why do most of these highly processed breakfast cereals have all these cartoon characters on them?
Human: To make them really appealing to kids.
Alien: But why are the companies that produce the cereals allowed to market these types of foods to children?
Human: Yeah, good point. No sure.
Now at the check-out.
Alien: Why is the supermarket tempting us with all this ultra-processed food while we wait around to pay for our groceries.
Human: Uh, not sure. Sorry, actually I do. Supermarkets are in the business of making money and they know most humans have limited willpower and are more likely to be tempted by chocolate bars and candy rather than raw sweet potato and broccoli.
Back at the human’s house, watching sports on TV.
Alien: Why are most of the commercials promoting ultra-processed food and alcohol, which I’ve heard is also really bad for you. Where are the ads for fresh fruit and vegetables?
Human: Yeah, not really sure.
Diet related disease, such as diabetes and heart disease, is the leading cause of death globally. Rather than this reflecting a collective inability of humanity to exercise restraint, it’s a predicable outcome of a food system that delivers an over-abundance of highly processed, hyper-palatable, effectively marketed nutrient poor foods. Or as the writer Michael Pollan put it, “…the diet on offer at the end of the industrial food chain is linked precisely to the types of chronic disease most prevalent in industrialized society”.
Until such time that the food that is aligned with health and wellbeing, as articulated in most national food guidelines, is more widely available, more accessible and more heavily marketed than nutrient poor, ultra-processed and fast foods, diet related disease will continue to be the leading cause of death and disease globally.
