Blog 19

Being that these articles were written several years ago what are your thoughts on the corn commodity-created high fructose corn syrup now being linked to obesity? Describe the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of ‘downstream’ nutrition education. How does marketing play a role? Explain the problem with continuing commodity crops and importing more fruits and vegetables.

In what ways does supporting farmers and a possible switch to non-commodity/subsidized crops help to really address issues of farming crops that lead to junk food and obesity. Does the new farm bills’ current changes to stop subsidizing crops help us move in the right direction? If so, then how?

Describe the Mediterranean approach to eating and the health effects depicted in this article. What is your experience with this ‘diet’?

In my opinion, high fructose corn syrup is clearly linked to obesity. It is now found in just about every form of junk food Americans consume, and these same junk foods also typically cost less than many fruits and vegetables and other healthier options and taste better to most people as well. The downstream approach to nutrition education is not effective. While nutrition education is certainly important, the large price-gap between unhealthy foods and healthy foods seems to be the major deciding factor for low budget families when it comes to food purchases. Marketing plays an enormous role in the effectiveness of nutrition education. Very little budget is allotted by the USDA for the marketing of healthier snack options like fruits, yet the marketing budget for unhealthy snacks like sodas, potato chips, and candy is astronomical. These marketing campaigns make unhealthy foods look cool and fun, especially to children and teenagers, and create an environment conducive to unhealthy food choices. Importing fruits and vegetables is a quick fix but the problem with this approach is that it doesn’t offer the freshest produce or our local economy. Supporting our farmers and providing them with more incentives to produce fruits and vegetables as well as other healthy foods works to better address the issue of farming crops used in the making of junk foods like corn.  The new farm bills' plan to stop the further subsidization crops will not eliminate the problem because overproduction has been a problem in the American food & farming industries for so long it will take additional policies to convince farmers to focus on the quality of our food as opposed to the quantity produced and to see more than just a bottom line. The Mediterranean diet focuses on the consumption of fish, healthy oils, fruits & vegetables, and whole grains  which is certainly a step away from the American diet of processed foods and refined sugars and I believe it is a step in the right direction.