McWorld and obesity: Super-sized Diets and the effect on national health

Diet, nutrition, eating habits of Americans, and nationwide food consumption:

The United States is a reflection of the homogenization at hand in the food industry. Apart from the grassroots uprisings with the organic, local, and slow food movements, the majority of the public is addicted to fast, processed foods that contain a lot of salt, sugar and fat for increased shelf life and taste.

According to Eric Schlosser (2002), which depicts a McDonald's scene in Dachau, Germany, located in a newly-erected shopping center in close proximity to the first concentration camp established by the Nazis, that reads, "This McDonald's was in Dachau, but it could have been anywhere -- anywhere in the United States, anywhere in the world. Millions of other people at that very moment were standing at the same [proverbial] counter, ordering the same food from the same menu, food that tasted everywhere the same.” This statement is, in a nutshell, the idea of 'McWorld'; it's the homogenization of food consumed nationally, and increasingly globally. What's happening with McDonald's has the monopolizing prospects of a Microsoft with the potentially fatal health risks of the tobacco industry. McDonald's, in its creation of a "McWorld utopia" would exist -- and dominate -- in every state, country, and on every continent, making their menu the world's menu, and their offerings the world's diet. Such dominance would create an impenetrable stronghold on the farming system, which it would dictate in every way for its own purpose - to produce the systematic and unnaturally fast production of food products to suit the strict formula of the McDonald's end-products. According to Schlosser (2002), "A McDonald's restaurant is just the window of a larger system comprising an extensive food-chain, running right up to the farms." The realization of such a hegemonic food selection of "convenience foods" is a scary prospect, and a seeming requisite for global obesity and its related health issues. This streamlining of food supply, specifically food accessible and affordable to the middle class, working poor and impoverished members of a given society makes it a key issue. Also, the idea of companies like Monsanto gaining total control over the annual seed supply and the nature of that supply (e.g., organic, genetically modified, etc.), would have huge, possibly grievous, results if unmonitored by the government and the peoples’ organizations.

The link between eating behavior and disease, health outcomes

There’s no dispute that overweight and obesity is the result of a society addicted to and inundated with fast food, while lulling the minds of the people away from activity and true thought via technology and the malaise of the media. We know the calorie-dense input contrasted against minimal output will cause overweight and obesity over time. Those who become overweight and obese, with a BMI greater than 30, are automatically at an increased risk for a long list of debilitating and/or deadly diseases. Our BMI measurement is crucial because it’s a red flag to health professionals that further assessments (e.g., skin-fold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, et. al.) may be needed to determine a persons’ likelihood for disease — ones relationship between weight and disease or death are correlative (CDC, 2009). According to the CDC, those within the “obese” tier of the BMI chart are at higher risk for: Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and some cancers (i.e., endometrial, breast, and colon). Due to the associated illnesses of obesity, living day-to-day in a manner that fosters overweight and obesity is just as good as a guarantee of a future hindered or shortened by the diseases and ailments listed above (Long, 2007).

Beliefs related to eating patterns from two perspectives (e.g., psychologically and physiologically)

Culture, class and economics have a significant impact on ones’ psychology around food consumption and food practices. The questions of not only how one should behave around food, but also how one should look (i.e., aesthetic ideal) according to their ethnic community may vastly differ from the standards put forth by the medical communities who establish the meaning behind the numbers on say the BMI chart. Non-Black and Non-White Latino segments of the population tend to ascribe to a leaner and lower weight aesthetic as healthy, while members of the Latino and African-American Diaspora prefer a weightier and shapely physique, and consider that the pinnacle of health. However, the two perspectives seem intertwined. People manifest their thoughts and their thoughts are often formed by the examples or images in their immediate environment.

Related website sources:
Slow Food Inc.:
A wonderful source for background information about the slow-food movement, its philosophy, mission and how the movement is growing to inspire people around the world to get back into their kitchens to prepare organic, whole foods to nourish themselves and their families, and to sidestep fast food options that offer sub-prime.

CDC Healthy Living:

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Living sub-site is a wonderful resource for all
aspects about healthy living, from nutrition to exercise and beyond. The site’s Staying Healthy section has
links to additional information on child development, eating your fruits and veggies, food safety, healthy
joints, healthy pets, healthy people, healthy swimming, heart disease prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention,
healthy water, healthy weight, diabetes prevention, skin cancer prevention, preventive cancer screenings,
quitting smoking, STD prevention, and stroke prevention.

USDA.gov:
The United States Department of Agriculture’s site has a number of programs and articles that one
can access, at no cost, to educate and empower themselves and their communities. Some of the programs
found on the site are: Let’s Move: America’s move to raise a healthier generation of kids; Healthy Incentives
Pilot (HIP); Farm-to-School Initiative; Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion; Team Nutrition Initiative;
Eat Smart. Play Hard; Program Nutrition Education; State Nutrition Action Plans; and many more.

Related articles:
New research on obesity from University of Alabama, Department of Psychology summarized:
Discusses obesity as it relates to effected women.

Obesity, disordered eating, and the bariatric surgery population: implications for psychotherapy:
Discusses some underlying psychological causes for obesity and how they present post bariatric surgery.

Cross-cultural dietary patterns: A college course on ethnically diverse eating patterns:
A look at diverse food choice across a variety of cultures.

References:

About BMI for Adults (2009). Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_BMI/#Used

Long, S. and Schlenker, E. D. (2007). The Food Environment and Food Habits. In Williams’ Essentials of Nutrition & Diet Therapy. St. Louis, MI: Mosby Elsevier.

Schlosser, E. (2002). Global Realization. In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Organic Versus Conventional Food: The Real Cost of Unconscious Choice

What is organic food? Who ensures the integrity and quality of the “USDA-organic” brand?

According to the USDA (2007), “Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.”

Passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), enacted under Title 21 of the 1990 Farm Bill, established uniform national standards for the production and handling of any and all foods labeled as “organic”. OFPA led to the creation of a new USDA National Organic Program (NOP); NOP now acts as the judiciary of organic food production as it sets national standards for the production, handling, and processing of organically grown agricultural products (Gold, 2007). NOP also manages the mandatory certification process undergone by all organic food producers in the United States. As a part of the USDA’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the “USDA-organic” certification brand, and as a result of OFPA, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) —an advisory agent to the Secretary of Agriculture, as Congress is to lawmaking — sets the foundation and functional standards for the NOP. Only food producers who meet the standards of the NOP obtain the right to label their food “organic” (Gold, 2007).

Organic farming relies on natural, chemically-free methods of crop cultivation to create food with as little human intervention and manipulation as possible for the optimal nourishment of the end-recipient, which promotes and generates holistic compassion toward the environmental ecosystem. As is noted by the Mary V. Gold’s USDA article (2007), “Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.” While USDA standards and regulation, in addition to the most earnest efforts of farmers, cannot guarantee absolute purity of the end-crops, this is especially true with the increased use of GMO-seeds and crops, and air-borne pesticides that create uncontainable air pollution — organic farming and food products are still a significant step in the direction of conscious agriculture and clean eating from seed to harvest.

Privately-owned Organic Certification Agencies: Aside from the USDA, there are many privately-owned certification companies. The Rodale Institute provides a comprehensive database of US-based and international certification agencies through which farms, factories, and food producers may obtain their organic certification. The certification agencies listed are all bound by the NOP’s certification standards, but the Rodale Institute, founded by J.I. Rodale, and the producer of the longest running US-based comparative trial to measure the quality and ecological effects of organic vs. conventional farming, may hold its certifiers to even higher standards. The Rodale Institute has been in operation since 1947, way before the USDA established any measure of organic standards, and remains true to its creed and mission through the present day. As the RI site states (2010), “Our findings [via the Farming Systems Trial®] are clear: A global organic transformation will mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere and restore soil fertility. Our mission: We improve the health and well-being of people and the planet.”

How is organic different from conventional food? The major difference between conventional and organic farming is fundamental. Organic farming omits the use of any chemicals in the form of pesticides, insecticides or fungicides to eliminate pests with the thought that doing so harms the consumer, farm animals and the environment. Conventional farming, in contrast, readily uses a variety of chemicals and forms of genetic modification to alter, and control the end crop and increase harvest yield. Some in the conventional-farming community would indicate that they are benevolent in their tactics since their yields may be larger in quantity, and can be augmented to contain increased variable tolerance or enhanced levels of essential nutrients not found in naturally-occurring like crops.

Related website resources:
NOP Homepage: This is the USDA’s dedicated section for additional information regarding the National
Organic Program and data related to certification, standards and regulation of organic food processors.

Guide to International Trade in Organics: Laws and Regulations: What isn’t it? This data set is the definitive
information source for all things related to the legal and regulatory aspects of organic food production,
handling and trade.

Codex Alimentarius - Organically Produced Foods Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2001: The Codex Alimentarius (CA) document is a joint venture between the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide the public with an in-depth look at many aspects of organic agriculture, including definitions, import regulations, the current inspection and certification systems and much more; what’s great is that each section is accessible via a hyperlink for easy navigation through this informative and massive document.

Related essays, articles:
Next Course in Organic Debate: There’s been some debate over whether organically-grown food is superior
to its conventional counterparts; this article takes a look into the debate and attempts to shed some light on
the matter.

The Winner: Organic: As I stated, there is a robust debate being waged over whether organically or conventionally-grown food is superior. This article has a definitive stance and makes an argument for the superiority of organically-grown food.

Change has come big-time to USDA National Organic Program: This article discusses the additional measures the NOP plans to implement to guarantee the quality and integrity of the foods produced by farms and factories certified under the “USDA-organic” brand with the use of unannounced inspections, increased investigation of those who might seek to cheat the system and the public by cutting corners, and increased regulatory staff.

Rodale Institute Press Room: This page on the RI site provides links to current happenings in the organic community and provides newsworthy articles regarding organic legislation, practices and precedents.

References:

Bowman, G. (2010). Change has come big-time to USDA National Organic Program. Rodale Institute. Retrieved from http://rodaleinstitute.org/20100208/Organic_program_head_lays_out_strict_and_sensible_approach_to_strengthen_integrity_ease_producer_barriers

Gold, M. V. (2007). Organic Production and Organic Food: Information Access Tools. USDA: Alternative
Farming Systems Information Center. Retrieved from http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml