Guest post by Karen Morton
Karen Morton is president and founder, EcoUrbia Network, Canada, a Canadian not-for-profit organization advocating for local food and organics, extended producer responsibility, ethical e-waste recycling and waste reduction strategies.
Systems are in play to keep us ignorant of what we’re really eating - including the ‘fresh’ produce we buy (what I call “invisible transparency”), along with processed substances (junk food in disguise)—case in point: a ‘nutrition’ bar with 12 grams of sugar (the equivalent of 3 teaspoons).
Food processors and marketers use word games to confuse us. “Distilled celery extract” is, in fact, a nitrite—Maple Leaf’s* packaging claim of “all natural” deli meats came under scrutiny by CBC’s Marketplace* in their recent “Lousy Labels” expose—Maple Leaf changed the label once they were exposed, and now confess that this product does indeed contain nitrites (kudos CBC!); that Canada and the U.S. are the only two industrialized countries in the world without regulations requiring mandatory labeling of GMOs (consider that Canada is one of the world’s largest producers of GE crops); and we’re dumbed down by a litany of false nutritional claims: Wonder’s bread with fibre includes the “hull” of the oat, but not the actual grain—a “fibre” with zero nutritional value—we might as well eat dead leaves off the ground.
We don’t know what we’re eating or the real cost of bad food. We buy it because it’s often cheap and always cheerful. What we’re eating are “food-like substances” as Michael Pollan puts it. Bad food contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure at alarming rates—we’ve heard how the treatment of these diseases, most often linked to obesity, is overwhelming our health care system, and that its going to get worse with an aging baby boomer generation.
Dr. Andrew Weil told us more than a decade ago that 70% of all diseases are lifestyle related—a lifestyle of bad food and improper nutrition—something we have the power to control—so why don’t we? When it comes to the food we eat, why aren’t we demanding the truth so that we can make informed choices, and why doesn’t government stand up for us? Health Canada is not protecting our health—they refuse to ban trans fats, that it would burden the food industry and that they're doing a good job of 'self-regulation'. Get a grip Minister Aglukkaq*.
Everything is linked. Who benefits from the making and selling of high fat, high sugar, high sodium food substances? Processors, government, media, pharmaceuticals? Bad food and the cost to “fix” our health is big business. Big companies bring in tremendous revenues for their shareholders. Follow the money. Big government is not looking out for us. And big media exists because of advertising revenues, the selling of the brands that contribute to the scourge of poor health and disease. Then there is the “do-goodedness”—the promotion of charitable works such as the “pink ribbon” campaign—it’s everywhere—and it has lost its meaning since it became a brand to be trotted out as a poster child by the mega corporations and mass media for the purpose of generating revenue, and a sacred cow that we dare not criticize.
I undertook a UBC course a couple years ago called, “News Media: Trash Talkers or Truth Tellers”—one of my takeaways comes from Izzy Asper (Canadian media magnate), that news is selling soap. Think about it.
I am mindful of the meaning behind the messages—and what we’re up against. I’m frustrated every time I see something food-related in the media—its non-stop really—and the “food” programs—they have so much power—in just a few short sound bites.
They could bring non-GMO, organics, sustainable farming and fisheries, nutritional values, and energy inputs to the forefront of our psyche’s by telling us where they sourced it, why it matters, and how consumers can access it. But—as I again surmise—follow the money. Who profits from our ignorance? To be fair, there are think-outside-the-box programs. Too few.
Systems-think. Systems-contol. Systems-broken. Because of it, an awakening is taking place, a desire to know more about the food we eat—there is an increasing demand for locally-grown, organic food—of getting back to real food in its natural glory, and not as a marketing tactic on a food package. Fresh, nutritious food is more satisfying—we will eat less of it, and be healthier.
We want a real relationship with the food we eat, and the people who grow it. We want good health. Ecosystem health. What I call "ecolibrium". The era of globalization and greed has not served us well. We can change that. We can support local food policy development and the change makers who are growing food – in backyards in our cities (Edible Garden Project, Metro Vancouver City Farmers, City Farm Boy), as well as City Farmer, SOLEfood Farm, and public farms (Loutet Farm in the City of North Vancouver), as well as EcoUrbia’s urban farming projects that will increase local capacity, provide education, and create local jobs. It takes courage to step outside the box, rethink our relationship to food and to let our voices be heard in the choices we make, and what we will or will not stand up for. Local food is a ray of hope.
- watch CBC Marketplace’s “Lousy Labels”
- read about Greenpeace’s non-GMO campaign & access their non-GMO shopping guide
- sign the “Just Label It” petition for mandatory GMO labelling
- watch Michael Pollan interview, “Don’t Buy Any Food You’ve Ever Seen Advertised” part 1 & part 2
- watch Michael Pollan on Supermarket Secrets & Dr. Nadine Burke on Whole and Healthy
- watch the trailer for Pink Ribbons, a documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada
* Canadian Broadcasting Company investigative consumer program
* Maple Leaf Foods is a leading consumer packaged food company, headquartered in Toronto
* Leona Aglukkaq, Canadian Minister of Health
loading...
loading...
