{"id":1926,"date":"2014-10-30T21:29:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T01:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/for-healthier-products-in-the-grocery-store-try-the-ghandi-solution.html"},"modified":"2016-09-19T11:21:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T15:21:16","slug":"for-healthier-products-in-the-grocery-store-try-the-ghandi-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1926","title":{"rendered":"For Healthier Products In the Grocery Store? Try The Ghandi Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The obesity epidemic is so profound that over 65% of Americans now range from overweight to morbidly obese. As a result, weight problems <\/span>threaten to overtake tobacco<\/a> as the number 1 preventable cause of death and chronic disease. <\/span>

<\/span>One common response to this epidemic has been to reflexively point fingers at the food industry for producing unhealthy foods in the first place.<\/span>

<\/span>Follow @willclower<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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The argument goes that the food industry is much more concerned with profits than people. As a result they load our foods with high fructose corn syrup (which may <\/span>contribute to obesity<\/a>), hydrogenated oil (which may <\/span>contribute to heart disease<\/a>), nitrates and other preservatives (which may contribute to <\/span>cancer<\/a> and <\/span>stroke<\/a>), and synthetic colors\/fat\/sweeteners.<\/span><\/div>\n
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This portrayal casts the food industry as a dietary Darth Vader that targets children with sly cartoon advertising, lures dieters in with low fat labels on high sugar products, and promotes \u201call natural\u201d products loaded with excessive amounts of sodium. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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While the facts are all true, the caricature is just not. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Our confusion centers around the thinking that food companies are moral entities who have some civic responsibility to better the common good. They\u2019re not, and they don\u2019t. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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A better way to think about a food manufacturer is as any animal in nature. Like any animal, in order to survive it must consume and keep consuming. That kind of drive to survive doesn\u2019t make them bad or wrong, it makes them successful. If you know sharks are swimming in the water and you jump right on in without protection, we can\u2019t blame sharks for doing what successful sharks do. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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In the same way, we can\u2019t blame food manufacturers for positioning sugary breakfast cereals on the bottom shelf so kids can better see the cartoon advertisements; nor because they lace their products with the preservatives that extend the shelf life. It is the very nature of this beast for it to act in this way. We can\u2019t blame companies for doing what successful companies do.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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By the way, even though their prey is us and the market share we represent, their success at it makes us very happy when we look at our 401k. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Now, do food companies have to follow food safety laws? Of course. Can they promote products with blatant falsehoods? Of course not. But between those two extremes is an ocean of marketing potential for them to hunt you in. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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If we want to assign blame for the unhealthy products that fill our shelves, we might start closer to home. Our gripe is that we only buy bad products because they fill the shelves. But the opposite turns out to be the truth. Food products with excess sugar, salt, preservatives only exist there for one simple reason: because we buy them. If we didn\u2019t, there would be no market for them and the manufacturer would stop producing them. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The perfect case in point is the recent expulsion of high fructose corn syrup from everything from sodas to pasta sauces. It wasn\u2019t removed because the manufacturer \u201cdid the right thing\u201d for our obesity epidemic. It\u2019s gone because people stopped buying them. The same thing happened with low carb food products. Right after they stopped being purchased, they stopped being manufactured. The food industry groused, but changed their products nonetheless. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The bottom line is that there\u2019s bad news and there\u2019s good news. The bad news is that the unhealthy food supply we complain about is ultimately our responsibility. The good news that we can vastly improve those choices with just a little twist on the words of Gandhi: be the change you want to see in the grocery store.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The obesity epidemic is so profound that over 65% of Americans now range from overweight to morbidly obese. As a result, weight problems threaten to overtake tobacco as the number 1 preventable … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-v4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2332,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2332","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":0},"title":"Obesity pill","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"How many times have we heard the promises of the miracle pills that will cure our obesity epidemic? How many times have we been disappointed, or learned that this panacea causes more problems than it fixes? How long until we devote our full attention to solving a behavioral problem with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":323,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=323","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":1},"title":"An Unexpected Casualty of the Obesity Epidemic","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A chilly wind has shriveled up the nether reaches of the nudist beach communities in Germany.\u00a0As Germans are getting fatter und fatter, it seems that their tendency to brave all, bear all, and brave the nudist beaches has suffered its own form of shrinkage.They're so modest, those Germans!!_____Much to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/nudist-beach.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2639,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2639","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":2},"title":"Hopeful","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"We have more hope for our future than we have had in a long, long time.In my field (nutrition, health), there is reason for optimism. Despite our obesity epidemic, our Culture of Health is finally beginning to turn around.The strength of the Organic Foods market is fantastic because it reflects\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9559,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=9559","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":3},"title":"Amazing News for a Front Line Covid Nurse","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many stories emerging from the lives of real people working their way through the covid epidemic. So much of the news is negative that I wanted to shine a brief ray of sunlight into that space. Some things we can actually agree on. For example, we all know\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2248,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2248","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":4},"title":"We CAN avoid a diabetes disaster by 2020","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't believe it.\u00a0The report says that \"Half of Americans facing diabetes by 2020.\"\u00a0I refuse to accept this. I do not believe we must surrender to the incoming wave of obesity, diabetes, and the parade of health problems that follow them.\u00a0(Please share this article with your friends.).Yes, diabetes is epidemic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_HAl9r2q_-j0\/TO0TynsH12I\/AAAAAAAACy0\/EvodiO2RtQg\/s320\/Overweight.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2049,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2049","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":5},"title":"Teenagers Without Brains","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Get this ... a new study showed that more and more teenagers don't think heavy cigarette smoking is a high-risk activity.\u00a0So. Sucking in benzene?? ... and tar?? ... and formaldehyde?? is not seen as a high risk activity?? Really??I know, I know ... their brains have not fully grown in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"A man smokes outside the Taipei railway station January 13, 2010. 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