The MAD is aptly named, since it is high in refined sugar, salt, and saturated fat, which are added to make the processed foodstuffs edible and attractive.1 A diet high in added sugars correlates with a greater risk of obesity, dementia, stroke, cancer, tooth decay, insulin resistance related to diabetes and metabolic syndrome, heart disease, an overload of both unhealthy triglycerides and oxidized LDL cholesterol—the list can go on and on. (For more on sugar, see chapter 17.) Excessive consumption of the high amounts of sodium in processed, salty foods can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, cancer, weight gain, osteoporosis, and overeating—this list is equally long and alarming.2
Processed, heated, and refined fats, as well as “trans fats” (hydrogenated fats), are the bad fats commonly found in foods such as margarine, shortening, your average American pizza, and the processed cheese so widely available in grocery stores. These bad fats have been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis, certain cancers, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, infertility and endometriosis, and depression.3 (For more on fats, see chapter 16.)
A Slice of Pizza a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?
With one-third of American vegetable consumption consisting of French fries, iceberg lettuce, and potato chips, and the US Congress having classified pizza as a vegetable, these diet-related diseases are a daily reality for millions of people.4 Indeed, the average American consumes around 130 pounds (60 kilograms) of sugar per year, including 53 gallons (201 liters) of soft drinks.5 Fifty million Americans eat at fast-food restaurants daily.6 A mere 10 percent of grocery purchases are fresh vegetables and fruit.7
In fact, recently the American School Nutrition Association (ASNA), which is heavily funded by food corporations and claims that its purpose is “to better serve the nation’s children,” published a rather disturbing position paper. In order to “prevent waste,” fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-sodium options are no longer required with every school meal, while junk food is a part of the reimbursable food system in place in these schools and can even be sold as an alternative to school meals.8 As a mother of four children, I am beyond shocked that the health of our future generations is compromised by corporate money in an institution where they should be protected.
The Other O Word: Today’s Obesity Pandemic
The MAD is not just an American problem. It is one of the United States’ most successful, and ubiquitous, exports. More and more of us are eating this way, which is leading to what the United Nations calls a “global public health disaster.”9 In truth, food corporations that manufacture vast amounts of raw materials and processed foodstuffs (that can be transported over thousands of miles without rotting, of course) have come to dominate global food production, while the emerging world is one of their fastest growing markets. Traditional food systems are increasingly being replaced with the preserved, processed, and packaged Western foods that already flood our eating establishments.10 Now, for example, you can readily find soda, chips, cakes, cookies, breakfast cereals, and candy in small convenience stores in African villages, Guatemalan towns, and Asian cities.11 Is it any wonder, then, that soft drinks are more readily available than clean water in many public schools in California and many villages in Africa?12
In the past thirty-five years, the world’s obesity rate has doubled.13 According to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study, around 2.1 billion individuals worldwide were overweight or obese, while obesity-related illnesses were responsible for 3.4 million deaths, with a 3.9 percent reduction of average life expectancy. In fact, emerging nations have a 30 percent higher rate of obesity than developed countries, and are particularly at risk of diet-related illness since malnutrition and starvation early in life contribute to an increased risk of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases later on.14
Many obesity researchers predict that these statistics will only take a turn for the worse. By 2030, it is estimated that over two billion people will be overweight, while half this number will be dangerously obese.15 In the United States alone, diet- and exercise-related chronic diseases, which are largely preventable through lifestyle choices, are one of the principal causes of premature death, while 50 percent of the population will be overweight by 2030.16 More people die now from obesity-related illnesses than cigarettes. If this trend in rising obesity does not improve, future generations may live shorter lives, and lives more prone to disability, than their predecessors. Indeed, nation members of the World Health Organization (WHO) have called for a 2025 goal to end the rising epidemic of weight gain—this is unquestionably a global issue with profound consequences on global health.17
Clearly, in the globalized world we live in today, what we buy for dinner has international repercussions—there is a definite “butterfly effect” associated with our food choices.18 Perhaps one of the most well-known, and indeed controversial, examples of the global impact of food production is the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA opened the trade borders between the United States and Mexico, making American corn, subsidized by the US government, cheaper to purchase. Subsequently, many Mexican farmers lost their farms (since they could not compete with the low price of corn grown in the United States), compelling these individuals to find work elsewhere and contributing to the rise of illegal immigrants in the United States.19
Likewise, labels such as “Fair Trade” or “Whole Trade” on many foods today highlight the fact that what we choose to eat can and does impact the people and communities that produce our foods. Within the globalized context of our food industry, we cannot immediately justify our food purchases by claiming that we do not hurt anyone else when we buy them.20 It just takes one person to make a difference: read the book of Esther and consider Esther’s impact in the Persian court of King Ahasuerus.
Food Aid That Does Not Aid
Unfortunately, the highly processed, nutritionally wanting foods of the MAD also make their way into emerging countries through American food aid policies. Regardless of the good intentions behind these policies, the United States’ emphasis on sending its surplus food to developing nations around the globe has stifled local economic development and food production and led to many of the same diet-related diseases that Americans face.21 At one recent international Slow Food convivium in Italy, the African delegates put this threat to local food production and health starkly: “We have plenty of resources. We have plenty of knowledge. We have plenty of workers. If you Westerners . . . would just stay out and quit displacing our indigenous economy and food systems with poor-quality commodities, we can feed ourselves, thank you.”22