It is well known that processed food is bad for you. The chemicals used in the processing are understood to be carcinogenic or harmful in some way or another. That’s how they actually make the food last longer by adding chemicals to kill the bacteria that make it go bad. Fridges and Freezers basically slowing the growth down by making the environment too cold for bacteria to grow easily.
Now in the olden days before we had fridges food went off rather quickly and this meant that it was eaten quickly or it was wasted. This meant someone had to go and purchase the food daily. An onerous task which basically took up someone’s time to purchase and prepare the meals. It also meant that food being expensive it was allocated to the breadwinners with the others having reduced rations. It being necessary to ensure that the breadwinners were healthy and strong. People starved or were ill with malnutrition type illnesses. Very few people lived long and healthy lives. Cold stores not being anywhere near the efficiency of modern fridges and freezers non existent, except in winter.
Then along came processing of food and the technology of fridges and freezers which meant that anyone could buy food cheaply in bulk and store it. Now it would last much longer no longer requiring daily purchases. Nowadays many go for a shop once a month, only buying items like milk and bread once a week. Processed foods being put in the freezers or left in the fridges where they can last for weeks before being brought out and put in the microwave. One carton is one meal. Cheap and easy.
So now people were eating well and malnutrition and starvation were things of the past we inevitably hit the next things in life that were destined to kill us. Mainly diseases like heart disease and cancers. Both increased by the availability of cheap processed foods making people live longer. Inevitably hitting one of the next hurdles along. After all when you eradicate the biggest killer in society what was number two is now the biggest killer. We can’t win… yet.
Nowadays we look at the causes of death and examine them to see what they and see if there is any action that can be taken. We have gathered together data that indicates that the chemicals used for processing have a hidden impact. They cause many of the illnesses we are getting. For every advance there is a cost. Some inconsequential. Some, as in this case, not. The results from this show that cheaper processed food can increase the risk of cancers. You simply just have to look at the ingredients on the food and examine what each one is. Some are there simply to replace the tastes and colours removed by the processing but all have some side effects.
Now this report has been created that show that 40% of people are not aware of these risks. 40% sounds a lot to me but I’m willing to accept that in this age of ignorance that 40% of people are not interested in their health. On the other hand I would guess that out of the remaining 60% most of them will not have changed their lifestyles one bit. You see if they spent more money on better quality food then they would have less to spend on booze and cigarettes and they would have to spend more time on the preparation of their meals. That would impact on their television viewing. Tut tut. People have already made their lifestyle choices and yet again it is not what you would expect. After all 100% of those smoking know that it is bad for them and yet they all still smoke. Cigarettes may be addictive but food is something we have no choice about eating. And let’s face it bacon is bad for you but the taste…. the taste. Who wants to give up the best things in life and live a few extra years sucking tofu through a straw and sitting on your own in a old folks home forced to watch the daytime TV you despise?
Now what can the government do? It could legislate against the supermarkets and force them to stop selling processed foods. After all, in reality, we have freezers and fridges. We do not really need a loaf that can remain ‘fresh’ for eight weeks and tastes like cardboard. We could have food that lasts for a week or so and have significantly less chemicals in it. The downside of course is that food wastage would go up and so would food cost. Not a good idea in the current climate so we can’t do that. Plus I would envisage that the bulk of those on some form of benefits are the main users of processed food. We might need to increase their payments to compensate for the extra costs. Oh dear.
The good news however is that the report is about peoples awareness not their health. Thus a simple informational campaign at a cost of £10m or so would make the 40% turn to 10% or 5% and so we have a result where everyone can feel good. The government doesn’t have increased food costs blamed on them, or the Americans anyway, and nobody has to give up their booze or daytime TV so everyone is happy.
Somehow I feel that the report should have gone further. Not a call for action from the government but a report that may have led to action from the corporates. With some lifestyle changes and better food we could all be healthier. Maybe that is the problem. They don’t want us to be. Those in power don’t want us living longer lives as it costs more after retirement. Dropping dead at 60 to 80 is fine by them. After all they certainly don’t live on processed food at all with their state banquets and their lavish expenses.
There is clearly an opportunity here for corporates to make some money. A leap in a new direction for our food supply and yet we seem to hear so little on this front. We have tried quorn and it hasn’t really taken off although it is still here. Organic food has worked out to be too expensive and if we all went that way we couldn’t produce enough using current production methods. We need some new ideas. Never mind though. Soon we will run out of food and processing has reached its limit. Once people in the west start starving then we will do something about it.
Why we never really plan ahead is beyond me. And it’s not like the issue with food isn’t already hitting us in the face.