Appetite for Profit
An Exploration of the Unappetizing Workings of Food Corporations
A review of Michele Simon's book, subtitled, "How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back"
In light of everything we know about the effects of too much sugar, fat and salt on our health, why don't the big multinational food corporations stop selling junk? Because, Michele Simon argues convincingly in "Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back" (Nation Books, 2006), that's not their business.
Despite all the recent hooplah surrounding every announcement of a new reduced-fat, no-trans-fat, reduced-sugar or whole-wheat food product, Simon writes, processed food and fast-food companies don't exist to help people eat healthful, nutritious foods. Food corporations -- all corporations, in fact -- operate to make profits for their shareholders ... and artifically flavored, chemically manipulated, high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar products will always be more profitable than, say, fresh apples, brown rice, natural green tea and organic broccoli.
"Because in nature foods high in salt, sugar, and fat were also high in nutrients and calories, we evolved to seek out these flavors," Simon writes. "Since food was so scarce, we also evolved to store excess calories as fat ... Now, thanks to industrialization, transportation, and the commercialization of the food supply, we live in a world where fatty, sugary, and salty foods -- stripped of nutrients during factory processing -- are in abundance ... Also, clever manufacturers have made processed food artificially stimulating by isolating particular chemicals that cause pleasure reactions, creating new "foods" that don't exist in nature and ensuring that we stay hooked.
Simon, a public health attorney and health policy instructor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, lays out the case against food companies in persuasive, exhaustive detail, pointing to examples like:
- How fast-food and processed food companies generate widespread positive headlines every time they announce a healthier product or marketing policy, even though such changes might be phased in over long periods of time or even quietly reversed months or years later;
- How fast-food restaurants insist, on the one hand, that consumers are always free to choose healthful foods for themselves yet, on the other hand, fight government efforts to require nutritional labels on menus and menu boards;
- How food corporations effectively place the blame for obesity and other food-related ailments on consumers by emphasizing "energy balance" -- that is, it's not how much you eat, it's how little you exercise;
- How food corporations rely on front groups and trade associations with millions in lobbying funds to battle government efforts at increased regulation;
- How companies "nutriwash" processed foods by marketing them as "healthier" than other processed foods.
Simon's tone is often heated throughout the book, though nowhere moreso than when she takes on food marketing to children, not only via television commercials but by product placement on popular family shows, "pouring rights" contracts in schools, branded toys, branded playgrounds, online advergaming and the use of popular cartoon characters.
"Of course parents have a critical role to play in teaching their children good eating habits and in modeling that behavior," she writes. "However, we also cannot ignore the fact that food corporations spend roughly $12 billion a year on marketing designed to get children to pester their parents for junk food ..."
For parents, educators and anyone concerned about children's -- and their own -- healthful eating habits, the picture Simon paints might appear bleak. However, she offers hope by encouraging readers to learn how to read between the lines in food-company PR and news coverage, to focus on nutritious, healthful eating more than on obesity, and to join in on some of the growing movements toward more environmentally responsible, local and sustainable food production. Yes, she acknowledges, creating a new and healthful way of feeding the world will take a revolution, but it's a revolution worth participating in.
"The current food system is broken and cannot be fixed without a major overhaul," Simon concludes. "People need food to survive and thrive; it's a matter of social justice. These are deeply moral issues and addressing them is a complex matter with no pat solutions. But if we are truly committed to putting people before profits, we have to start somewhere."
