When food makes you sick and money rules
Hello, friends of Project HOPE, have a good weekend, I hope you're all well. I'm bringing up a topic that's been on my mind because it's one of those things we see every day but rarely stop to analyze in depth.
We're told we live in the information age, where we have access to all the world's knowledge with just a click, and yet, there are uncomfortable truths that seem to go unnoticed. One of them is how the food industry has turned people's health into collateral damage in its race to generate more profits.
The supermarket is a perfect reflection of this. Shelves packed with ultra-processed products, full of added sugars, refined oils, and a list of ingredients that seem straight out of a chemistry experiment. The curious thing is that, if we stop to read the nutritional information, most of these products have more advertising than nutrients. Yet there they are, available to everyone, dressed in bright colors and promising irresistible flavor. And meanwhile, rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease continue to rise.
The worst thing is not that these products exist, but that they are designed to be addictive. Yes, because it's no coincidence that a bag of snacks is impossible to put down until it's empty, or that a soda makes us feel like we need another one soon after. There are studies, marketing strategies, and even entire departments dedicated to perfecting that magic formula that makes us consume nonstop. Not because we need it, but because it's profitable.
Companies know this, governments know this, the scientific community knows this. But money outweighs ethics. Regulating these products would mean harming the interests of giants who spend millions on advertising, political lobbying, and paid "scientific" studies to minimize the risks of their consumption. Why aren't there massive campaigns warning about the effects of excess sugar, just as there are campaigns against tobacco? Because the business is in ignorance, in keeping us believing that everything is fine while the healthcare system fills with chronically ill people who are never fully cured.
The worst thing is that responsibility is disguised as personal choice. "Eat in moderation," they say. As if in a world where stress and haste force us to opt for the most affordable, it were so easy to choose well. As if nutritional education weren't hijacked by the same industries that sell us the problem and then the solution in the form of "light" or "sugar-free" products, but with substitutes that are often equally or more harmful. It's frustrating to realize that the health of the population isn't a priority. Not when the business model is to sell illness and then sell the treatment. But here we are, in a game where only those at the top win, while the rest continue eating without question... Don't you think so?
