Health is wealth! Is that true anymore? Growing up in Bombay in a working class family, life was all about survival but food was never an issue. From people living on the streets to palatial mansions, we all had access to good, nutritious and affordable fresh food. Junk and fast food had not entered the market and refined white sugar was not being used on an industrial scale. It was a very rare sight to see anyone obese or fat as we used to call it in the 70’s. People were physically active and everyone cooked at home as going out to restaurants was a dream only a few could afford. The same food environment existed in the UK, many folks could not afford the luxury of eating out until the 90’s when things really took off with cheap ready meals and takeaways that flooded the market. Health and nutrition took a step back as easy access to processed and now ultra-processed foods became readily available to consumers, especially children and young people.
We have been conditioned to pursue economic independence and career opportunities at the expense of cooking and eating healthy foods on a regular basis. The results are glaringly obvious, an unhealthy population dependent on sugar, salt and chemically enhanced foods and drinks. We have lost the ability to taste and smell the difference in the foods we are accustomed to eat on a daily basis, as chemicals and artificial flavourings and enhancers in our foods have changed our ability to appreciate natural textures and tastes. The NHS is not coping with diet related illnesses and conditions as its origins were setup to treat patients and not prevention! Advances in science and technology meant that as citizens we were exposed to the food industry and its financial backers to flood the market with cheap, unnatural foods and drinks that have hooked children and adults alike into a life of addictions and misery. Governments and industry have allowed this situation to carry on despite extensive research showing time and again that regulations are needed to protect consumers from the detrimental health effects both short and long term.
Labour is looking to introduce a vaccine to help obese individuals lose weight so that they can go back to work! I can’t believe this statement from the current health secretary. What is wrong with these people? Once again politicians are treating the symptoms and not the cause of the problem. We need to decide collectively as a society what our priorities are; do we need strong and robust regulations to ban certain types of foods and drinks being made available to consumers, especially young children or we continue down the current path of what I can only describe as self harm on a massive scale to both our physical and mental health. You the consumer will decide.
Published in The Peeblesshire News on Friday 25th October 2024
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