There is one strikingly ironic difference between the small farmers I buy my food from and the owners of our modern industrial food companies. I find this difference impossible to reconcile. The families that own and run the grass fed beef and game farms that I visit actually eat their own food. These people eat the beef, buffalo, elk, deer, chickens, hogs, vegetables, and fruits that their farms produce. They are very proud of the health benefits of the food that they help nature create. More important, they insist on feeding it to their children. To observe this small sample of people is to observe health personified. Their skin color, energy, lucidity and overall good health are impossible to miss.
On to my point; let’s look at the other guys, the major shareholders and executives who own and run the giant companies from our collective modern food industry. These are very wealthy and educated people. Does the CEO of McDonald’s restaurants eat McDonald’s food? Does he feed it to his children? Does his family eat it with the same regularity with which he would have us eat it? How about that guy from Wendy’s on the television commercials, what about that guy; fries and a hamburger with a Frosty – everyday, right? I suppose he fed this stuff to his own daughters exclusively too. No? But how could that be? I know the film “Supersize Me” showed clearly that 3 months on a diet of only McDonald’s food can be very dangerous to your health and quite possibly fatal. McDonalds doesn’t seem to think so.
Okay, let’s consider the guys who own and run companies like General Mills, Con Agra, Monsanto, Nestle or Kraft. These companies do very well and these guys are wealthy. Let’s say we visited their multi-million dollar homes and walked right into their kitchens, past their housekeepers and children. If we took a look into their cupboards, fridges and freezers what do you suppose we would find? Do you think we would find Cheeze Whiz, Tang, corn syrup, lard, Captain Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Ragu canned tomato sauce? Would we discover Snickers chocolate bars, or Wonder bread? A lot of that stuff is enriched with vitamins and minerals now! No? What about in the freezer; TV dinners, Pizza Pockets? What are their children – just home from private school – eating for dinner? Let me hazard a guess; a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken with some Dr. Pepper to wash it down. I highly doubt it.
What about the corporate lawyers who defend the practices of these companies. Many of these firms are accused of wrongdoing regarding the representations of health for the food products they make. Would their kitchens be filled with the same great products? , I highly doubt that as well. How could that be though? Have you seen the commercials and the advertising? What about all the great things they say about all of these products? How on earth could they not have cases of the stuff in their own homes? No doubt they would get all that food for next to nothing since they own and run these companies. You’re shaking your head “no” and smiling. I would have to agree with you.
This brings up a rather large and unavoidable irony. I personally construe this as a contradiction of planetary proportions. The companies these folks own are spending billions of dollars to absolutely ensure that other people and their children are eating this food. Most of the customers buying this food are far less advantaged than they are; many are down right poor. That seems to be more than okay to these modern food industry executives and owners. In fact they make sure that nothing gets in the way of customers buying more and more of their processed food. The more addicted more and more people become to these products and brands, the more money they make.
You can’t really miss the simple and glaring hypocrisy of this example. If you and I are quite sure that these people are not eating the processed foods from their own giant food companies – why on earth are we? This type of elitist thinking – this thought that the few are simply granted some kind of divine privilege and power over the many for their own short term, selfish gain is exactly the type of thinking that will ensure cockroaches will still be here long after we have destroyed ourselves as a species.
The real shame of this broken system is that it is our children who are showing the biggest increases in diet related diseases. They are the clear targets of the most aggressive marketing from these companies.
What if we chose the top 10 executives and shareholders from McDonalds, and their board of directors? Let’s include their corporate lawyers. Now, let’s round up all their children and feed them McDonald’s food exclusively for 2 months straight. Do you think they would mind? Would they protest as their childrens’ blood turned effectively into syrup, their body fat increased dramatically, and their cholesterol went through the roof? Recent independent studies suggest they would likely be admitted to the hospital before the two months were over. How about half their meals from McDonald’s for 4 months? Nope, I highly doubt they would allow this to happen.
I find this impossible to reconcile. They want our children to eat this stuff every day and they spend millions of dollars to ensure this. They defy and beat down those who would stand in their way through ominous legal threats and harsh litigation in our courts. The hypocrisy hits me like a freight train.
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