It's be sort of like fighting a war on drugs to solve a drug abuse problem.
Here is a brilliant analogy for the war on drugs: http://truthout.org/war-drugs-success-means-failure
And there is more discussion on drug policy there as well.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Imagine if we tried to solve obesity with a "a war on corn"
Truthout does it again.
Imagine if our leaders, faced with the fact that two-thirds of us are overweight or obese, declared a war on corn. After all, that is from where we get our chips and sweeteners.
It's be sort of like fighting a war on drugs to solve a drug abuse problem.
Here is a brilliant analogy for the war on drugs: http://truthout.org/war-drugs-success-means-failure
And there is more discussion on drug policy there as well.
It's be sort of like fighting a war on drugs to solve a drug abuse problem.
Here is a brilliant analogy for the war on drugs: http://truthout.org/war-drugs-success-means-failure
And there is more discussion on drug policy there as well.
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First off thats a disgusting image. However, you see it every day. America is the fattest nation in the world but our leaders want to fight drugs. Well being obese poses a huge risk. Diabetes, heart attacks, collapsed lungs all things that can happen if you are too fat. It is amazing to me that parents let their children get that fat as well. I heard on the radio that on children's report cards they are going to start putting the child's BMI. I think that would be awesome and give the parents a rude awakening of how fat their child are. I babysit for two girls who are obese and the parents have a big part to do with it. I caught them in the middle of the night hiding under the table eating cookies. I couldnt believe it. We as a nation have to make better foods and exercise more. The government should be mad at all these fast food places. They are making the nation fat and making health care cost rise not drugs. If we dont do something about the way we live our nation will feel the affects of obesity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with bandurragase, if we don't do something about the current American lifestyle, then the entire nation is going to be strongly effected by obesity (effects have already started). I think maybe instead of posting children’s BMI, or combined with posting BMI's, schools should focus on cafeteria diet and school enforced exercise programs. Cafeterias pose one of the biggest, if not the biggest, threat to childhood obesity. The food served in disgusting and beyond loaded with fat. Not to mention the soda machines that are prevalent EVERYWHERE. Schools should mandate healthier food options in school cafeteria’s, regardless of the higher cost, the long term health benefits grossly outweigh the increase in cost. Unfortunately, we live in a society where we don’t care about the long-term benefits, we care about the immediate cost increase. Schools should also enforce physical education programs where children are active for at least an hour a day. I am disgusted by the current American lifestyle---eat, go to work/school, eat, watch TV, eat, watch more TV, eat…. BOTH adults and children lack the knowledge/awareness of the benefits of exercise and healthy eating. Both of my parents are skinny, but they NEVER exercise and although they are not obese (or anywhere close) they are still lacking the crucial element of exercise. The bottom line is that Americans are fat and lazy and if we can concoct such an absurd concept as “the war on drugs” why not a “war on fat”? Why not make it illegal to consume 3000 calories in one cheeseburger!?!
ReplyDeleteI think the truthout article does a fantastic job on explaining how we (the government, and therefore the media) focus on the exact wrong thing. In the "war" on drugs, we emphasized the personal shortcomings of the user, and more broadly, the producers, and distributors. If we would focus on the UNDERLYING problems dealing with drug abuse, we would realize that providing support to people who are most at risk would probably do far more than the highly symbolic actions we take now. And furthermore, maybe there are people who occasionally use drugs but don't abuse them...kind of like people who can pick up a snack size bag of Doritos and be satisfied for a month...
ReplyDeleteI love the analogy the author makes and the absurdity of it...if we started a war on corn (which would be equally ironic since that is also subsidized) then people would be outraged, declaring how it hurts the farmers, and how CORN is not the problem, it's a symptom/vehicle for a larger issue, or more likely our RIGHT to process like crazy and stuff ourselves silly...
I think that the War on Corn is a great comparison to the War on Drugs. It is another example of how no matter what the circumstances, people will do what ever they can to get what they want. No matter what way you look at it drugs/corn can not be stopped. These types of statistics are misleading to the general public who are not well enough informed on issues such as this. These statistics are also used quite often to get more money to fund an endless battle. So they managed to decrease the number of coca plants in Columbia in one year, good for them, but what about all those other countries that are going to produce more and take over what the Columbians couldnt do. There are always going to be more out there that will take the place of suppliers that are cut off. If anything the government should focus more on squashing the demand for these types of things instead of taking out the supply. The comparison made between drugs and corn is also very true. With both products, it is evident that there is an addiction and something needs to be done but cutting off the growth or supply coming from one area is not going to do the trick.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting take on one of the biggest problems our country is facing today. It is ridiculous that the two most dangerous behaviors/lifestyles that cost us the most money and Americans the greatest mortality are cigarette smoking and obesity...both are preventable. As Bekki said, and as we've discussed in class, we need to focus on the underlying issues that are leading to drug abuse/addiction, just as we need to address the underlying issues of obesity, by teaching children and their parents a healthy style of living and focusing on eating smaller portions and less animal products.
ReplyDeleteI think that comparing the war on corn to the war on drugs is a very interesting way to look at the two. I think it is very sad how parents are letting their children eat all the junk food they want. Typically the parents that are allowing this behavior don't eat healthy as well. As a nation we need to focus on the deadly harms of obesity. We need to set restrictions on foods made by fast food joints and need to cut vending machines out of schools (at least the ones with solely junk food in them). A certain number of PE classes should be required in all school systems. The United States is the leading country in obesity numbers and it is very concerning to me.
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