Firstly, a word on myself. I am an immigrant to America. I'm from Australia - specifically, Sydney, a bustling cosmopolitan city containing over six million people in the greater metro area. I came to America nearly four years ago to marry the love of my life; we're still the happiest couple I know. The first place I lived in the USA was Central Pennsylvania; recently we bought a house in Downingtown, about an hour from Philly.
One of the first things I noticed when I came to this country was the taste of the food. Everything is sweet. Everything. Even food that is supposed to be in no way sweet is sweet. The bread is sweet. Soup is sweet. Corn chips are sweet. Soy sauce is sweet.
It wasn't long before I started to scan ingredient labels looking for the source of this excessive sweetness. And you've no doubt guessed the culprit already from the title of this blog post: high fructose corn syrup.
In the USA, there is a surplus of corn. The government gives subsidies to farmers who grow corn, which is an incentive for farmers to grow even more. These subsidies are in place because they are politically advantageous. With so many people's and companies' livelihoods dependent on the production of corn, the government tries to do everything they can to assist so they can win election points. The problem, of course, is that America doesn't need all that corn. Nobody does. One of the ways America gets rid of the ridiculous excess of corn these farmers supply is by turning it into the cheapest form of sugar out there. HFCS was developed in the 1970s and within ten years, was being added to the ingredients list of almost every processed food item you can buy.
Are you eating or drinking right now? Chances are, you're eating some kind of processed food. Check the label. See "High Fructose Corn Syrup" on there? Ten bucks says you can. When high fructose corn syrup is included in food as simple as bread and crackers, you know there's something wrong. When it's put into all kinds of supposedly healthy foods such as oatmeal, frozen vegetables, fruit juice -- and yes, even fruit itself -- and yet the government refuses to admit that there is a problem, you know there's something more at stake.
Something else I noticed right away when I came to thise country was the rampant obesity. There is a stereotype around the world of the "fat American." I had previously dismissed it as an exaggeration or outright fallacy. But I was wrong. We have our fair share of obese people in Australia, but I have never seen obese people in such large numbers - or with such wide girths - as I've seen here. I had also never in my life seen an entire aisle of every local supermarket devoted to food and products for sufferers of diabetes. Americans might think such aisles are normal, but they're not. They occur only in America.
Every now and then, I'd see a television special devoted to the obesity epidemic, with supposed experts apparently stumped when it comes to its true cause. It stunned me that nobody seemed willing to admit the cause or work to alleviate it.
Some researchers have tried to claim that HFCS is just as bad for your body as cane sugar, and therefore is not the cause of America's obesity problem. I'm not a scientist, and I haven't done the research comparing the two. What I can say for a fact is that, regardless of how HFCS stacks up gram for gram against cane sugar, the main problem is that HFCS is everywhere. You can't get away from it. Nobody should be consuming large quantities of sugar every day, but Americans can't help it because every single thing they eat is soaked in sugar.
Why won't scientists acknowledge that this is the real problem? Why won't the FDA or the government or *anyone* acknowledge that this is the real problem?
Because it isn't politically advantageous.
Meanwhile, Americans get fatter and fatter every year. The lifespan of the average American is starting to slide after centuries of increase because the population is killing itself with sugar. The medical system is overloaded (literally) with diseases caused by obesity. Cultures of obesity acceptance have even sprung up because obesity is so commonplace that people are beginning to see it as normal.
I have a problem with all of this. I don't think it's right to send out the message to our children that obesity is normal. When the next generation becomes obese because of the effects of HFCS, that is not normal, or ethical, or acceptable. We criminalize the provision of alcohol and cigarettes to children, yet they are far more likely to eventually die from obesity-related illnesses than lung cancer or drunk driving. Parents need to look at themselves, at the providers of their food, and at their government, and do something about the situation. We have already been silent for too long.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't government subsidies to farmers LIMIT the number of crops they can produce, in order to avoid a surplus in the market at any given time? I remember something like that from economics a number of years ago....
Just to test your hypothesis, I went to my kitchen cabinet and looked at the ingredients list on some of the first foods I saw. My soup that I had for lunch didn't have HFCS in it, nor did my popcorn (though it did have a 'trivial amount of trans fat' from the partially hydrogenated soybean oil), my cornbread mix, or my Triscuits. The stuffing I had in there, which will probably stay there until I move out, since I got sick after I ate it last, did.
So, since my lunch today didn't have it, does that mean you owe me 10 bucks? :-P
I'll be writing a blog later about what's in foods. I have to do a bit more research on it, so I don't know when I'll get it out, but I agree that our foods today are entirely unhealthy. Happy posting :-).
Where do you get that those... Grapples have HFCS, though? I can't find it anywhere on the site...
~C
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The reason for the US corn subsidy is to allow farmers to make a living growing corn. Without the subsidy, US corn growers would not be able to make a sustainable profit because the overproduction of corn in this country has driven down the price. We actually grow about twice as much corn as is consumed in this country.
"We're producing way too much corn. So, we make corn sweeteners. High-fructose corn sweeteners are everywhere. [...] And we subsidize this overproduction. We structure the subsidies to make corn very, very cheap, which encourages farmers to plant more and more to make the same amount of money."
There's much in the press at the moment about Canada's assertion that the USA's corn subsidies are illegal under international trade agreements.
Canada goes to WTO over U.S. corn subsidies
Oh, and I'll pay you that $10 once the hundreds of other people who had HFCS in their lunch today pay me theirs. (Though, quick question: did you drink anything besides water today?)
Meh. I was sorta close. Thanks for correcting me.
And no, I finished my last can of soda a couple days ago, and the only other thing I have to drink is milk, which I use for my cereal (when I have cereal, which I didn't today cause I slept in). So it's been water all day. I have crystal light stuff, but that has Aspartame in it, not HFCS.
~C
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Mea culpa on the Grapples. They don't contain HFCS - they contain artificial grape flavor (still kind of stunning). I'm probably mixing them up with several brands of fruit cups, which claim to be natural and good for you, but often contain HFCS.
Well, I can honestly say there is a lot of truth in all of this. But the part that makes breaking the cycle hard to money factor. As a family we try to eat healthy, but finding foods without added sugars is difficult on a budget. Yes, we do cook a lot of foods from scratch, but some days it's not possible.
The other thing you should know is that farmers aren't to blame on the corn thing. The government pays them money to plant certain crops. Depending on what crops they want or think the country may need, they make a deal with the farmers that if certain crops are planted they will recieve money from the government. If corn is what the government wants, they get it. Plus, corn is easier to grow in a lot of areas in the US. So farmers are likely to try to make profit from it if they think they can. My father is a farmer in Tennesse and he did this program for a while.
I know exactly what you mean about it being difficult. My husband and I try to cook from scratch whenever we can, and I'm always scanning labels for trans fats and HFCS, but sometimes, there's little that can be done. If I'm so busy I didn't have a chance to pack lunch, and the only thing I can grab between classes is some fast food or something out of the candy machine, what else am I going to do? I imagine it's even harder when you're a single parent struggling to work two jobs, take care of your kids, and pay your bills. But the worst problem, as I see it, is total ignorance. In 1980 the average person ate 39 pounds of fructose and 84 pounds of sucrose. In 1994 the average person ate 66 pounds of sucrose and 83 pounds of fructose. Most people have no idea how much sugar they're really consuming or why they should care.
And you're absolutely right about the main issue being money - that's the point I'm really trying to make. Politics *is* money, and money is what is at stake. I don't have a solution for the farmers who are locked into a system which is causing America's obesity epidemic (I should mention, though, that much of the subsidy goes to large-scale factory farms rather than smaller family farms). But something has to change.
But the government really shouldn't be controlling what farmers do, how much they produce (one way or the other), or what forms it then takes to go to market.
The "problem" with obesity in this country isn't from eating the WRONG foods, it's about eating too much of ANY food. I don't care what you eat; if you eat too many apples, you're going to get fat. it just takes longer than if you're eating a whole container of ice cream a day (which, by the way, I have never heard of anyone doing).
But I think a lot of the obesity "problem" (I don't see too many obese people where I live, but I keep being told about this epidemic) is social. People are told that it's okay to be whatever you are (fat, poor, rude) and that if people don't accept you for you, then there's something wrong with them. People in this country aren't taught that everyone needs to better themselfves, whether it be in a professional or personal manner.
A lot of Americans are complacent with being mediocre, and that is where the true danger lies. They have an inability to look to the future and see how losing those extra pounds or getting a better job is going to help them years from now - they can only see what's right in front of them.
You said: The "problem" with obesity in this country isn't from eating the WRONG foods, it's about eating too much of ANY food. I don't care what you eat; if you eat too many apples, you're going to get fat. it just takes longer than if you're eating a whole container of ice cream a day (which, by the way, I have never heard of anyone doing).
That's not ENTIRELY true. If you eat nothing but celery, you're not going to get fat, no matter how much you eat. Besides for the fact that celery is a 'negative calorie' food (you burn more calories digesting it than you take in by eating it), it doesn't have the nutrients you need to stay healthy. As a result, your body will start to digest itself... it'll turn your fat into energy, which'll last however long is possible. If you aren't doing anything, it'll start to digest your muscles, and other proteins in your body, for energy. And you'll become emaciated. It's really not a pretty picture. That's pretty much consistent if you eat any one food.
The problem with obesity in America has several causes. 1) Genetics. I'm predisposed to being fat because my ancestors were/are fat (due to the fact that they lived in a very cold climate, and fat helped keep them warm and get them through the winter months without dying from lack of energy). 2) Eating the wrong foods. Yes, if you eat sugary foods all the time, without any balance, you will most likely get fat. So in that sense, it's about eating the wrong foods. Non processed foods are the best for your heath overall, including your weight. 3) Not burning off the calories you take in. In other words, sitting on the couch all day, without any sort of physical activity. In that sense, eating too much in the way of calories leads to obesity. However, my boyfriend can probably eat upwards of 1000 calories more than I can per day and not gain an ounce. It's all a matter of perspective.
~C
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