Let them eat (organic) cake

[Hannah Bell]

FREE-MARKET ideologue and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey stirred a public outcry with his self-serving guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal on August 12. Bold even by the standards of a pro-corporate mouthpiece like the Journal, Mackey's arrogantly titled "The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare" argues against any social or governmental responsibility for not just health care, but food or shelter.

Mackey writes in the Wall Street Journal: "Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health..."

As obesity has become more of an issue in American life and politics, a growing awareness of the connection between race, class and health has emerged. However, the prevailing perspective from the media, politicians and corporate boneheads like Mackey is that the poor simply lack the discipline to improve their lives.

Occasionally, the more liberal version emerges--that people lack the information to make better choices. But neither script accurately explains why obesity is so closely linked to class--and hunger--not just in the U.S., but around the world...

http://socialistworker.org/2009/08/31/let-them-eat-organic-cake

[Luminous Animal]

1. That is a very good article.

I'm happy to see that they relied on Pollan's data from the Omnivore's Dilemma. It is a remarkable book and better than the one that followed.

An important part of his book is showing how the food industry broke the barrier from food as sustenance (in all it's glorious diversity and delectability) to "food" as a product to get us hooked on. The "food" industry manufactured a way to break the calorie barrier to induce us to eat far more than we need.