You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Outrage as Whole Foods CEO Says Ignorance and Poor Choices Cause Obesity
2020-09-29
[Newsweek] Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has sparked backlash after saying that Americans are obese because they make poor choices, in an interview with the New York Times.

Mackey said that the world is getting fat but that Americans are leading the way. He also said that the U.S. has had "more of a problem" with COVID-19 due to obesity-related comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure.

Mackey has come under fire for saying that obesity is not an access problem, and instead said that ignorance and poor choices are to blame for obesity.

When journalist David Gelles mentioned issues around access and affordability as a reason why people eat unhealthy foods, the Whole Foods CEO said: "In some sense, we're all food addicts. We love things that are rich, that are sweet. We love ice cream. We love popcorn. We love French fried potatoes. And the market is providing people what they want.

"I don't think there's an access problem. I think there's a market demand problem. People have got to become wiser about their food choices. And if people want different foods, the market will provide it."
Posted by:Besoeker

#13  "starch and carb heavy" - thanks spell check.
Posted by: Theager Borgia1057   2020-09-29 15:08  

#12  I'm overweight, and will admit to a weakness for sweets. I have a sneaking suspicion that high frustose corn syrup and the federal Food Pyramid (search and crab heavey) had a lot to do with my weight. I've been losing weight by cutting carbs, and eating real butter instead of margarine, real sugar or stevai instead of HFCS products, and exercising regularly. Its resulted in nearly 15kg loss, with another 15 to go. So he's not wrong, although I disagree with some of his reasoning.
Posted by: Theager Borgia1057   2020-09-29 15:07  

#11  The average person can't afford to get fat shopping at Whole Paycheck.
Posted by: Uloter Ebbomolet9368   2020-09-29 13:35  

#10  They banned cigarette advertisements on TV so they could do the same with sugar which is every bit as harmful to our health. Think of it, Saturday morning TV without Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes or Captain Crunch.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-09-29 12:39  

#9  Partly right. We have also made all the high sugar, high calorie foods really cheap and the good foods expensive. A big reason the poor are usually obese is that is what they can afford.

Also their poor choices in choosing to cram as much of that crap in their hole as possible.
Posted by: DarthVader   2020-09-29 11:23  

#8  The global population explosion...[sarc off]

What sarcasm?
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-09-29 10:18  

#7  The "human animal" loves those high calorie foods and food sellers gotta sell.
Posted by: magpie   2020-09-29 09:57  

#6  Yet strangely the overall life expectancy numbers haven't been dropping like a rock. I'm sure the Socialist can fix that conundrum.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-09-29 07:45  

#5  re: 'lack of access' - when you place something nice in front of people who have never had to work for anything in their life; well they have a tendency to destroy that nice thing.
I saw it first hand when Kroger opened a new top of the line ultra clean store in the 'hood I was living in.
It took about half a year before they were considering pulling up stakes, tired of all the theft, vandalism, and just plain rudeness.
Kroger even tried a sushi bar. The only customers it got were the people who had to walk by it while waiting in line for fried chicken every Sunday morning.
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136   2020-09-29 07:43  

#4  He's right. "Go large". "Free refills" (read: free high fructose corn syrup"). Sedentary lifestyle (TV, computer). Few fresh-cooked meals nowadays....popping pills for every little ailment, real or perceived....

All for quality of life, but not with my tax dollars supporting health care for poor choices.
Posted by: Clem   2020-09-29 07:24  

#3  He's right and wrong. Sure, people can make better choices. But when you've got marketing using powerful psychological techniques that would make the original Chicom brainwashers jealous, it changes the story. These techniques work, and they especially work when applied not to individuals but at a society level.

Then we have food chemists adjusting junk food to fit exactly the taste buds on the human tongue, and combine this with the advertising, and it's no wonder we are where we are. I'm no fan of government intervention but I don't see how a market can fix this. The market is doing what it does best: sell, sell, sell. But what they're doing is harming our people so it must stop.
Posted by: Muggsy Hapsburg5230   2020-09-29 06:23  

#2  The global population explosion is the 'Green' challenge. Many in developing nations must simply starve, succumb to pandemics, or endless wars. If packed tightly into old folks homes, the Chinese-flu should take care of the elderly. Others should be aborted, or permitted to eventually eat themselves to death.

[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-09-29 03:34  

#1  It is a time of universal deceit.

Subsidising Corn production (and thus High Fructose corn syrup) is a terrible idea. fructose is a poison to mitochondria.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2020-09-29 03:23  

00:00