Fat Cats...

The joke is that The David came to America for a special exhibit and now he's returned to Italy, fat.  Used to be that Fat Cats, linguistically, stood for those who were rolling in the dough, financially speaking.  Now the fat cats are those rolling in the junk food and I wonder why food policy is not a campaign issue. Who are the Fat Cats now?  Junk food producers and eaters.

My favorite food writer Michael Pollan (also Gary Paul Nabhan, an ethnobotanist combines food and culture writing) wrote a food article addressed to the future president.

Food marketing to children is obscene and just way out of line.
According to a Federal Trade Commission report:

44 major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion to promote their products to children under 12 and adolescents ages 12 to 17 in the United States in 2006. The report finds that approximately $870 million was spent on child-directed marketing, and a little more than $1 billion on marketing to adolescents, with about $300 million overlapping between the two age groups in 2006. Marketers spent more money on television advertising than on any other technique ($745 million or 46 percent of the 2006 total.)... but, themes from television ads carried over to packaging, displays in stores or restaurants, and the Internet. That same year, cross-promotions tied foods and beverages to about 80 movies, television shows, and animated characters that appeal primarily to children. In total, the companies spent more than $208 million, representing 13 percent of all youth-directed marketing, on cross-promotional campaigns.

What food producers don't want you to know is that they "support studies that minimize health concerns associated with their products and junk food makers donate large sums of money to professional nutrition associations.  Profits aren't found in minimally processed foods and whole foods."

The Fat Cats are the immoral people in this process contributing to our societal obesity and our policies must change.  Moms, we've got to make a difference.
P.S. Mother, thanks for emailing me that Fat David photo, you skinny minnie.

Comments

[tut-tut]

This is a personal bugaboo of mine; we were going to farmer's markets when farmer's markets barely existed, even up in VT/western Mass.

[naomi dagen bloom]

yes, my spouse has been deep into Pollan book, sharing bad news on what's in our food. yes, it should be a campaign issue but you and i know why it is not.

think it will only happen if someone charismatic joins Obama cabinet, someone who is a true-believer in this issue and can stand the heat from THE
FOOD INDUSTRY.

[Janet]

It takes me forever in the grocery store because I'm trying to read all the labels. I never buy stuff like lunchables or things geared to kids (although I'll cop to Pop Tarts, becasue I've eaten those all my life). One of the advantages of not having TV is that the kids don't see all the advertising, so we aren't bombarded with requests for that stuff. I know this will change when they get to school and see what everyone else has. We live in an area where parents think it's OK to give 6-month-old babies soda in their bottles. It's going to be difficult to maintain the nutrition high ground.

[Hattie]

I'm glad my daughters see to it that they and their kids eat well. They take the trouble, even though they are so busy. It is a matter of personal responsibility.
However, I have been in grocery stores where it was difficult to find anything healthy to eat, so I appreciate the difficulties. My daughters live in Seattle where there is a high level of awareness about healthy eating and many good food markets, such as Trader Joe's and PCC, a local organic foods chain of supermarkets.