Fed Up

I recently had the opportunity to watch the documentary Fed Up and it brought to light so many thought-provoking insights that I want to share with you. The film focuses on the role of big business, politics and marketing in the food industry and how they have led to a nation where most of the food we eat is processed and loaded with sugar. This relationship between big business and food has had a crippling effect on our nation’s health. Here are some of the key points from the film that really struck a chord with me.

Everything in the grocery store is made with less fat and fewer calories. And yet our kids keep getting bigger and sicker. It makes no sense. -Katie Couric, Fed Up

Have you ever thought about that? If our food is less fat and fewer calories, and we are told that those factors will lead us to health, why are we fatter and sicker than ever before? For example, if our food is healthy, why are these numbers below what we see for the occurrence of type 2 diabetes in adolescents over the past three decades?

You read that right, that is a zero. As in, no one versus 57k+ in the present day. We are so often told that people develop diabetes because of a genetic predisposition. But as Fed Up explains, that is not what this is. The genetic makeup of a people does not change that quickly over just 30 years and, therefore, cannot account for this drastic spike in the occurrence of this metabolic disease. This staggering statistic clearly shows that something went awry in our nation’s health and, as the film does a great job explaining, sugar and processed foods are a major culprit of this problem. We have been led to believe that low calorie, fat-free processed foods are the answer to ill-health, but instead they have made us so much sicker.

And this sort of scheme that is focused on money-making, not health, has been repeated over and over again in the US food industry. Whether it’s about sugar, processed foods, meats, dairy, etc., we keep seeing private sector money-making opportunities being put before public health. One of the most upsetting examples of this money-over-health issue that the film examines is the case of infant formula.

Did you know that even baby formula often has sugar in it? Now do our babies need sugar? No freaking way! But that is the whole point this documentary is trying to make, when the food industry adds sugar to our baby’s formula it’s not because it’s healthy for the baby, it’s because they are creating a new sugar-addicted customer right from the beginning. These infants will grow up having a taste for sugar, which means natural foods won’t taste good to them, which then means they will always want sugary foods, and then in a desperate attempt to get their children to eat something the parents will continue to feed these sugary foods, and all of a sudden we’re in a vicious cycle where our children constantly need sugary food for anything to taste acceptable. It means big money for the food industry but means serious health issues for all of us. Seems like it should be illegal. Doesn’t it?

And, as the film explains, here’s the crux of the issue:

The problem is children don’t see any commercials for bananas, strawberries, zucchinis and broccoli. It shapes the whole way they think about food and what they think food is. -Margo Wootan, Fed Up

We never see commercials for real fruits or veggies because there isn’t big money to be made off of them as there is with cereal, fruit snacks, soda, etc. Isn’t that upsetting? We’ve lost sight of what real food even is and we are paying the price when it comes to our health.

I think this documentary was perfectly named, because the title describes exactly how I felt after watching the film…fed up with the big players in the food industry.

As the Katie Couric quote at the beginning of this post said, so much of what we have been led to believe about health and nutrition does not make sense when you really examine it. But, one thing that does make perfect sense is that we are natural beings and, therefore, natural food from the earth is so much better for us than processed foods.

I really hope you will watch Fed Up to learn more about health, nutrition, the food industry and what you can do to make yourself, your loved ones and the world healthier. You can check out the trailer below, rent Fed Up on Netflix or order your own DVD here.

P.S. The film examines sugar used in formula, but let’s take this examination one step further…do our babies even need formula to begin with? Why do you think formula became so popular? Because it was healthier than breastmilk or because it made a ton of money for the food industry? I have done a lot of research on this topic and will cover it in another post!