Big Food pushes anti-diet advice
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - how food companies co-opt positive messages to divert accountability.
This is a fascinating and well-researched expose and shows at least 4 of Grant Ennis 9 Devious Frames which explain how companies co-opt positive messages for their own benefit. In summary:
* Obesity, stimulated by the ubiquitous availability and promotion of unhealthy non-foods, has grown dramatically in recent decades. For a long time the medical community was convinced it was our fault and suggested we just 'eat less' or 'go on a diet'.
* Oops, we now find that 98% of diets fail (https://bit.ly/3VKJyHs) so understandably there is a backlash against the diet culture which worshiped thinness, focuses on calorie restriction & propagates the view that people who are overweight are failing, mainly due to our greed, 'bad food choices' and lack of will power.
* So there are now hashtag#antidiet campaigns to promote blame free, diet free, healthy eating and to help people feel positive about themselves whatever their weight. Sensible sounding stuff.
But companies love this - it shifts the accountability for the health crisis away from industry and puts it right back on us. "People need to feel heard and seen to help break the cycle of shame when it comes to losing weight and eating” says Nestle. Which of course is true and feels positive. But comes hand-in-hand with subversion of messaging about what to eat instead.
Here's the plan:
1. Spend millions lobbying government and threatening legal action over rules to limit what they can promote as healthy to delay regulation.
2. Fund research which shows the harms of 'food shaming' people who eat a certain way and how eg cereals are beneficial to health.
3. Create popular social media programmes and fund influencers to promote their sugary snacks drinks or supplements under the umbrella of hashtag#DerailTheShame, hashtag#AllFoodHaveValue hashtag#FoodFreedom
4. Start (or fund and foster) an online movement on 'food freedom' and promote misinformation on the causes of obesity.
Many people understandably believe this advice from dieticians and influencers that 'all foods are equal' and ate less healthily than they did before, and because addictive foods are, well, addictive their health did not improve. And will trust that governments wouldn't let companies market foods that would badly harm them.
This is how The Addiction Economy Works. Here is our Economic Model of Addiction which shows how this playbook is not just about food but true of all mainstream addictions.
https://bit.ly/3x5yTgo
Thanks Jonathan Andrew, PhD for the heads up about this and The Examination 'a new nonprofit newsroom specializing in global public health reporting'. Fascinating reporting which I will be highlighting alot I think.
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