Challenging the Nanny State Narrative: Addressing the Addiction Economy in Food
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - I am taking a couple of weeks off TFT from today as we have a hairy publishers deadline for the outline of our book. Back 4th Nov, unless I get so agitated by then about something I have to post!
But in response to further Nanny State questions about Rt. Hon. Wes Streeting MP focus on the role of the individual in the obesity problem here on Laura Kuenssberg yesterday and Dr Xand Van Tulleken despair at her question:
1. The government tells companies what they can put in food and what they can and can't give us to eat all the time. It's what The Food Standards Agency is for, and because they are considered to do such a good job, they are Britain's most trusted regulator by the general public!
2. Dismantling the addiction economy of food is not a Nanny State, as Xand says and as I did in my FT letter published a few weeks ago, the public wants help with this, they also see the food environment and companies as the problem and sees governments who fail to act more as a Negligent State for failing them so badly than a nanny state for effective regulation.
And Nanny State articles promoting this are almost always, as academic research shows, the output of right wing think tanks funded by business. Such as the Institute for Economic Affairs.
3. Weight loss drugs again focus on the individual, and not the inescapable addictive food environment, which will be the same when they come off it.
The food that causes obesity is designed for profit, not for nutrition, and is at the root of this and must be tackled simultaneously. Experts propose not to argue endlessly with industry about the definition of Ultra-processed Food, but clarify the definition of 'what is food' - something which is nutritionaly beneficial not these 'industrially produced edible substances'.
4. We argue that addiction is 'an act of self-care gone wrong'. Consumption of food beyond the point at which it harms you, is no different. Addictive foods give a high dopamine hit to the brain, they are nice, you are feeling a bit stressed, nervous, or just hungry and go for the comfort of food. But as they have no nutritional content, your body is not satisfied by it. So it says 'that was yummy, now when's the food coming' and so you have more.
This is the definition of an addictive product and is created deliberately to undermine our ability to control our use of it. It must be regulated. Taxes, restrictions on addictive formulations, classifications, marketing and availability, plus lots more are proposed. Start with the Dimbleby National Food Strategy
Pic by @daveGbn on Twitter/X