Big Food, Big Pharma, and the Cost of Chronic Disease
Addiction Economy Thought for Today resumes with this excellent new report from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission from Tim Jackson and colleagues.
"In this report we turn confused assumptions about the ‘unaffordability’ of healthy food on their head. Instead, we ask two very simple questions. How much does food-related chronic disease cost the UK? And how much would it cost to ensure access to healthy, affordable and nutritious food for every person and every household in the UK, without exception, as a basic right?
Full report here:
https://lnkd.in/ezKhvZsX
Summary in the Guardian here
https://lnkd.in/egVY5gqm
Very interesting Chapter 5 on the Power of Big Food asking what we were saying, the puzzle about how we put up with it. We conclude that a big part of the reason is that society, and corporate propaganda, blames the individual and so focuses attention away from the corporate structural issues.
Liking too the link he makes about the "uncomfortable co-dependency" between Big Food and Big Pharma. We had made this connection too with The Addiction Economy which for us stems also from the focus on the 'Biological Model of Addiction - addiction as a disease', which includes the 'disease' of obesity.
"The rise of Big Food exhibits pathways of financialisation, industrial concentration and relentless product innovation familiar in other powerful transnational sectors. These strategies are designed to capture consumer taste, increase returns to shareholders and accumulate market power.9 But they pose huge risks to public health. And these risks are exacerbated by an uncomfortable co-dependency between Big Food and Big Pharma. The exponential growth in unhealthy food is mirrored by high growth rates in pharmaceutical products which can sometimes alleviate the symptoms – but do not address the root causes – of chronic disease (Figure S.3)
The companies of course have the same spiel as highlighted by Grant Ennis 9 Frames of Disinformation - "it's complex we are committed to 'help people have healthier diets', not enough to stop the lobbying to prevent junk food advertising bans on preventing marketing cereals to kids, obvs. 😅
The Food and Drink Federation said it wanted to help relieve diet-related illness. “Obesity is a serious and complex issue affecting the UK,” a spokesperson said. “Food and drink manufacturers know they have a key role to play in addressing this. However, this isn’t a challenge we can solve alone. So, we are committed to working alongside policymakers and others to help people have healthier diets.
Really feeling we are on the right track with our Addiction Economy stuff, every new report from every addiction economy section reinforces our focus and gives us great new stats!