New Nesta Report Reinforces Addiction Economy Drivers in Tackling Food-Related Ill-Health
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - I am loving this brilliant and readable new report from Nesta by Dr Dolly van Tulleken and Henry Dimbleby.
Delighted that the 4 major obstacles to tackling food related ill-health are covered by @Joe Woof and I's 5 Drivers of the Addiction Economy reports and really looking forward to a more detailed look!
1. Ferocious attacks and calls of Nanny State generate political anxiety which prevent action. (Driver 4 - Disinformation). More to come from us on the Nanny State, the Negligent State and the Nurturing State!)
2. Business lobbying and fears about the wider economy stymie action. (Driver 5 - undermining policy action)
3. Because it happens gradually, it doesn't make it to the top of the political agenda. (We think the reason for this is also the issue of blame - people are blamed for overeating, not the companies for designing products which undermine their ability to control their eating. Disinformation on exercise and other distractions also divert attention and action)
4. It's complicated. It is complicated, but perhaps not so complicated that it major drivers can't be addressed if the political will is here. (This is also a disinformation tactic under Driver 4 from companies, beware)
Our 5 Drivers of an Addiction Economy are:
1. Addictive product design (UPF is designed to undermine our ability to stop eating, so more money can be made)
2. Inescapable Availability - food desert and basically the whole retail sector means you can't get away from unhealthy foods even if you tried.
3. Predatory Marketing. As Chris van Tulleken said in a speech we saw recently, "If it's advertised, it's UPF".
4. Disinformation - as above
5 Undermining policy action - as above.
We have recently added two 'Foundations of the Addiction Economy, which are:
1. A financial incentive - in this case the cut-throat business model of food capitalism.
2. Deregulation (inspired by 4 and 5 of the drivers).
All our addiction economy case study sectors have all of these.
For more, see here.
https://lnkd.in/eYMPjEej
https://lnkd.in/eGZNE55c