Give me a break.

The latest big news in the health world (besides the guy who lost 20-something pounds eating Twinkies and Doritos) is that the City of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors banned Happy Meals with toys.

Cool…

Yes, childhood obesity is a huge problem in dire need of intervention. And I do agree that addressing this issue will likely require a series of small victories. But in my opinion, this is nothing to get excited about. It’s actually pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

It’s been ages since I set foot inside of a fast food restaurant. However, in all of my previous visits, I can’t seem to recall witnessing any seven year-olds ordering their own Happy Meals with their own money.

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention to the stampede of little rug rats demanding Buzz Lightyear with their fries and Cokes. But if my memory serves me, I recollect grown-ups buying obesity. Toys included.

As usual, when grown-ups have trouble using common sense, government has to step in and play the role of babysitter, this time punishing them by taking away their toys. If Big Babysitter really wants to make a difference, I suggest a little quiet time in the corner for those who enable children to eat such garbage, their parents.

The root cause of obesity has nothing to do with action figures. Rather, it has much more to do with grown-ups who can’t say no.

Prior to drawing up such legislation, government may want to take a look in the mirror. If they are truly intent on ending childhood obesity, they should probably do something about that atrocious school lunch program. Or maybe that upside-down food pyramid. How about that stupid farm bill?

I can go on and on. The government’s own laws and agricultural policies are bigger contributors to obesity than animated movie characters.

In typical babysitter form, punishment came with an ultimatum. If Ronald McDonald improves the nutritional value of his menu options by the end of next year, offering more fruits and vegetables, we’ll get our toys back.

Be a good boy, Ron.

This is just plain silliness. No one goes to a fast food restaurant to order fruits and veggies. And kids who play with toys don’t buy their own Happy Meals. Parents do.

It’s long past time for parents to come home and send the babysitters on their way. Legislation is a poor replacement for parenting and education.

And toys don’t cause obesity.

Probably not the most eloquent blog I’ve ever written. I just had to get that off of my chest.

Sean Croxton
Food Realist
www.undergroundwellness.com
www.youtube.com/undergroundwellness
www.blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness
www.twitter.com/ugwellness

Meet Edward Bernays.

Far from a household name, Bernays’ impact on modern culture is all around you. The clothes you wear. The dollars you spend. The feelings you feel. And yes, the food you eat.

The nephew of famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Bernays was the first to take his uncle’s theories and use them for mass persuasion and manipulation. Before Bernays, products were sold based on their utility and practicality. However, realizing the corporate limitations of such a utilitarian society, the father of public relations set forth to exploit the Freudian contention that all human beings possess irrational emotional forces hidden at the subconscious level. And it is these emotional forces that can be manipulated to control decision-making. In other words, they can make us buy what we do not need in exchange for feeling better about ourselves.

Bernays’ brilliance is responsible for linking products with emotions. For example, the daily ritual of sitting down each morning for eggs and bacon was of Bernays’ doing, persuading us that it was the All-American breakfast. Once considered faux pas, he made the act of smoking cigarettes acceptable for women by organizing a public display of rebellion at a New York City parade. The cigarettes were called “torches of freedom”.

Bernays’ indelible imprint on society is easy to recognize once you know what to look for. He is the reason why Southwest Airlines loves to remind us that we are free to move about the cabin and why Chase is advertising their new Freedom Card. Linking these products and services with American ideals makes them more appealing to our subconscious minds, thus influencing our decisions to acquire them.

And if that weren’t enough, during World War I Bernays coined the phrase “Making the World Safe for Democracy” to sell the war to the American people.

Heard that one before?

The subconscious commerce machine persists as corporate marketing departments and public relations (PR) firms strive to boost sales at a pace exceeding that of population growth. Using Bernays’ ideas, their job is to convince you that your wants are in fact your needs. You are not a human being. Rather, you are a pleasure machine who will purchase and consume goods and services in exchange for satisfying your unconscious desires. And you will do it over and over again.

So, what does Bernays have to do with health and modern food culture? Everything.

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Bedtime! Stay tuned for Part 2. And don’t miss Wednesday’s UW Radio show with Michele Simon, author of Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back!

Peace!

Sean Croxton
Food Nerd
www.undergroundwellness.com

I’ve been spending my Sunday lying on the couch re-reading Appetite for Profit by Michele Simon and half-watching Favre and Brady battle it out (never mind, it’s Jackson and Brady now). My intention was to blog about the underhanded public relations games the food industry plays in order to bolster its image and dodge legislation. But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, I feel the need to get something off my chest.

I pride myself on being a realist. I guess you can say I swallowed the red pill, choosing to see the world for what it really is. I know that there will never come a day when the aisles of my local grocery store are lined with whole organic foods. I am more than certain that regardless of how many times that “McDonald’s French Fries Don’t Decompose” article comes across my Facebook News Feed, people are still going to order them. Let’s just keep it real.

Several years back when I first read Appetite, I was beside myself with the lack of healthy options the food giants were offering up. And don’t get me wrong, I’m still more than unhappy with the industry status quo. However, what really chaps my hide is the idealist who complains but is never satisfied, the kind of person who somehow believes that our fast food nation will one day wake up and order baked chicken, quinoa, and steamed broccoli with a 16-ounce kombucha through a drive-thru window. Nonsense.

As shady as the fast food industry is, we must admit that they have responded to public outcry and introduced healthier options to their customers. Almost all offer salads. Some have experimented with fresh fruit. The problem is that no one goes to a fast food restaurant to order a salad. That’s kinda like going to a vegan spot and ordering chicken.

The food idealists of the world need to take a few courses in business. If anyone thinks Ronald McDonald is ever going to voluntarily stop the aggressive marketing, drop the pretentious health and physical activity campaigns, or halt all sales of food and beverage items that people obviously want to buy, you’re kidding yourself. I’m not sure what kind of business you run, but would you continue to offer a product that won’t sell? Should Ronald, Jack, and Wendy continue to waste food just to please you? An unsold salad is an unHappy Meal.

Before this blog gets misinterpreted as support for fast food, allow me to voice my disgust for their unfulfilled promises, shameless marketing, and use of celebrity endorsements to keep the Big Mac assembly lines moving. But let’s not kid ourselves about healthy menu options knowing darn well no one is ordering them. When I want a salad or an apple, Burger King is the last place I’m thinking of.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I am a proud member of Foodie Nation, but I refuse to waste my breath on fast food menu options. At this very moment, there are hundreds of thousands of people biting into double cheeseburgers. None are foolish enough to consider it a healthy choice. They’re fully aware of what they’re eating.

Meanwhile, the salad is wilting and the fruit’s gone bad.

Sean Croxton
Independent Health Blogger, Vlogger, & Radio Show Host
www.undergroundwellness.com
www.youtube.com/undergroundwellness
www.blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness
www.twitter.com/ugwellness