Here's my thoughts on the address that should be made to the Canadian (or American) public by a decision-maker somewhere who "gets it".
"It’s being widely broadcast that we as a nation have a serious problem which directly affects the health of our country. We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic and even more significantly an epidemic of childhood obesity (almost a third of Canadians aged five to 17 are overweight or obese). For the first time in history, our children will die at a younger age then their parents due to the poor health habits that have been passed on to them.
Fellow Canadians,
Over the past decades we have done you and your families the disservice of misinforming you about the foods that you eat, the foods that you should eat and the foods that you shouldn’t eat. We have been swayed by corporate contributors to support products and campaigns which have significantly contributed to the plight which we now face. And even now, as we stare down the barrel, we wince, drawing up schemes and plans to appease the concerned masses, but truly know that these will never rectify the damage that we have caused.
Fellow Canadians,
Over the past decades we have done you and your families the disservice of misinforming you about the foods that you eat, the foods that you should eat and the foods that you shouldn’t eat. We have been swayed by corporate contributors to support products and campaigns which have significantly contributed to the plight which we now face. And even now, as we stare down the barrel, we wince, drawing up schemes and plans to appease the concerned masses, but truly know that these will never rectify the damage that we have caused.
We are not sure where to begin, or who to target in our approach. Do we now try to re-educate the adults whom we have misled for so long by allowing food manufacturers and bodies with vested interests to tote bogus nutritional claims of being healthy options? Is it too late to teach the “old dogs new tricks”? Do we focus on educating the future consumers – our children, so that when they’re old enough to make household decisions, they do so wisely, armed with knowledge and clarity? We have spent millions of dollars, tax payers’ dollars, in attempts at “health promotion”, all the while flirting with the people who have leveraged us to lie to you and being swayed by corporate contribution to continue, and even propagate these mistruths.
Recently it has been proposed that some of the strategies that were used to make an impact on tobacco use be used to alert consumers of poor food choices and the negative impact that these may have on your health. But we’ve read the studies, and know that scare tactics do not work for food related behaviours yet we stand before you proposing that this is the way. We tote our tobacco model as a success in curtailing usage, yet we pick-and-choose only a few of the strategies utilized in this model - taxation, scary pictures and some restrictions on sales. Our tobacco model removed products from drug stores due to the conflicting health impact of these products. Fearful that young consumers were being targeted and using these products without a true appreciation for the negative health impact we imposed age-restrictions on purchase – yet we are weary to take such aggressive measures to curtail the purchase and use of products which now have a more negative health impact than that of tobacco use. Most provinces have passed legislature to prevent youths from utilizing tanning services due to the health impact that was being observed as a result of excess usage.
But we have a different relationship with food – it’s a necessity. We need food to survive, and because of this we know that the approach that we have to take has to be even more aggressive… and honest.
But to be honest – we don’t know how to proceed. Without wasting more time and money, we don’t even know where to begin. There are obvious financial implications to any decision that we make and we are scared to do what is absolutely necessary to rectify the problem that we have caused.
Projections indicate that our Health Care system is in grave danger (and yes, unfortunately that pun is intentional) due to the health costs that will result from the poor food choices that we have allowed you to make through our own negligence and greed. The System which helps to identify us as a country, and separates us from our southerly neighbours is at risk of failure in the very near future, yet we are weary of offending, scared of losing the generous support that our corporate contributors provide, and fearful of the inevitable failure should our attempts not succeed.
We come before you humbled, conscious of ills that we have done, embarrassed by our actions, ashamed of breaching the trust you’ve put in us as leaders and ask you the consumer to now help us. We need your help!"
But to be honest – we don’t know how to proceed. Without wasting more time and money, we don’t even know where to begin. There are obvious financial implications to any decision that we make and we are scared to do what is absolutely necessary to rectify the problem that we have caused.
Projections indicate that our Health Care system is in grave danger (and yes, unfortunately that pun is intentional) due to the health costs that will result from the poor food choices that we have allowed you to make through our own negligence and greed. The System which helps to identify us as a country, and separates us from our southerly neighbours is at risk of failure in the very near future, yet we are weary of offending, scared of losing the generous support that our corporate contributors provide, and fearful of the inevitable failure should our attempts not succeed.
We come before you humbled, conscious of ills that we have done, embarrassed by our actions, ashamed of breaching the trust you’ve put in us as leaders and ask you the consumer to now help us. We need your help!"
RSS Feed
