Burns

Laura Lynn Burns

Professor Lisa Packer
English 1010
23 November 2015
First Do No Harm
Most of us will agree that obesity is quickly becoming the leading cause of
preventable death (from obesity-related conditions including heart disease, stroke, type
two diabetes and certain types of cancer) in the U.S. Where we tend to disagree, however,
is on who should be responsible for this growing epidemic. While some argue that more
government intervention is the answer, I strongly disagree. Government involvement in
what we eat has done more harm than good.
Even if the government were somehow capable of dealing with the fact that sixtyseven percent of Americans are overweight or obese, (Callahan) how long are you willing
wait for the government to find a solution for you? Are you willing to put your health,
quality of life and even the length of your life in the hands of a government that is fueling
the obesity epidemic? Im not.
Lets examine government involvement in what we eat and its effect on us. In the
documentary King Corn Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis document planting, growing and
harvesting corn in Iowa, only to learn that what they really did was plant a government
subsidized acre of high fructose corn syrup, animal feed and ethanol. They then share
some troubling news, For the first time in American history our generation was at risk of
having a shorter lifespan than our parents and it was because of what we ate. In making

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this comment they urge us to learn what it is we are eating that is shortening our lifespan
(Cheney and Ellis).
Jonathan Foley, Director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of
Minnesota, explains, It is important to distinguish corn the crop from corn the system.
As a crop, corn in America is used primarily for ethanol, animal feed and high-fructose
corn syrup. It receives more subsides from the U.S. government than any other crop. In
all, U.S. crop subsidies to corn totaled roughly $90 billion between 1995 and 2010not
including ethanol subsidies and mandates. As Foley points out, The corn system, as we
currently know it, is an agricultural juggernaut, consuming more land, more natural
resources and more taxpayer dollars than any other farming system in modern U.S.
history and the resulting benefits to our food system are sparse (Foley). Government
subsidized corn is not as much farming as it is a system.
Processed corn is an ingredient in the preparation of nearly everything we eat, not
just the obvious foods. Cows, chickens and pigs are fed corn, which then turns into their
biomass, which is what we buy and eat. Corn syrup sweeteners now comprise greater
than 20% of total daily carbohydrate intake, an increase of greater than 2100% since the
beginning of the century. (Foley)
The way we eat has changed dramatically in just a century. Our society has
become dependent on cheap, fast and easy meals. We dont cook or eat at home often
enough anymore. We arent getting close to the recommended servings of fresh fruits and
vegetables we need to maintain health, not to mention our lack of exercise. We
mindlessly gobble something out of a paper bag in the car as we hurry from one place to
the next. I get that we are a very on the go culture, but why are we serving unhealthy food

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to children that are in school all day where there are kitchens, refrigerators, freezers,
ovens, stoves and people paid to cook for and feed them?
The Child Nutrition Act administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
funds federal school meal and child nutrition programs. The USDA paid more than
$500 million in 2013 to meat and dairy producers for products that ended up in school
meals that fed more than 31 million children each day through the National School Lunch
Program, and more than 12 million in the National School Breakfast Program. (Good
Medicine) But it also allowed for unhealthful meat and dairy products stuffed-crust
pepperoni pizza, hot dogs, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, cheese-filled bread sticks, and
maple pancake sausage sandwichesto continue to infiltrate school lunches through
USDA commodities.
Unhealthy food in school lunches is making our kids fat and theyre getting fatter.
The connection between childhood obesity and school lunches is startling. According to
the CDC, over the past two decades the percentage of children who are above their
normal weight has doubled and the percentage of adolescents who are above their normal
weight has tripled. (Atwell)
No one wants to minimize the pain of those struggling with weight problems. But
in the end, more government involvement is not the answer. Indeed, it could actually
make weight loss more difficult because, as the AMAs Council on Science and Public
Health warned, medicalizing obesity could intensify patient and provider reliance on
(presumably costly) pharmacological and surgical treatments to achieve a specific body
weight and could detract from creative social solutions to foster healthy behavior.
(Tanner)

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Those still in favor of more government involvement should probably talk to Dr.
Brian Wansink. Dr. Wansink, is a professor of marketing at Cornell University, where he
also directs the Food and Brand Lab. He was also executive director of the U.S.
Department of Agricultures Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion from 2007 to
2009, helping develop the 2010 U.S. dietary guidelines. This is what he has to say about
government involvement in what we put into our bodies doing more harm than we can
stand:
When it comes to food, people don't behave like we expect. Will
low-fat foods cause people to eat less? Our studies showed Chicagoans
compensated by eating 28% more. Will soft-drink taxes cause people to
buy less soft drinks? Our From Coke to Coors study in Utica, N.Y.,
supermarkets showed that beer-drinking households responded to a sixmonth soft drink tax by buying more beer.
When my Cornell Food and Brand Lab runs an unsuccessful
research study, we can change it in a week. When a food company
launches an unsuccessful new product or campaign, they can change it in a
quarter. When a government passes an unsuccessful law, it often sticks
around until it has done more damage than we can stand. As any student of
organized crime would tell us, Prohibition stuck around for 12 years.
(McKay)
Our well-being, shape, and condition are of matters of personal responsibility.
(Balko) When we believe that obesity is someone elses fault it robs us of hope and

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empowerment. Early nutrition and exercise education in schools is crucial. It will

empower the next generation to make better food choices.
Ultimately, one might ask, Why is the government spending so many billions to
subsidize high fructose corn syrup and unhealthful food in school lunches? That could
lead to questions of why the government isnt subsidizing more fruits, vegetables and
most importantly education about nutrition and exercise in schools. Perhaps a better
question is, Why would I turn responsibility for what goes into my body over to anyone
that cant show they will first, do no harm?

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Works Cited
Atwell, Barbara L. Obesity, Public Health, and the Food Supply. Pace University
School of Law, 2007. Web 23 Nov. 2015.
Balko, Radley. "What You Eat Is Your Business." Cato Institute. Cato Institute,
23 May 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Callahan, Daniel. "Obesity: Chasing An Elusive Epidemic." Hastings Center Report 43.1
(2013): 34-40 7p. CINAHL Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Cheney, Ian and Ellis, Curt. "King Corn. Mosaic Films Inc, 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Foley, Jonathan. "Its Time to Rethink Americas Corn System." 2015 Scientific
American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
McKay, Betsy. "What Role Should Government Play in Combating Obesity?" The Wall
Street Journal. Dow Jones Products, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Tanner, Michael D. "Obesity Is Not a Disease." Cato Institute. Cato Institute, 3 July 2013.
Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
"Who's Making Money From Overweight Kids?" Good Medicine 24.3 (2015): 6-9. Alt
HealthWatch. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.