What's Wrong with [Fat] America

I don’t normally shop at a supermarket. I shop at a small, local grocer or Whole Foods. I find the supermarket somewhat distasteful and I realized this morning why. The supermarket is the essence of what is wrong with America — on an obesity level, a nutritional level, and a humanitarian level.

Supermarkets go by the names of Giant Eagle, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Publix, and Aldi, among many, many more. You probably shop at one of the above mentioned, or one of it’s sister stores.

My daughter and I walked through the large sliding glass doors of our local supermarket this morning, ready to order her 1st birthday cake and balloons, and pick up a few odds and ends while we were there. After ordering the cake (the bakery in this particular store is adjacent to the produce), we perused the produce section, which was a little on the small side. After the produce, we made our way to find a jar of peanut butter.

This is where the bottom fell out, my friends. On our way to find the peanut butter, we passed not one, but TWO aisles full of candy.

After the candy, we passed not one, but TWO aisles of soft drinks.

And after the soda, we passed not one, but TWO aisles of chips!!

What on earth is going on, America? And we scratch our heads and wonder why we are so stinkin’ fat and unhealthy? Mind. Blown.

The obesity epidemic is not going to stop by changing school lunch programs. Some congress-people are already fighting the school lunch measures anyway. (Baffling, I know.)

I have a solution, you guys. Listen up, and listen good:

We need to stop shopping at these stores.

It is the behemoth of supermarkets laden with fats, salt, sugars, artificial flavors and sweeteners, and whatever else that is causing our cancers, ADD and ADHD, our heart diseases and strokes, and our obesity. It is the choices we make by the information presented to us. We can’t help by stock up on four 24-packs of Pepsi when it’s marketed to us as a “Cool Summer Deal!” How can you resist? I was speaking to a friend who helps local businesses control their finances and she was telling me that its because these sorts of foods are addictive and make the company the most money. We went on to talk about how she recently made some killer business energy savings for one client. She went through some fantastic comparison websites such as Usave. If you’re interested in doing something similar for your buisness, check this out.

I have an idea. But don’t tell anyone, because it’s a huge secret. One that even the top experts haven’t even considered yet. Want to know what it is?

Instead of the produce section taking up less than a third of the floor space at a supermarket, why shouldn’t it comprise at least half of the store and scale down the selection of sugar, fat, and salt?

If you have limited options and have to shop at a true supermarket, vote with your wallet. Money is power. And when the powers that be see that we aren’t interested in buying sugar-laden soda, or sodium-infused cheese puffs, or candy sold by the 5-lb-bag, maybe, just maybe, they will start to wise up and begin offering healthier options and less garbage.

Once you start voting with your wallet, the trickle down effect will be fast and furious. Food producers will begin changing ingredients and recipes (heck, they’ve already started — check out a naturally derived blue dye that was recently approved by the FDA. Baby steps, people.).

GMO and Organic labeling will become commonplace (or perhaps unnecessary as we move toward organic and non-GMO across the board?).

But in order for this to work, we all have to participate. We all have to say no to trashy food. It’s not helping us live longer. It certainly isn’t keeping us disease-free.

I’m not here to preach to you about eating only organic food, or being vegetarian/vegan, or avoiding all sugar and fat. I eat my fair share of chocolate, and pig out just as much as the next guy. Ok, maybe not quite as much as the next guy… But I’m not perfect. No one is. What I am saying is instead of being continuously tempted by the food-demons, we should consciously change our food options.

I can’t believe I used to shop at the supermarket. The stores I frequent now, while they still have an extraordinarily large selection of “food” with little nutritional value, are much easier to navigate without being consumed by sales pitches, marketing ploys, and point-of-sale nonsense.

I have a lot more to say on this subject but it’s exhausting. I will pick this back up next week. I’d really like to continue this conversation with you.

I’m going to leave you with two movies/books you need to see and read. Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives. They will change your life forever. Trust me.