Does increasing awareness of the dangers of the Western Diet change the decisions you make about food?

A recent Grist article cited a chart that shows the changes in the American diet since 1970. Consumption of added fats and added sugars far outweigh calories from fruits and vegetables as of 2008. Back in 1970, according to the interactive chart, we did eat more of those additives than whole foods, but the ratio has skyrocketed since then. And the average overall calories consumed in the US have risen from 2168 every day in 1970 to 2673 in 2008.

Most of these additional calories come from the added value companies insert into processed food to justify selling it at a higher price than whole food. Even the source of those added fats and sugars is profit-oriented – corn and soy increasingly dominate the agriculture in the United States, and their production is heavily subsidized by the government and encouraged by corporations who make money off these cheap sources of added value.

Grist writer Tom Philpott says in his article, “I think it's fair to say that a massive part of our diet-related health problems stem from sugar isolated from corn and fat isolated from soy.” This way of eating is unsustainable, agriculturally and physically, and increasing awareness of the machinations and consequences behind it causes some people to reevaluate the way they eat. Companies looking for profit have so infiltrated the system, though, that it’s really difficult and sometime expensive to find an alternate diet. How do you deal with information like this?

Eleanor Brown