Lots of anger on the TL about Rees-Spud's "let them eat potatoes" intervention. I can see why. It is infuriating and contemptible to blame those with very little time and money for the choices they make to put food on the table.
But it is vital we reject the framing of obesity/diabetes/malnutrition as a matter of a normal, sensible majority and a somehow deviant minority who can't feed feed themselves properly *no matter what the reason.* (whether it's poverty, moral incompetence or lack of education)
2/3rds of the UK population over 35 is overweight or obese. Even if obesity tracks income perfectly, many people with above average incomes are being made unwell by of their diet. Not only that, many people have metabolic illness and a normal BMI. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-brief…
Only a tiny minority of people in the UK are metabolically healthy. The rest of us struggle because the UK food economy is the most Americanised in Western Europe. Highly processed food that is highly palatable, highly profitable and cheap has become the national diet.
Actually tackling the problem of poor diet and the epidemic of sickness it creates requires that we de-Americanise our diet as completely as possible. This is perfectly possible, but it means massively reducing sugar consumption, which is best understood as an addictive poison.
Sugar is ubiquitous in UK food because it helps turn cheap slurry into stuff we can eat, and even crave. It is an endlessly profitable answer to the question capitalists constantly ask: how can we make people pay more for less? It is their magic bullet, and it is killing us.
Making a healthy diet affordable is a hugely complex task, across a range of disciplines and sectors. Almost none of it is about a deviant minority. Almost all of it requires the application of humane socialist principles and republican hostility to vicious elites.
The real debate about obesity/diabetes/malnutrition is about land distribution, farming techniques, new opportunities to create cooperative and well paid employment. We're not here to regulate and commiserate like liberals, or to castigate like rightists, but to liberate.
The really deviant hunger is the hunger for endless growth, eh readers?
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