Do you ever question what lies beneath? Do you dig tunnels, some slightly random, some purposeful in an attempt to unearth what’s hiding below? To find a way past the smoke and mirrors? I spent much of last weekend digging. Well, a combination of recurrent digging and frowning. Most weekends aren’t like that thankfully, but this one was…

I comprehend many of the varied answers to the following, but I’ll pose the questions to you, all the same, as I continue to remain perplexed and frustrated by what I uncover:

• Why are the food companies who produce the food that is slowly killing us, not held to account in some way?
• Where have their morals gone?
• What will it take for the governments of the world to make a stand against them?
• Obesity has been on the rise for decades, why has more not been done?
• Why do we find aspartame and various other artificial sweeteners in so much of our food and beverages when there is so much research suggesting that they are not safe?
• Would a ban on advertising by certain companies and of certain products be of benefit?
• Would taxing certain products be of benefit?
• Could the revenue created by taxing those products, be used to bring down the price of REAL food?
• When will people learn to cook again?
• Does there really have to be saccharin in toothpaste? Just thought I’d throw that one in there – something I discovered last night when pulling a new tube of toothpaste from it’s box!)

So much comes down to our personal choices in life – what we believe to be important, who we are prepared to support or not support in the food industry, what we can afford and what level of importance we place on our health.  However, I don’t believe that the responsibility should fall completely on the consumer’s shoulders.  Cigarettes were deemed harmful and certain measures (such as education campaigns, removal of advertising, taxes, plain packaging) have been put in place to reduce the number of smokers, thus reducing the number of cancer sufferers in the world.  I don’t see why certain ‘food’ products shouldn’t be considered in a similar way.  Surely it’s worth a try?

My worries also extend to organisations, like Obesity Australia, who should be a beacon of shining light for those seeking advice to turn their lives around. Though, amongst the information I found in their supposedly helpful fact sheets, they appear to be virtually sponsoring the Diet Soda companies of the world – Coke Zero even gets a personal mention/suggestion. Their choice of wording is seriously questionable on a number of topics. I found sections to be confusing, contradictory and not at all encouraging of getting people back into the kitchen cooking with good, simple ingredients. When they did suggest a little cooking, they made it sound so incredibly off-putting that I’m sure it served more to send people running to their nearest fast-food outlet, than to the kitchen to try out their idea.

I quote… “Stews made of gristly meat (neck, oxtail), slow cooked and the fat taken off after a day in the fridge, are a prime protein source.”

Mmm Mmmm, sounds delicious, doesn’t it!? Arghhh – who writes this stuff? and more importantly who edits it and gives it the all clear to be published for public reading? If you get a chance, have a read yourself (through the link above) – in my opinion almost every fact sheet includes eye-brow raising content.

I’m tempted to go back to university to gain qualifications and credibility, to truly help bring about change in the world of food and nutrition. This is despite my strong preference for hiding out in my own kitchen, cooking up a storm for my own family.

Torn…