My last post, although humorous, goes to an extreme. It places all responsibility for what we eat squarely on the consumer's shoulders. So the question I now want to raise is, "Where does corporate responsibility begin?"
I've been thinking about this question not only because of my last post, but also because of an interview Morgan Spurlock conducted with Eric Schlosser on the Supersize Me DVD. (Eric Schlosser is the author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness. I highly recommend both books.)
Toward the end of the interview, Eric Schlosser says (and I'm paraphrasing here): "The real question is where does personal responsibility end and corporate responsibility begin?"
Here's what Schlosser is getting at...
Someone who likes to eat carrots can easily regulate how much he consumes. Carrots have fiber, which makes you feel full. Carrots are sweet, but not too sweet. Once you've had a few, your body is likely to say, "I've had enough for now."
Contrast a natural food like carrots with a synthetic food like Twinkies, Oreos, or Little Debbie snack cakes. Most of these packaged desserts have little or no fiber, so it's more difficult to tell when you're full. They're loaded with sugar. And their flavors have been engineered for maximum consumer appeal.
Yes, there is willpower. But how effective is willpower against flavors and foods that have been engineered to conquer that willpower? If someone develops eating problems because of foods that have been engineered to be irresistable, then how much responsibility falls on the consumer and how much on the company that created the food?
These are tough questions to answer, and I don't even pretend to know the answer. But I do believe the individual and the company share the responsibility. I believe consumers should be held accountable for what they choose to eat; and I believe purveyors of food should be held accountable for the health issues their food causes.
Here's a piece of advice. If you want to be healthy, then act as if you bear 100% of the responsibility for the things you eat. I do not believe you are 100% responsible—food manufacturers are partly responsible—but to act as if you are is the only sure way to achieve optimal health.
Carrots are very good for healtha nd it has the beta carotene which is very good for health.
Posted by: Medical Call Center | 01 September 2009 at 10:59 PM
So when we have carrots you mean to say a little will be enough for the body?Thus also making it a good dieting agent?
Posted by: Electronic Medical Records | 02 September 2009 at 02:00 PM