• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dietitians for Professional Integrity

  • Home
  • Our Team
  • Resources
    • Advocacy & Action Toolkit
    • Conflict-Free CEUs
    • Distinguished Dietitians
    • Ethical Sponsorship
    • FNCE Guides & Reports
    • Like-Minded Organizations
    • RD Resource Toolkit
    • Statements of Concern
    • Understand The Issues
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Donate
  • Search

May 15, 2014 Leave a Comment

“Why The Food Industry Is Not Your Friend”

Canadian doctor — and friend to Dietitians For Professional Integrity — Yoni Freedhoff recently penned an op-ed for The Globe and Mail titled “Why the food industry is not your friend.”

In it, he explains why waiting around for the food industry to fix the current public health situation is futile.

Highlights:

  • “Diet and weight-related chronic diseases are on the rise, and we have been so well and fully hoodwinked by the food industry that we’re now looking to them for help. Whether it’s inviting the food industry to the table in creating Canada’s Food Guide, or ParticipACTION’s partnership with Coca-Cola to promote sport, or the welcoming of food industry money to fund, sponsor and promote our hospitals, schools, sporting arenas, and community races, the food industry is buying the impression that they’re part of the solution.”
  • “The food industry is not your friend. That’s not a mean-spirited statement, it’s just the truth. To follow a course of action divorced from profits and consistent instead with ethics or morals or health is a luxury denied to corporations by their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders.”
  • “Don’t hold your breath for government action either. Given short political mandates, food industry influence and money, and the pervasive belief that personal responsibility is the only tool required for good health, politicians aren’t particularly interested in nutrition and healthful living. If we want to see change, it’s going to have to come from within.”
  • “Starting at home, find a way to cook and eat together more often. Next take the fight to your community. Take it to your schools, libraries, soccer fields, and city councilors. Finally, take the fight to your state and country.”

We completely agree. This prevalent myth that industry can get us out of hole it had a hand in systemically digging over the past few decades is an example of mass delusion.

As it stands, the “solutions” industry has patted itself in the back for over the years have included 100-calorie packs of Chips Ahoy cookies, reduced-fat and highly-processed offerings, and adding a dusting of whole grains to the likes of Lucky Charms.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Categories: Recommended Reads Tags: Coca-Cola, Yoni Freedhoff

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Social Media

FacebookTwitter

Subscribe to receive our quarterly newsletter and other breaking news!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Browse by Topic

  • Academic Research
  • Advocacy
  • Distinguished Dietitians
  • Ethical Sponsorship
  • Industry Spin
  • Industry-Funded Research
  • Interviews
  • Photos
  • Problematic Sponsorship
  • Recommended Reads
  • Reports
  • Statements of Concern
  • Uncategorized

Tags

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics American Beverage Association Andy Bellatti Big Tobacco California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Center for Science in the Public Interest CEUs Civil Eats Coca-Cola ConAgra conflicts of interest Corn Refiners Association FNCE front groups General Mills Global Energy Balance Network Hershey's industry-funded research junk food Kellogg Kids Eat Right Kraft Kraft Singles lobbying Marion Nestle marketing marketing to children Mars McDonald's meat industry Michele Simon moderation National Dairy Council Nestlé New York Times PepsiCo policy soda soda tax soda taxes sugar The Sugar Association Unilever World Health Organization Yoni Freedhoff

Footer

Subscribe to receive our quarterly newsletter and other breaking news!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Posts

Farewell to Our Supporters

Dear DFPI Supporters, Since February of 2013, we at Dietitians For Professional Integrity have been a voice for uplifting the registered dietitian credential at a time when corporate influences - both overt and covert Read More

Highly Processed Foods Can Negatively Impact Health

Good read from New York Times on how highly processed foods (and the ingredients in many of them) can negatively impact health by creating an imbalance in the gut microbiome. This is the future of nutrition. The fact Read More

Social Media

FacebookTwitter

RSS

  • RSS - Posts

© 2022 Dietitians for Professional Integrity