My husband keeps watching videos on the internet of interviews from the maker of Food Inc.  This is a documentary about all the evil doers in our food supply.  The premise of the film is food is making us overweight and ill.

I watched the film.  There was plenty of *shock* to add to the drama. The issue I have is that because of all the horror stories, we are supposed to feel our food is unhealthy and we are unhealthy.  It is this message of fear-mongering that cause us to be less healthy overall.

People love to blame weight issues on everything under the sun.  If it is something out there, then I can alter that and voila! I am cured.  It will not be as simple as switching to organic or increasing regulation. The issues people have with food run far deeper than the food supply.  People eat for reasons other than hunger.  Even if it is organic, you are still going to gain if you are not hungry when you eat.

Weight issues are not caused by hormones in cows or pasteurization or genetically modified tomatoes.  People who do not struggle with weight eat from the same food supply.  I treat many people who have weight problems — the majority of them know it is about their relationship with food.

The food supply is also apparently making us sick.  Diseases such as hepatitis and diabetes, according to Food Inc. are being caused by the food supply.  The genetically engineered tomatoes have no nutrients, they say.  While people might find these larger tomatoes to be less flavorful, they retain their nutrient profile.  (As an aside, organic and regular produce also have identical nutrient profiles.)

Diabetes is not caused by the food you eat — it is an insulin regulation issue and there is a genetic predisposition required.  Hepatitis is not just hanging out on or in food – hepatitis A is transmitted between people due to poor handwashing.  If you get it from food, it is because the person who prepared your food forgot to wash his hands.  Yuck.

The reason I am speaking out about this film is because it feeds the frenzy of distraction.  If you can get people fired up about the food supply, well, I don’t know what – but I do know you will not be solving any of the issues you propose to solve.  This will not help people with weight or illness.  All it will do is take people longer to get to the real issues of their weight struggles.  Do not waste your time with this cause — it is fear-mongering.