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Here above is my delicious fruit
salad for you. This is just a
sample of all the joy mother
nature provided us all this year
long. Here we have the delicacy
of blackberries, the softness of
bananas, the beauty of
pineapples, the design of star
fruits, the juicy pulp of
graviola, and the
bittersweet flavour of our
unique fruit from the north of
Brazil – cupuaçú.
I call on you all my dear
readers, citizens of this
planet, to thank you, and to ask
you to fight every day to
protect this treasure, that
gathers us around the same
table, the table of ideas and
principles that flows towards
the protection and perpetuation
of the public goods that nourish
the living and physical world we
share. Let our great Brazilian
poet Olavo Bilac inspire
us.
The sun (O sol)
Hail, glorious sun!
(Salve, sol glorioso!)
Nature responds to your
fruitful glow,
(Ao teu clarão fecundo,)
Singing, and the world is in
ecstasy.
(A natureza canta e se
extasia o mundo.)
What sorrow, what pity, when
you set!
(Que tristeza, que dó, quando
desapareces !)
But then you rise, and
barren land flourishes;
(Vens, e a terra estragada e
feia reverdeces;)
With your heat, hedges
become perfumed;
(Abres com o teu calor as
sebes perfumadas;)
You give their flowers to
the dewy bushes;
(Dás flores ao verdor das
moitas orvalhadas;)
Heating nests, and the
fledglings’ throats
(Os ninhos aquecendo, as
gargantas das aves)
Warble of love, with gentle
harmonies.
(Dás gorjeios de amor, e
harmonias suaves;)
And, flickering over the
opening vegetables,
(E, cintilando sobre os tufos
de verdura,)
You give the ripe fruit on
every branch.
(Em cada ramo põe uma fruta
madura.)
Promotion of vegetables and
fruits
Enrique sees the elephant
We all know the story about the
‘elephant in the room’, nicely
illustrated by the picture
above: the massive issue that
everybody ignores as they go
about their business as if
nothing remarkable is going on.
Here is an example.
Last month I participated in the
Sixth International Congress on
Promotion of Fruits and
Vegetables Consumption, held in
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Jalisco is the state where
mariachis originally came
from, and also is the land of
the blue agaves from
which tequila is produced.
Guadalajara is famous for its
cuisine, which has as one of its
secrets, fresh herbs and spices.
As my Mexican hosts explained to
me, the chilli sauce that’s an
essential ingredient in Mexican
food is best prepared by prompt
maceration of the fresh
ingredients you can see below.
Back to the elephant. At the
congress, Enrique Jacoby of the
Pan American Health Organization
gave a keynote plenary lecture.
Unusually, the title of his
presentation as he gave it, was
different from that printed in
the programme, which was: 'La
promoción del consumo de frutas
y verduras en el marco de la
Estrategia global de
alimentación, actividad física y
salud en América Latina'
(The promotion of fruit and
vegetables consumption as part
of the Global Strategy on Diet,
Physical Activity and Health in
Latin America) (1). Instead, he
changed his talk, and went
straight to the point. His
changed title was: 'Regulación
de publicidad de comida chatarra
a niños: oportunidad para frutas
y verduras' (Regulation of
the marketing of junk food to
children: Opportunity for fruits
and vegetables), as you can see
in the picture below, taken as
he socked it to the audience.
The whole congress was designed
to discuss how to promote fruits
and vegetables in all aspects of
food systems. But apart from
Enrique’s presentation, no
mention was made of the other
food and products that unfairly
compete with fruits and
vegetables. Here below is one
example. The ‘Food Pyramid’ on
the right shows what the US
government recommends that
practically everybody should
consume more of, including fruit
and vegetables. The Pyramid on
the left, to be found on
www.seriouseats.com, shows
where US federal subsidies go.
Almost three-quarters of all go
to meat and dairy products,
amounting in 2007 to around $US
35 billion, and 0.37 per cent go
to fruit and vegetables. That is
to say, comparatively and
absolutely, burgers are
artificially cheap, whereas
salads are artificially
expensive.
Enrique’s presentation was on
another enormous ‘elephant in
the room’: the vast expenditure
on advertising and marketing of
junk food, including to
children. The World Health
Organization (WHO) recommends
daily consumption of at least
400 grams (close to 1 lb) of
fruits and vegetables (2). At
the same time, the
transnationals are spending many
billions of dollars a year
pushing unlimited amounts of
energy-dense fatty, sugary or
salty ‘fast’ products. And how
many people in the world, and
how many children, read WHO
expert reports, compared with
the number who are exposed to
the ‘viral’ promotion of
ultra-processed products, on
television, on the internet, in
shops, and in schools and
playgrounds? Thank you Enrique,
for enabling everybody at the
Guadalajara congress to see this
elephant!
References
-
http://www.congreso5xdia.com.mx/es/contenido/programa/programa.php
- World Health
Organization/ Food and
Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations.
Expert Report on Diet,
Nutrition and the Prevention
of Chronic Diseases.
Geneva: WHO/FAO; 2003. WHO
Technical Report Series 916.
Regulating the advertising of
unhealthy products
Counter-snack attack
Last month I said a bit
about food marketing regulation
in Brazil, and brought some bad
news (1). A judge has over-ruled
the decision of the federal
regulatory organisation ANVISA,
and has said that food marketing
regulation is unconstitutional,
because it is not explicitly
mentioned in the Brazilian 1988
constitution. This would be
rather like saying that
legislators should not engage
with climate change because
nobody thought to list it as an
issue 20 years ago. So, what is
being done to challenge this
silly ruling? Is that it? Dead
end?
I'm glad to say no, it is not!
Right after the decision of
Judge Seixas, civil society
organisations, research
institutes, universities and
several other actors, including
from law and the media, got
rapidly organised and have asked
the judge to reconsider her
decision. For more details, see
the home page story this month,
‘The unstoppables’.
The formal government response
to the judge from ANVISA has
been sent. At the same time,
Brazilian society, and the
international community, is
standing by the need for
rational and fair food marketing
regulation. The group is
mobilised by the Frente pela
Regulamentação da Publicidade de
Alimentos (Front for the
Regulation of Food Marketing).
Its purpose is to uphold ANVISA
and the regulations which, until
the judicial ruling, were set to
take effect as from this month –
26 December 2010.
Public health nutritionists,
lawyers, economists, and
communicators who are members of
the Frente are now discussing
how best to show that regulating
food marketing in Brazil is
already within ANVISA's
competence, and that this is a
case where the needs of public
health prevail over commercial
needs. Much this month will
depend on the tide and mood of
public opinion.
Reference
- Gomes F. Six hours of
words from our sponsor, and
other items. [Column]
Website of the World Public
Health Nutrition
Association, November 2010.
Obtainable at
www.wphna.org
Ultra-processed products.
Environmental impact
What our trash cans eat
Last month I referred to the bad
effects ultra-processed products
have on human health (1). So has
Carlos Monteiro, in his epic
commentary on ultra-processing,
that in November has been
accessed by over 15,000 readers
from all over the world. But
that’s only the beginning of the
story. So far we have not said
much about the environmental
impact of ultra-processing. This
is a whole vast topic in itself.
Those of us who work in the
field of public health
nutrition, and have a broad
perspective, need to team up
with actors from other fields,
such as environmental
protection. The devastation that
ultra-processed products are
gradually causing on our planet
are a good example of why this
is essential.
We are always being told to
recycle bottles, cans and other
types of package. In practice
what does this mean, that we
should eat the bottle and use
old cans as vases for flowers?
According to the US National
Resources Defense Council
only 13 percent of bottles get
recycled (2). In Brazil the
Ministry of Environment
estimates that one-third of
domestic garbage is packages and
bottles (3). For the results,
see the picture above. So the
recycling message is not
working. It’s time instead that
governments proclaimed: ‘Consume
fewer packaged foods and bottled
drinks’. Let’s campaign for
manufacturers to put labels on
their products saying in big
letters: WARNING. BOTTLES AND
CANS ARE POLLUTING THE PLANET.
References
-
Gomes F. The fables we buy,
and other items. [Column]
Website of the World Public
Health Nutrition
Association, November 2010.
Obtainable at
www.wphna.org
-
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/qbw.asp
-
http://www.mma.gov.br/sitio
Joke of the month. Privatisation
of public goods
Bottled water. Ching, ching!
Now I follow up my
October column (1) and bring you
this month’s Joke of the Month,
which is a joke on you, if you
are a bottled water consumer. In
October I pointed out that some
giant manufacturers are putting
the heat on sugary soft drinks,
with the help of public health
nutritionists, as a way to
market their bottled waters. In
doing so, tap water is
forgotten. This ploy is
effective.
Here are some calculations
showing how this is impacting on
consumer expenditure. Take the
price of tap water in the State
of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where
I live, compared with the price
of the cheapest bottled water.
The cost of a 20 litre bottle of
water is enough to buy 1000
litres of tap water. Yes, the
cheapest bottled water is 50
times the cost of tap water. If
instead the comparison is with a
1 litre bottle the price
difference is a factor of 200.
No wonder the transnational
bottled water manufacturers have
established institutes of
hydration. No wonder
long-established mineral and
spring water companies have been
taken over by transnationals. No
wonder publicly owned water
companies are being privatised.
No wonder we hear so much about
the bugs that lurk in tap water.
Like breastmilk, tap water is
bad for business.
Bottled water consumers are
being taken for a ride. One way
to demonstrate this would be to
have a hydration red nose day –
see above. The red noses could
be made from recycled plastic
bottles.
Reference
-
Gomes F. Six hours of words
from our sponsor, and other
items. [Column] Website of
the World Public Health
Nutrition Association,
October 2010. Obtainable at
www.wphna.org
Request and acknowledgement
You are invited please to
respond, comment, disagree, as
you wish. Please use the
response facility below. You are
free to make use of the material
in this column, provided you
acknowledge the Association, and
me please, and cite the
Association’s website.
Please cite as: Gomes F.
Mosaic of sensual delights, and
other items. [Column] Website of
the World Public Health
Nutrition Association, December
2010. Obtainable at
www.wphna.org
The opinions expressed in all
contributions to the website of
the World Public Health
Nutrition Association (the
Association) including its
journal
World Nutrition, are
those of their authors. They
should not be taken to be the
view or policy of the
Association, or of any of its
affiliated or associated bodies,
unless this is explicitly
stated.
This column is reviewed by
Geoffrey Cannon. My many thanks
to Enrique Jacoby for his great
speech on food marketing
regulation. The ultra-processed
food item was also inspired by a
meeting held in São Paulo hosted
by Carlos Monteiro, to whom
renewed thanks. I also thank
Juan Rivera for the precious
time we had together for
discussions in Mexico. Thanks
too to the folks from Serious
Eats. Once again, as a ‘food
activist’ I owe many thanks to
the Brazilians now dedicated to
the approval and implementation
of the Brazilian national food
marketing regulation, and also
to the international community
for their support.
fabiodasilvagomes@gmail.com |
