Leisureguy is such a gentleman, he’s always on the lookout for stuff his on-line buds might find useful or interesting. He emailed this link today that talks about the decline of the Mediterrannean diet in Mediterrannean countries. Sadly true. Greece, for example has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, ranking 5th overall (USA is #1, Canada is #11).
But this line really got me: “As an American, I suppose it’s somewhat comforting to learn that our bad habits seem to have a quasi-universal gravitational pull and we’re not just a uniquely cursed nation”.
I’m not sure what gravitational “pull” the author is talking about because pull has nothing to do with it. Its not like the people in other countries were on their hands and knees begging us to send over some of our shit. What it really is, is corporate (read: Developed Nations, not just American) marketing prowess at creating needs by pulling at our basest dietary strings for convenience, fat, sugar, and salt wrapped up in powerful messages and images about youthfulness, fun, freedom, etc. The classical marketer’s retort that “no one forces people to buy anything” is such a load of crock. There are probably as many psychologists working for corporations trying to figure out how to get people to buy stuff than there are working in the mental health arena. Gravitational pull my backside….more like a tsunami I suspect.