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Why you should say 'NO' to this media stunt
28th November 2008
• Newspapers cry 'REVOLUTION'
• But beware this hidden agenda...
• Why big business is being handed the
power to tell you what to eat and how
you can fight it
Have you heard the news?
There's going to be a revolution.
Seriously. I kid you not. I read about it in The
Mirror. It's going to change everybody's way of
living!
Or maybe not...
See, it was the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson
who announced this 'lifestyle revolution' on the
11th of November.
By 'revolution', he meant that he was going to
persuade a bunch of businesses to tell the fat
people of Britain to get fit and healthy.
The Mirror reported gleefully:
'Mr Johnson hopes to persuade the whole country
from multinational firms to grassroots community
groups to 'help mums, dads and families eat well,
move more and live longer'.'
For what it's worth, here's what I think about this...
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Beware the hidden agenda behind this stunt
When a 'revolution' is announced by a member of
the cabinet, it's not exactly a revolution is it?
It's more like a 'policy'.
Hardly the sort of revolution attempted by the
likes of Wat Tyler, Che Guevara, or Maximillian
Robespierre.
Surely a revolution turns things upside down? It's
when the people move to topple the powers that
be. Not just another excuse for the government to
kick us up the backsides.
It's a bit like me saying to the kids:
'There's going to be a revolution... I'm still in
charge, and you have to behave better.'
(Actually, I'll have to give that a try!)
But 'revolution' is a nice and exciting word that
looks good in newspapers. And the government
likes to use this word instead of telling us the
truth:
That they want to ignore the socio-economic
breakdown at the heart of the nation's failing
health... absolve the food industry of all blame...
and instead try to get businesses and charities to
tell us how to feel, act, eat and drink.
In my opinion, it's passing the buck.
These innovations are supposed to do us good.
They're announced boldly in the media as if
somehow telling people what they SHOULD do
will fix all the health problems we face.
But who are the government getting to do all this
education and persuasion?
Schools? Nutritionists? Parents? Unpartisan
experts?
No... |
We are going to be told what to eat by the VERY
FOOD COMPANIES WHO CONTRIBUTE TO THE
PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Let's have a deeper look at how this amazing
initiative works...
According to reports, the government is going to
work with supermarkets Tesco and Asda to offer
cut-price healthy food and run in-store
promotions.
Ah, right. So thereby we are giving masses of tax
paid advertising to the corporate giants, driving
more customers to their stores, and giving them
undeserved ethical credibility.
Forget farmer's markets, organic delivery, high
street grocer's...
'Let's get more people into the supermarkets and
make the prices in the supermarket so ludicrously
cheap everyone else will go out of business. This
way the UK will be a massive supermarket owned
by 5 people. And the 'revolution' will be complete.'
Great plan.
My scores on the doors for this amazing initiative:
SUPERMARKETS - 1
HEALTH OF CONSUMER - 0
And let's see who else will benefit...
Ah, yes, enter food giant Kellogg's.
For decades this company has filled the nation's
guts with refined carbs, sugary cereals and
fattening cereals sold as 'healthy diet options'.
Apparently, they are going to support 'breakfast'
clubs in poor areas and sponsor sporting events.
Great, let's hand over our schools to a food
corporation. |
GREEDY FOOD CORPORATIONS - 1
HEALTH OF NATION -0
There doesn't need to be a top-down revolution. It
will never work. It will simply hand over more
control to big business.
What there needs to be is a grass-roots revolution
- from the bottom up.
And here's where I'm going to be unpopular... and
you may disagree... but the buck stops with you
and me. It's we who have to take control of our
lives. It's we who have to make these little
changes to our lives.
It's up to us to learn about eating well, choose
good food, use the bounty of nutrients all around
us to protect ourselves from disease, depression.
obesity and chronic ill-health.
We don't need Kellogg's or Tesco to tell us what
to eat.
We don't need to be bamboozled by mumbo-
jumbo about of a fake 'revolution' from a
government that is, in effect, handing over state
power and responsibility to big business.
We don't need to be told what to do.
Not now. Not ever.
The Good Life Letter ethos is simple:
We are grown-ups who can take charge of our
own destiny.
All we ask is access to decent information about
what we eat... what food does to us... what natural
medicines are available to us.... and full access to
all the conventional AND alternative therapies out
there.
Hopefully, The Good Life Letter can offer this to
you.
But don't even take my word for these things. My
newsletter is just one of dozens of sources of
information that should empower you to get fitter,
healthier and - most importantly - HAPPIER.
In my view, the more the merrier. Fill your shelves
up with good books and your inbox with brilliant
insights... whether they're mine or someone else's!
And let's ignore this revolution garbage.
Media-friendly policies like these usually result in
nothing more than a load of rushed initiatives,
expensive campaigns and red tape.
As the writer Franz Kafka pointed out:
'Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind
only the slime of a new bureaucracy'.
Of course, all this is my opinion. If you heartily
agree or disagree, you can always drop me a line:
ray@goodlifeletter.co.uk |
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