Food Policy Debates: Should Government Regulate Unhealthy Foods?

This article by Robert Kiena is a publication of CQ press, which is an imprint of SAGE publications. Specifically, it was published on October 3, 2014 in the CQ Press Journal. The major agenda of the article is to present a case on why the US government needs to regulate unhealthy foods. In this regard, it articulates the statistics on the level of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other nutritional health related problems. Although Americans have been made aware of the dangers of eating unhealthy foods, which results in increased costs of health, some are still consuming those types of foods. As such, the healthy eating activists- including the first lady Michele Obama have come out to champion for the consumption of healthy foods. Specifically, these activities want the government to highly tax sugary foods, mandate the labeling of GMO foods and make a restriction on the intake of such foods. However, the owners of the food industries have claims that the choice of the consumers is within the free market and should neither be regulated nor legislated. More importantly, the eating trends of the Americans have changed with most of them flocking restaurants that offer healthy foods.

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Kiena contents that America has what food industry critic Omnivores Dilemma author Michael Pollan calls a national eating disorder (819). This statement infers that the American people do not eat healthy foods. As such, they are suffering from disorders related to the types of foods that they eat. This disorder has been caused by the food industries, which continue to offer unhealthy foods that are increasing leading to cases of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. In my view, the statement is correct and justified as the foods that are available in the market are unhealthy and recipes for diseases. Additionally, I concur that the food industry is to blame for these types of foods. In this regard, they infect the food substances with GMO organisms, which in turn make the foods fatty, and conduits of major health related disorders.

In another statement, Kiena is of the view that some new statistics indicate that American eating habits are beginning to change for the better... (820). This statement provides an overview of what the Americans have done to save themselves from the national eating disorder described above. In my view, the change of eating habits is a big step towards the achievement of healthy lives. Indeed, Americans are flocking in restaurants and markets that offer healthy foods as they have become conscious of their health situations. I agree with the author that Americans have changed their eating habits for the better.

To conclude, the article has provided insights into the debates that are happening in the food industry. In this regard, I have been well informed of the causes of unhealthy living and the trends in the food industry. Further, I have realized the efforts that the government has taken to protect the health of its citizens. However, I still need to know the point at which the government balances the issue of free market and the health of its citizens. In this regard, by regulating the food industry, will the government abandon the plight of the industry for the sake of health?

Global Hunger: Can The Planet Feed Itself In 2050?

Tom Price a CQ researcher wrote this article on August 8, 2014. The title of the article best states its purpose. In this regard, Mr. Price enumerates the major causes of world hunger in the world. From the statistics of Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 842 million people around the world are still living in hunger. This is a decline, however, from the 1 billion people who were under malnourished in 1992. The article points out that war, climate change, poverty, and population growth, poor farming practices, corruption, and ineffective food distribution are the major sources of hunger. In this regard, Tom Price blames obese people who eat too much at the expense of those starving. Additionally, he foresees a situation where the planet will have more population that it can feed. Additionally, the increase in the number of middle class people will cause demand for more expensive foods. However, climate change will be a major hindrance to agricultural productivity.

In the article, Tom Price says, the earth produces more food that its inhabitants need but the food is unevenly distributed (675). I totally disagree with this statement based on several grounds. Firstly, if the earth produces excess food, then why does such a huge number of the worlds population starve? Even after the wealthy countries donate their food extras to the malnourished countries; it is still not enough to feed those populations. Indeed, those donations only benefit a small percentage of the starving nations. Secondly, only a small percentage of the worlds wealthy countries produce more than they need. As such, stating that the world produces more food than it needs is not only untrue but also misleading.

Tom opines, Chronic hunger is related to chronic poverty (676). This statement is entirely true. This is the case because; where the populations in extreme poverty, they cannot afford to buy the basic commodities such as food. Additionally these people do not have the necessary technology that can enable them to be productive in agriculture. In any case, the causes of poverty will be the same causes of chronic hunger. Notably, poverty and hunger are two disorders that are closely related. This statement holds true as the proof is in the African sub-Saharan countries that are poor. In the said countries, the number of people living in hunger is also huge.

To conclude, this article by Tom Price provides information that could be used by the various planning bodies to strategize on how they are going to handle the problem of increasing population. In this regard, some of the countries are producing more than they need while others are starving. Similarly, some people are obese while others are malnourished. As such, there is a need to strike a balance in the distribution of food resources so that no one has excess while the other does not have. Additionally, the article presents a case study of the relationship between chronic hunger and chronic poverty. In this regard, tom concludes that the two are interconnected. As such, if the world can eliminate poverty from the face of the earth, then hunger will also be a disorder of the past. However, I still do not understand why some countries produce more while others do not have and they are still comfortable with it; where is humanity and the sense of caring?

Works cited

Kiena, Robert. "Food Policy Debates". CQ Researcher by CQ Press. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. Pp.817-840

Price, Tom. "Global Hunger". CQ Researcher by CQ Press. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. Pp.673-696