As the world emerges from COVID-19, we must remember there is a silent yet devastating health crisis: our diets. In this era, convenience reigns supreme, with ultra-processed foods infiltrating everyone’s lives, leading to surges in preventable diseases and deaths. This crisis is more than individual food choices; it is a systemic issue affecting millions, especially in low-income communities.
One of the biggest drivers of the crisis is the ubiquity of ultra-processed foods in the American diet. Sugary snacks, fast food, and microwaveable meals have all become staples. These foods are crammed with added sugars, unhealthy saturated and trans fats, and artificial additives while depleted of essential nutrients. Research finds that high consumption of these foods is linked to some of today’s leading killers. It raises the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 40 percent, heart disease death by 50 percent, and obesity by 55 percent. In the United States especially, obesity rates have soared, with 42 percent of adults now classified as obese.
Even worse, a staggering number of Americans, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color, are effectively reliant on ultra-processed food. Over 23.5 million Americans live in “food deserts,” neighborhoods over a mile away from the nearest supermarket. This, topped with the high costs of fresh produce and other healthier items, makes ultra-processed food the only readily available and affordable choice for low-income populations, sentencing them to lives of chronic disease.
The low cost of junk food is not due to market forces but deliberate government policies to subsidize its ingredients. Between 1995 and 2010, our government spent $170 billion in agricultural subsidies on crops like corn, which is used for sugary syrup, and soybeans, which become frying oil. Essentially, we are paying for our own obesity.
If we are to be a nation that cares for public health, our toxic food culture must end now. This requires every tool at our disposal to become a society where everyone can make healthy food choices. Just as we waged a war on drugs that wreak havoc on our bodies, we must wage a war on ultra-processed foods that do the same.
Firstly, Americans need comprehensive, science-based education. Government, media, the private sector, and social media platforms must come together for a campaign on the dangers of ultra-processed foods. This means a departure from our current dietary guidelines, which are silent on ultra-processed foods and fixated on macros like calories and cholesterol. The glaring omission lets food companies get away with misleading health claims, like marketing ultra-processed plant-based meat alternatives as “healthy.”
Another key component of nutrition education is reimagining food labels, ensuring consumers have the right information to seek out healthier choices. Instead of our novel-length nutrition facts boxes, we need easy-to-understand, eye-catching labels. A good example is France’s Nutri-Score labeling. Under this system, a simple color-coded A to E letter grade alerts consumers of nutritional value, which has been shown to steer people toward healthier options.
We must also transform fiscal policy to address the crisis. Rather than subsidizing junk food, we need to use the tax code to reduce consumption. Studies have shown that small taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages can decrease consumer sales and, thus, consumption by 33 percent. Taxes on even more ultra-processed foods will lead people to eschew them, too.
Government policies encouraging healthier choices should also discourage the consumption of ultra-processed food. Our agricultural subsidies need to go toward the production of nutritious foods. If we invest our tax dollars in fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, and whole grains, we can make healthy food affordable and accessible.
Farmers’ markets and community gardens are also proven tools to bring fresh produce to food deserts. The CDC has found that farmers’ markets in low-income areas increase fruit and vegetable consumption by offering lower-cost produce nearby. Community gardens in low-income communities have a similar effect, as people are more inclined to consume the literal fruit of their own labor, especially if it is cheaper and easy to access. Even better, community gardens have also been found to promote physical activity, improve mental health, and foster social ties.
Healthy school meals are another policy for children in low-income communities to gain access to high-quality food with little to no burden on their families. Rather than ultra-processed meals, students need access to whole foods and fresh produce to fuel their education. Besides immediate health benefits, children will gain a lifelong love of healthier foods.
As with any government policy, if science takes a back seat to politics, there can be pitfalls. The USDA largely shapes our current food policy, an agency simultaneously tasked with promoting the consumption of our agricultural output. As a result, we make schools falsely teach there is a daily requirement to consume dairy, and mandate that subsidized school meals offer milk, all because of dairy industry lobbying. The USDA is so beholden to the dairy industry that it actively undermines our health, convincing a major pizza chain to use almost twice as much cheese. Clearly, any science-based nutrition policies must exclude an agency with such a flagrant conflict of interest.
The health crisis posed by our modern diet is a multifaceted issue requiring a comprehensive approach. We must implement public health campaigns, create science-based nutrition policies, stop subsidizing food that makes us sick, and tear down the barriers to healthy eating in low-income communities. Together, we can shift our toxic eating habits and stamp out this health crisis for good.
Aryan Velu, a high school student at Inglemoor High School, is extremely passionate about health and nutrition. He writes articles to raise awareness of nutritional problems in our country and educates others on how to eat healthily. Additionally, he conducts independent research related to heart diseases, integrating both of these fields.
