I am forwarding some thoughts from Elaine Power, Ph.D., Assistant Professor,
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine,  University of
Toronto.

Elaine says...........
Interesting that the goal seems to be to TAKE AWAY choice - so that people
only make "the healthiest choices" - maybe 'choices' should be in quotes
here - the only choice is among the healthiest food. Reminds me of the
survey of dieticians I did for my masters' degree, the majority of whom felt
the same way - that choice of personally acceptable food was not part of
food security because, after all, those poor people might choose to live on
chips and pop. Not surprising though - it's part of the authoritarianism of
the neo-liberal mode of governance when it comes to those who might not be
able to govern themselves appropriately - those 'at risk' of making the
'wrong' choices.

The quote ignores the huge body of evidence around the determinants of
health that suggests there are much more important factors than food in
determining the health of those at the bottom of our hierarchical society.

It also ignores the fact that fast food is a cheap and easy way to 'belong'
in consumer society - where consumption (rather than production) is the
primary way by which we define who we are.

more food for thought...................

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carlson, Marie" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: January 9, 2003 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: community capcity for healthy eating


> I appreciate the discussion and range of viewpoints on the problem of
> capacity for healthy eating, however, I personally gravitate toward a
> structural vs. individual perspective on the issue and possible
> solutions. For an eye-opening read on the economics, politics and
> culture of the fast food industry that addresses many of these issues, I
> recommend, "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Marie Carlson AB (hons.) MA
> Project Coordinator
> Centre for Health Promotion Studies
> University of Alberta
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sherryl smith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 9:02 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: community capcity for healthy eating
>
>
> Bravo Glen. I will enjoy passing this along to some nursing students!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Glen Brown <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 5:59 PM
> Subject: Re: community capcity for healthy eating
>
>
> > I just can't resist wading in to this one...
> >
> > I think Jacquie's note that people are their own agents is a crucial
> > one. BUT that should prompt us to acknowledge their role (and our own)
>
> > as
> agents
> > for political change. Shouldn't our programming (including our health
> > promotion programming) make that front and centre? Why do so many
> > 'health promotion' materials, intended to educate the communities we
> > work with,
> not
> > even mention that poverty (and pollution, and unhealthy working
> > conditions..) are the primary determinants of health? If it's supposed
>
> > to
> be
> > a secret, it's not a very well kept one.
> >
> > Here's an illustration from my own recent experience. I worked on a
> project
> > a while back looking at heart health issues for multicultural
> > communities. We did a literature review, some key informant
> > interviews, and some focus groups with people from different
> > ethnocultural communities in Toronto.
> >
> > Everything we read from the literature, and everybody we interviewed
> pointed
> > to poverty, stress, isolation, etc as the central culprit in poor
> > heart health.
> >
> > The focus groups were fascinating: their level of knowledge about
> > 'good'
> vs
> > 'bad' food was quite high. In fact, I was surprised at how frequently
> people
> > expressed anxiety about contaminants and additives in food. (Not a
> > concept the heart health literature had acknowledged).
> >
> > They knew about smoking. They knew about exercise. (One woman left me
> > speechless when she asked why the pamphlets suggested a daily walk
> > when
> the
> > radio was warning people to stay inside because of smog. I wished I
> > had
> the
> > power to hire her as a health promotion educator.)
> >
> > But what they really wanted to talk about was the stress in their
> > lives.
> Did
> > I understand, they wanted to know, how little time they had for
> > shopping
> and
> > cooking? Did I understand that after a 12 hour taxi shift they didn't
> really
> > feel like a jog? Did I understand that their kids were in danger of
> dropping
> > out of school because the new curriculum was so daunting? That gulping
>
> > a
> Big
> > Mac down at lunch was really, really, really the least of their
> > worries?
> >
> > They told us all of this with humour, patience and remarkable
> > generousity
> of
> > spirit. I wanted to let them know that, yes, I understood. And that
> > the great group of health promoters and public health folks I was
> > working with understood. (They really did - the group I was working
> > with worked with disadvantaged people every day, and they understood
> > the determinants of health with a passion).
> >
> > And then I looked at the heart health brochures. Eat your vegetables,
> > quit smoking and go for a walk. Or it's your fault. Not a word about
> > the
> primary
> > causes of heart disease that everybody - the researchers, the health
> > promoters, the service providers, the people in our focus groups;
> > everybody! - knew about. I wondered if this didn't border on contempt.
> >
> > The person who first started this exchange, so many emails ago, asked
> about
> > community capacity. I wonder if part of building capacity is building
> > awareness (or, more accurately, validating the awareness they already
> have)
> > that social conditions are the biggest keys to health and that
> > communities can mobilize to affect those social conditions. That
> > doesn't preclude messages about individual behaviour change, but I
> > think it should preceed them.
> >
> > Glen Brown
> >
> > Glen Brown & Associates Consulting
> > 488 Parliament Street, #1
> > Toronto Ontario M4X 1P2
> > T: 416-892-2286
> > F: 416-966-1362
> > E: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Health Promotion on the Internet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> > Behalf Of Jacquie Poitras
> > Sent: January 8, 2003 4:36 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: community capcity for healthy eating
> >
> >
> > I recognize that health and healthy eating have many social
> > determinants. Every choice we make is based, in part, on societal
> > factors,
> dis/advanatage,
> > peer group, consumerism--you name it.  But in the end, it is us as
> > individuals who make decisions about our lives.  We are agents who act
>
> > in a manner to improve our health or who choose "unhealthy" options.
> >
> > Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to
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> subscription
> >
>
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