International Development Series talk given by Prof. Anthony Winson
On Feb. 7, the Department of International Development Studies hosted a lecture on “Globalisation of the Industrial Diet,” presented by University of Guelph Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Tony Winson. The lecture coincided with the release of Winson’s new book, “The Industrial Diet,” which he spoke about candidly.
Winson argued that the “degradation of food and the struggle for healthy eating has changed since the advent of food technology processes.” The definition of food has changed “because the change in technological innovation has enabled the transformation of our diets,” said Winson. Our eating habits have changed from “paleo diets” – which consist mainly of fish, vegetables, fruit, eggs and grass-fed pasture-raised meats – to “industrial diets.”
Winson argued that the degradation of our modern diet has resulted in an industrial one that he referred to as a “suite of aggressively promoted, nutritionally compromised products that are the outcome of an ensemble of agricultural and food technology processes.”
Two factors that proved essential in precipitating this shift were increasing urbanization and liberalization of women in society.
“The combined socio-economic transformations of massive rural to urban migration and the liberalization of women working outside of the domestic unit have resulted in severe time constrictions which transform our diet,” said Winson. It was these transformations that enabled the proliferation of the industrial diet and provided “a profitable opportunity for corporations.”
While the success of these corporations is based on their exploitation of time constraints, Winson adds that “with convenience, comes a price.” Powerful corporations are “limiting our nutritional possibilities” and replacing traditional foods with “compromised edible products.”
Grocery stores encourage these limitations in immediate ways with their tremendous influence on the “spatial colonization of food environments.” With a combination of free parking, accommodating hours of operation and shopping carts, supermarkets entice buyers with convenience. Yet their “lucrative success” is really owed to “the hyper-spatial colonization of pseudo-foods which are usually found at the displays on the ends of aisles.”
Winson goes so far as to estimate that “only ten per cent of food found in supermarkets has any nutritional value.” The rest, he said, “is pseudo (junk) food.” By manipulating food environments in this way, corporations are able to “wean people off of traditional snack foods and onto new ones they control,” fast food in particular.
This shift not only adversely affects the middle-class by exploiting their time constraints, but, in reality, has the biggest impact on vulnerable populations, children especially, who “are the key target for these pseudo-food products.”
“Corporations, in advertising, undermine the health of children,” said Winson. “[They] are aware of this.”
What is more, the foods that are aggressively marketed by American transnational food corporations can be characterized by three traits: adulteration, simplification, and degradation.
In providing an example of adulteration, Winson highlighted the recent allegations brought forward by the website, Foodbabe.com. Winson told the audience that the same ingredient “azodicarbonamide” used in yoga mats and shoe leather is also a chemical used to make Subway sandwich bread.
In concluding, Winson emphasized the global scope of this proliferating industrial diet.
“The control of food retail and the proliferation of supermarkets worldwide is part of the neoliberal agenda,” said Winson. The impact of this system, though, he says is worrying. With escalating obesity rates, developing countries otherwise known for shortages of food are showing the consequences of the industrial diet. Countries like Mexico, Brazil and India are now coming on par with developed countries in terms of high rates of obesity and diabetes.