0 Unexpected Consequences
Meanwhile, the ability to produce more food than necessary was
fast becoming food providers’ biggest challenge. To boost consump-
tion, producers touted the micronutrients in their foods as essential for
optimal health and longevity. For a brief period of time, food providers
and nutritionists were in alignment—eat more food of greater variety.
This alignment unraveled as additional research showed that all foods
were not created nutritionally equal. As American diets fell below tar-
gets for key foods, new dietary recommendations specified the number
of servings and serving sizes for each food group.
In the 9 0 s, amid the continuing struggle to rein in overproduc-
tion, many learned about hunger and malnutrition among low-income
Americans. Public demand to tackle undernutrition in the Southeast
and Appalachia provided an opening for simultaneously addressing
diseases from overconsumption. But dietary advice that favored more
whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and fish while reducing meat, eggs, and
whole milk meant picking winners and losers.
Staunch opposition from farmers and food manufacturers quickly
followed. The subsequent maneuvering marked a turning point—
nutrition policy had become a political hotbed. To reduce backlash to
forthcoming dietary guidelines, phrases such as “decrease consumption
of meats” were scrubbed in favor of sterile reminders to “avoid too much
fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.”
The fight over nutrition was a surrogate battle over the direction of
the modern food system. Foods loaded with sugars and fats were no
longer rare treats, but standard fare. Any recommendations to limit their
intake was akin to throwing a wrench into a well-oiled gearbox designed
to pump out more and more food.
The result has been malnutrition in all its forms—undernutrition,
insufficient micronutrients, and obesity. In a paradox particular to the
grand food bargain, overconsumption and malnutrition live side by side
in America. It’s all too common for fatty, sugary food to have almost
zero nutrient value.
How did it come to this? One answer is that we broadened our
definition of food to include anything edible, so long as it did not make us
immediately sick. At one time, before the grand food bargain, nutrition
and calories were two sides of the same coin. Today, we are awash in
empty calories, and eating more no longer means eating better.