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What the U.S. could learn from Japan about making healthy living easier (www.npr.org)

submitted 1 year ago by StringTheory@beehaw.org to c/food@beehaw.org

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The emphasis on fresh high-quality food made me wonder if that sort of food is more satisfying (and filling) than what the author sees in American food. Does eating poor quality food leave you hungry? (Also, consider people living in “grocery deserts” who subsist on large amounts of fast food. Their obesity rates are very high.)

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[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Just a bunch of random thoughts, after reading the article (I'm neither from Japan nor USA):

This is not to say Japan is immune to industrialized and ultra-processed food trends driving up obesity rates worldwide. Excess weight is a growing concern here, too.

Even homemade treats like karaage can be an issue, too. The underlying problem is the same - it's highly caloric food tweaked to be as tasty as possible, that doesn't offer you a lot of dietary fibre or micronutrients. However at least homemade treats can be tweaked to become slightly healthier, while mass processed food will always contain as much fat and salt as allowed per law.

From what I recall, USA subsidises maize. That would be great if the subsidised maize would go into more "direct" food items (polenta, nixtamal, boiled, etc.), but I bet that most of that becomes corn syrup. Perhaps it should shift the subsidy towards vegetables in general?

I also wonder if the "heavy breakfast, light lunch" culture doesn't play a role. Usually a housemate will have more time to prepare a good lunch than a good breakfast; that usually means just high calories to keep you through the day, but relatively low amounts of micronutrients.

[–] newtraditionalists@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Yes, maize is subsidized, and yes, the majority is turned into corn syrup. Culturally, there has been a shift away from corn syrup so lots of products popping up using sugar instead (cuz, ya know, that's so much better). But the products with corn syrup are right next to them, and people usually can't afford the newer "less processed" alternatives.

[–] falsem@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Per the USDA, here's what corn is used for in the US:

1/3 goes to feeding livestock
1/3 is used for ethanol which is added to car fuel
"The rest of the corn crop is used for human food, beverages, and industrial uses in the U.S., or exported to other countries for food or feed use. Corn has hundreds of uses. It is used to make breakfast cereal, tortilla chips, grits, canned beer, soda, cooking oil, and bio-degradable packing materials. It’s the key ingredient in the growing medium for life-saving medicines including penicillin. Corn gluten meal is used on flower beds to prevent weeds."

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2019/07/29/corn-americas-largest-crop-2019

I'm sure a lot of it is used for corn syrup but it appears to be far from the majority. Mostly animal feed (which in turn becomes things like beef and milk) and fuel.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the info!

Nevermind on the maize thing then. Perhaps reducing the subsidies might be sensible for other reasons, but odds are that it won't affect health concerns.