Would you ever think that IBM would come up with the most forward thinking and reasonable solution to the health care crisis in this country? If your interested pleas read the executive summary for their health care initiative and see what you think. What's interesting to me is the language they use, compared to what we're used to reading in Public Health. Have we ever read an article that mentions the consumer? Do we even know what the definition of a health consumer is? I really don't think we do. We've talked extensively about public-private partnerships, but our education is so tailored for a career in the public sector that it makes it difficult to bridge the gap from our end. We demonize the private sector as the root of most health problems, and expect to be able to find functional solutions to work together to solve problems.
Regarding the issue that private enterprise somehow devalues or diminishes culture I don't think KFC is the problem in China, and I definitely don't think McDonalds is the problem in America. These companies are a part of Modernity which is an inevitability throughout the world, and fast food and fast lives is a part of this modernity. To argue that this is taking away from a traditional culture is like saying the transition to not eating human flesh took away from cannibalistic cultures. In a post modern world its easy to look reverently at "traditional" culture but we need to understand that those people living in traditional societies look at our lives with even more reverence. Should we deny them what they want? Should we force them to live a "traditional" life because we think its healthier even if they don't want it?
I think there's an inherent fallacy in referring to traditional as somehow better than modern, especially from our perspective, and we need to take care in recognizing this.
With all the horrible fast foods and private companies disregarding our health to make a profit, life expectancy and quality of life indicators have grown steadily in the west, while more traditional societies have stayed stagnant in these indicators. Clearly its a complicated issue that deals with economics, politics, and other issues, but its easy to overlook these statistics when we're constantly bombarded with the negative data in Public health.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
i agree with you, payam. i don't think mcdonald's and kfc are the real problems. but i do think the consumer should be educated, and perhaps that's where the public sector can step in. consumers don't always realize what they're getting themselves into. i'm not saying that if they did, they'd never eat at mcdonald's. but they might be better equipped to make smarter/more balanced choices.
Is it perfectly acceptable then that there's a fast food restaurant in every corner of a low income neighborhood in the path of children walking to school? Aren't some of the practices of this industry socially unconscionable? The private sector, especially the fast food industry and the food industry in general should be held accountable for the social perils that their consumer goods have caused. It is a matter of consumer choice and free market economy, but what if the consumer has no choice and no access to anything but unhealthy food? I believe it is a social imperative that corporations be held accountable for their actions, but those are just my humble opinions.
If as in the case of Cigarrete manufacturers private industry covers up and misinforms their consumers regarding the negative health implications of their product, then they should be severly reprimanded. But as in the case of the Fast Food industry, they simply fill a market demand, there is no ground to seek retribution. In the case of the poor communities it's the role of the public sector to educate and empower people to make better decisions.
What action should McDonald's be held accountable to?
Providing cheap food that's high in fat? Did they cover up research saying that they're food is unhealthy, are they trying to claim that people will lower their chance of becoming obese or getting diabetes by eating big macs?
It's not their fault, its our fault
(meaning the public sector) for not being able to lobby for a better education and health care system in the world's richest country.
Payam, I like your perspective toward traditional cultures and the way they people in that environment look upon us. You are right about fast life style and fast food, which is a package that it comes with it. It is a matter of knowledge for consumers to know what they are feeding their body. I read in a news paper last year that McDonalds is going to start labeling the “nutritional fact” on boxes of their products starting 2007.
This way it is a matter of information and choice for people to make decisions for their own being. I really think if individuals live in modernization, they will never face the health problem that we are dealing with in the 21st century.
Payam,
I love how you challenge all my "liberal" views talking about how good globalization and modernization is. I have to do a lot of research to prove you wrong. :)
WELL... regarding McDonald's, I found that the restaurant had a positive impact in increasing standard of service wherever it goes, which is great.
I do think that it is important to educate the consumer, but educating the consumer has its limits, especially when people can't afford the food they SHOULD eat. I know you're rolling your eyes at this, and saying "It's not McDonald's fault" but consider:
-they make their french fries and biscuits with beef flavoring, while not publicizing that they are not vegetarian (at least in the United States), which led to a lawsuit that they lost in 2002.
-McDonald's announced in 2003 that they were switching to a lower trans fat cooking oil, which they did not do, and thus had to pay $7 million to the American Heart Association after another lawsuit.
By the way, I just found this film, and it looks interesting (although I haven't yet seen it): McLibel. I think you can just watch it for free online.
Anyway, it's not that I think that McDonald's should be sued for making people fat, but I think you give them a little too much credit.
You say that "life expectancy and quality of life indicators have grown steadily in the west, while more traditional societies have stayed stagnant in these indicators". I think it is better to look at whose life expectancy and quality of life is increasing in the west. As Dr. Shahi said, there is a north and a south in every country, right? And perhaps the effects of our "fast" lifestyles aren't felt as hard on us as on others because we have access to advanced medicine. You can say what you want about traditional food and compare it to cannibalism (as a thing of the past), but the people who are living the longest and healthiest are in places like Japan and are doing so because of their outdated traditional diets (according to the WHO anyway).
I don't think we should demonize the private sector, but we should make serious attempts at regulating the fast food industry and promoting healthier, affordable options in lower SES areas.
People should be given choices, both in this country and in developing countries, not forced to eat either fast food or "traditional food" or healthy food or unhealthy food. Can you say that we have all been provided with the choice? I think both sectors are to blame for this.
Sorry that was long :)
Well said Mana. I was vaguely aware of the lawsuits against McDonalds. I don't think McDonalds is a socialy responsible company in any way, they're only a succesful and profitable company. Don't get me wrong I'm not a libertarian, I believe in a "regulated" free market, that limits the extent to which companies go to make profits. In this case McDonalds made bad choices and paid for them, and hopefully will take a different route in the future.
Japan is an interesting example that you used, but don't they also have McDonald's, so couldn't it be that they deal with the issue of poverty better in their country then we do in ours.
Did you read Fast Food Nation or Food Politics, the striking thing for me in those books wasn't the actions of the food industry. I've ran a business and when you're dealing with trying increase market share you realize sometimes you're morality can be shallow. But when you realize the consequences you make the right decisions. In the food industry there was no consequences, FDA and other government agencies were on the payrolls of all the big food industry companies. Are the companies to blame for paying off government employees who wanted to be paid off. I'm not sure how to make the argument, but I'm of the opinion that its the governments fault for not enforcing regulations, not private industry.
You know Mana, I'm very liberal too, I don't challange liberal ideas, I challange liberal defeatism. I challange the notion of always blaming someone or something else. It was okay when the hippies did it because they stood up for what they believed in and created social change, what have we done... our generation has done absolutely nothing. I've been listening to these statistics and how horrible things are in the world, for 7 years now, eversince I started at UCLA and the people I hear saying these things are never the ones I read about making any change. Pragmatism is an important concept I think we all need to come to grips with.
I'm sorry it's 2 in the morning so if I might not be making much sense either.
So this is where the action is at. Wowoweewo. That was the greatest comprehensive six page health care analysis known to mankind. Unfortunately, I'm here to refute the notion that these globalized McCorporations are not responsible for pillaging people, communities, and so on. These modern joints are in everybody's backyards and inside everybody's heads. It's the McOccupation of the globe. I just bought "The Social Psychology of Consumer Behavior" (and "The End of Faith" as per your recommendation) and am seeing that these corporations are reverse engineering our basic impulses to sell us their products. They could sell me a jalopy with hooves for wheels and I'd probably unknowingly trade in my kidneys. The point is that they don't bend the truth, but they absolutely do bend your mind. The power of persuasion is a powerful tool. "With great power comes great responsibility." Social responsibility. G'nite. :P
Payam, thanks for sharing your views. I definitely agree that it is the person's choice to go to fast food places and that more education on what to eat is necessary, but mcdonalds can also invest in being a more responsible business in terms of health (some good things would be like putting their nutritional content in blatant view of the customer, which was not the case in supersize me). Fast food is not the sole culprit, i agree, but if there is a serious growing problem, and your corporation is part of the problem, I think it's important to mobilize the corporation to help combat the problem.
Farah has a good point. Globalization for the greater good is one thing. However global vices like; fast foods, tobacco, etc., without education is like making someone snort cocaine without telling them it's addictive properties. How then can we rely on private sector?
Post a Comment