FAO demands a healthier food trade system
Food trade has its dark side, as commodities and industrialized cheap food are seen as a danger to the health of people, explained Jose Graziano da Silva, Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General.
Obesity is one of the effects recorded on that issue and the problem is rife in the small island developing states in the Pacific, which have to import most of their food, with obesity rates ranging from more than 30% in Fiji to 80% among women in American Samoa. In at least 10 Pacific Island countries, more than 50% (and in some up to 90% ) of the population is overweight. The overconsumption of imported industrialized food high in salt, sodium, sugar and trans fats is the major driver behind this situation.
Estimates indicate that today 2.6 billion are overweight and that the prevalence of obesity in the global population has increased from 11.7% in 2012 to 13.2% in 2016.
"If we do not adopt urgent actions to halt the increasing obesity rates, we soon may have more obese people than undernourished people in the world," Graziano da Silva said. "There are several underlying factors driving the global pandemic of obesity. Unhealthy diets are the most significant one."
He pointed to the increased availability and accessibility of food types that are very energy-dense, high in fat, sugar and salt, whose sales have been spurred on by intense marketing and advertising.
"Fast and junk food is the best example of that. This kind of food is cheaper, and easier to access and prepare than fresh food, particularly for poor people in urban areas," Graziano said, noting that when resources for food become scarce, people choose less expensive foods that are often high in caloric density and low in nutrients.
The consumption of these cheap foods comes, however, at a high cost to society with obesity a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers.
Stricter laws for food producers, education in terms of healthy cooking and healthy food choices, greater access to information for consumers to promote awareness and healthier dietary choices, and trade agreements that make local nutritious food cheaper to produce, while restricting the influx of imported cheap food that are high in fat, sugar and salt are the recommendation that FAO is giving to national governments.
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