Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Free trade and Mexico’s junk food epidemic

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, March 2, 2015

Free trade and Mexico’s junk food epidemic

Click here to access article from Grain.

This article reports on an excellent example of the devastation that "free-trade" treaties can have on a nation's health in addition to their economies. Major international food corporations like Coca-cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé are making huge profits from neoliberal trade treaties like NAFTA.

Free trade agreements like NAFTA have shifted Mexican diets away from fresh fruit and vegetables towards heavily processed and refined foods, with catastrophic effects on the health and development of children.