Why do we let the obesity rate go up in developed nations, while watching others starve?

Answer 1

Because donuts and ho ho's are apparently so tempting...

Answer 2

I don't recall pushing people away from my dinner table that were starving. What does one have to do with the other. If every American went on a diet today, would that put a single mouthful of food in those starving elsewhere in the world? We still pay farmers not to grow food, because they are too good at it, that American farmers have been producing more food than people will buy. If you are wondering how the poor of the world could buy food, that is a different thing than we are getting fat because we eat too much.

Here's one for you. Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was a great producer of food for Africa. But white farmers did it. So the current dictator confiscated the land and gave it to blacks. The blacks didn't work the land like the white farmers did. People are starving in that former land of plenty because of corrupt racial politics. There are people in large parts of Africa that are dying of AIDS, whole towns emptied, often populated by children survivers (you should have seen Oprah crying over the sight, although others have been telling of it for years). Yep, those 5 and 6 year old children make really productive farmers. There is the story of the Sahara desert expanding southward, impoverishing Africans. What has been said and long known is that the Africans overgrazed their land and burned up the trees for firewood--so the desertification of Africa was the ineffective land use of native Africans--not greedy, gluttonous Americans. I've known people who had been to Afghanistan and parts of China several decades ago. They too have cut down the trees, ruining the watershed that represented, turning beautiful green places into barren sand and stone. That wasn't the fault of the lazy lard buckets tooling around the grocery stores of the USA in those electric shopping carts.

Answer 3

Great question. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. I guess if we could, we'd pass the plate of Dad's cookies to a starving guy in Uganda and share our goodies, but that's an impossibility, so we eat all the cookies ourselves.
I don't think it's a question of 'letting' the obesity rate go up in developed nations. It's something that reflects the stresses many of us are under (eating is a classic response to stress) along with the 'empty' foods we eat, the exercise we don't get because we lead such sedentary lives, etc.etc.etc.
Too bad more people don't think the way you do.

Answer 4

Obesity in people happens when the food is their greatest source of joy. I sincerely believe that people who crave food should learn to get happiness out of doing better things like sharing the food with some one needy. Food does not make you happy in long term. Once it's inside you, you just feel the same as before.
(I feel the same thing applies to people who are shopping-addicts.)
I think this will solve the some starving, some fattening problem.

Answer 5

Its a matter of choice....

You or I who maybe fat, refuse to give our "excess" to the poor developing Nations, with donations because we know that the Poor in those Nations will not get it, only those working for the Government will steal it and the poor people will still be starving, and nothing will have been done...

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 6

Who's letting it go up. People in the fatty countries have more money and more accesss to fatty foods and have more sedientary jobs. While in developing countries they have less fatty foods, harder jobs and possible bad water or other parasites that affect health.

Many of the starving nations have food sent to them but their own gov'ts keep the food for their armies and don't give it to the people (countries like Ethiopia and North Korea).

Answer 7

What should we do about it? I think you should go into the business of solving this important problem in the world, by distributing the food better or something. You feel this problem is solvable, what are you doing to solve it. What are you doing to get to the position where you feel you can solve it?

Answer 8

Huh?

Answer 9

because society is rediculously greedy and they don't give a ****!