[afro-nets] Food Subsidies Damaging Health Globally

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

Food Subsidies Are Damaging Health Globally
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http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/december/edd1333.pdf

06 December 2005

Overproduction of food in rich countries is fuelling health
problems worldwide, argues a public health expert from Sweden in
this week's BMJ.

Globally, we are producing more food than the population needs,
writes Professor Liselotte Schafer-Elinder. Subsidising overpro-
duction in developed nations is leading to excessive consumption
and obesity. It is also undermining agriculture in the develop-
ing world, hindering the eradication of hunger and poverty.

The dairy sector in the European Union is an example of how ag-
riculture subsidies can lead to negative health effects in
Europe as well as in developing countries.

Surplus milk is converted to storable products and export subsi-
dies are granted in order to dispose of it. These undermine the
milk sector in many developing countries, which has an important
role in alleviating poverty and malnutrition. Surplus butter is
then sold with subsidies to the food industry, which turns it
into energy dense foods such as ice cream and cakes, fuelling
the obesity epidemic in many developed nations.

The World Health Organisation has noted this problem. Its global
strategy on diet, physical activity, and health advises member
states to take healthy nutrition into account in their agricul-
tural policies.

As long as the supply of energy dense foods is not reduced, the
prevalence of obesity and social inequalities in health is
likely to continue to increase, warns the author. As a first
step to reverse this trend, agricultural market support promot-
ing the overproduction of food has to be phased out.

But even if subsidies are phased out, global supplies will
probably continue to be higher than healthy demand for many
years to come, she adds. Therefore, as a second step, interna-
tionally binding conventions like the one on tobacco are needed.

These should include issues such as marketing of energy dense
foods, availability to children, labelling, and tax and price
measures.


Click here to view full paper:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/december/edd1333.pdf

Click here to view full contents for this week's journal:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/december/contents.pdf

--
Leela McCullough, Ed.D.
Director of Information Services
SATELLIFE
30 California Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA
Tel: +1-617-926-9400
Fax: +1-617-926-1212
mailto:leela@healthnet.org
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