A Big Fat Crisis Read Online Free PDF Page A

what they eat, and by offering regular medical exams, we could directly see, for example, the extent to which discounts on sodaand candy lead to a complication from diabetes. Once we know what store factors are the most problematic, we can change them.
    How different would the Supermarket of the Future be from the standard supermarkets we shop at every day? Right now, the ingredients needed for a balanced meal are scattered all over the store. Why not organize the store by meal, so there is a section for breakfast, one for a cold meal (like lunch), and one for a hot meal (like dinner)? Having all the elements for a balanced meal in one place would aid customers in choosing all the items needed for a healthy diet, especially because it would mean we would see the same healthy foods in multiple places. After all, one of the most common strategies for selling chips and soda is to place them in several locations in the store. If we miss them at the entrance, in the third aisle, or on the special display, we can pick them up at the cash register. If we did the same thing for fruits and vegetables, I suspect more people would be eating bananas, broccoli, and melons.
    Sure, it would be a bit inconvenient if the food products we are used to seeing in a certain part of the supermarket suddenly end up in a new spot. But after shopping at the Supermarket of the Future (which would be much smaller than a traditional supermarket) we would quickly get the lay of the land. Many of us would be delighted to avoid foods full of sugar, fat, and empty calories. Just imagine a store that doesn’t assault you with chips, soda, and cakes on eye-level shelves and on every end aisle display!
    (Of course, junk food would still be available. You just might have to go to aisle two and look on the bottom shelf for your favorite candies and chips.)
    To promote eating at home, the Supermarket of the Future could also feature routine cooking demonstrations and tastings that would show consumers how to prepare healthy foods like whole grains and legumes. A few upscale stores like Williams-Sonoma already do this occasionally, but these stores cater to only the most well-heeled consumers. Why shouldn’t all of us have the benefit of seeing easy ways to prepare delicious and wholesome foods on a daily basis?
    Cooking demonstrations might be one of the Supermarket of the Future’s most attractive highlights; consider the popularity of the FoodChannel and the nearly universal appreciation of free samples. Imagine multiple demonstration areas where you could see five different ways to prepare seasonal vegetables, as well as stations where you could taste foods you have never before prepared or tried.
    University of Southern California professors Peter Clarke and Susan Evans found that low-income families who relied on food pantries and were most vulnerable to obesity were not getting enough fresh fruits and vegetables. They arranged for unsold produce to go to these food pantries rather than in the trash. When the food pantry had a shipment of cabbages or broccoli, families could get bags of it—as much as they could carry home. But they quickly tired of eating it, and ended up throwing it out after a day or two.
    Clarke and Evans investigated why this healthy food was being discarded. It turned out that most families knew only one or two ways to prepare the vegetables, like boiling or frying; this can make those veggies bland and unappealing. To address this problem, they provided dozens of recipes that helped the pantry users learn new ways to prepare foods. As we saw earlier, variety is critical to whet the appetite. The recipes were personalized and printed in a booklet with the family’s picture on the cover. As a result, the families ended up consuming more of the vegetables and wasting less. 7
    If supermarkets provided cooking demonstrations, samples, and recipes, many more families would likely expand the variety of fruits and vegetables and whole