It’s too many calories in, according to the research – as surveyed by the Sightline Institute. Here are some items from research director Clark Williams-Derry.
Specifically, we find that increased caloric supply accounts for 82 percent of adult obesity in developed countries. Calorie consumption (including eating + waste) skyrocketed in tandem with the obesity epidemic, starting in the mid 1980s:
Calorie consumption was really high in the early 1900s — which I attribute (perhaps inaccurately) to the fact that so many people were doing manual labor, and were actually burning an extra 1000 calories or so per day in hard work.
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Healthy food got more expensive over time. Calorie dense foods — refined sugars, starches, oils — are really cheap. Calorie-for-calorie, healthy foods like salad cost 10-100 times more than junk food.
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Corn v. Crude and Food and Fuel shows simultaneous movement of corn and crude oil.
Then there’s:
– the social aspect of eating out (and restaurant food isn’t the healthiest (i.e. adding a dollop of butter to give a sheen)) – cooking at home (from scratch, not from a box or can) is far healthiest since you know what’s going into what you’re eating.
– using food as an emotional crutch (as often depicted on television)