Standard American Diet
he Standard American Diet, also known as SAD, is the typical meal plan of the United States that includes processed foods and monoculture ground provisions in three daily meals, for which there is no scientific basis. Food manufacturers influenced the eating habits of this country.There is little emphasis on the importance of vegetables and fruits in a healthy diet. Animal protein is considered the most essential part of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, supplied by industrial farm-raised protein that uses hormones to accelerate growth cycles, thereby increasing yields of red meats, poultry, pork, and dairy products. Processed meat
contains high levels of sodium, sugars, saturated fats, and carcinogenic preservatives. Highly sweetened beverages are often used as water substitutes and are produced more effectively with high fructose corn syrup, a substance that can shut down the body’s built-in appetite regulator for fullness.
SAD contains little in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fiber, healthy fats,and plant-based proteins, the natural foods that promote health in a human diet. Americans suffer from consistent consumption leads to diabetes, hypertension, heart issues, and obesity.
SAD foods are produced and packaged to reduce the amount of preparation time. Fast foods eliminate preparation time completely. However, the amounts of sodium, sugar, and fats have tipped the scales accounting for more than 20% of African Americans’ meals and a high obesity rate of 21%. Caucasian and Hispanic consumption is not too far behind.
Healthy and Unhealthy Aspects of the SAD
The only healthy aspect of the SAD is that it is filling, unfortunately, with products that minimally nourish the body. Vitamins and minerals, in many foods, are added AFTER processing. The refined flours, all in the interest of satisfying customer taste, are void of fiber and coat the intestinal walls, reducing nutritional absorption. A person could consume a lot of these foods and gain weight, but not benefit from the contents.
As these foods do not satisfy an appetite, more food is consumed and stored because the calorie content is unused. This results in obesity. One-third of U.S. adults are obese. With obesity comes chronic diseases of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and some cancers.Processed foods can affect the brain and contribute to inflammation and mood disorders. Addictive additives like sugar, fat, and salt, as well as combinations like umami or kettle flavor, are found in processed foods because they are desirable and can be habit-forming. Corporations appreciate these tastes because consumers continue to eat and buy.
Shareholders appreciate their dividends.
Standard American Diet Worldwide
McDonald's and Burger King were in Hong Kong and Japan when I visited with an on-site sketch tour in 1984, and in the United Kingdom when I was there in 1992. Food corporations expanded their presence worldwide, spreading obesity and chronic diseases. The desire to emulate the United States is propaganda to convince people to surrender their native diets, which have kept them healthy and fit for generations, for a hamburger comprised of more than one carcass from as far away as South America, where grazing pastures replace the Rain Forest. Shifting to fast food benefit corporations. People reduced preparation time for their minds and bodies. The time saved from purchasing and consuming prepared meals benefits businesses.
Consequences of the Standard American Diet in Foreign Countries
When immigrants come to the United States, they are attracted to the SAD as are Americans. They like the quantities and the prices, however,they suffer from inadequate nutrition as Americans do. Processed foods cost less per unit than organic produce or PLU 4, conventionally grown with pesticides.Dollars are stretched further with packaged products. Packaged goods last longer and are less prone to spoilage than fresh produce. These are ideal products to ship to countries that have limited infrastructure.
Food corporation are embedded with the federal government. This relationship guarantees providing meals for military bases of the Department of Defense's deployments in foreign countries. The corporate tentacles stretch to attract potential markets. The same refined processed foods that increased heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes in Americans, change the eating habits and health of people who now have the choice of eating cellophane covered snacks versus their locally prepared seasonal dishes.
Law and the Standard American Diet
I became aware of Dodge v. Ford, a law that will unlikely change the relationship between public corporations and shareholders in 2025. People buy shares in corporations when an initial public offering (IPO) is made public. The corporation receives additional capital to expand its operations, produce more products, and generate increased revenue. The shareholders receive dividends, capital earnings on their investment in the corporation.
From LegalWires:
"Under Henry Ford’s direction, the Ford Motor Company (defendant) had experienced expansion and success. Despite lowering the prices of cars, Ford’s profits increased, leading to substantial special dividends paid out to shareholders, The Dodge brothers, who had a minority investment in Ford and operated their own auto company, were among the owners who received significant special dividends from Ford.
"Henry Ford declared in 1916 that he would no longer be paying special dividends, choosing to put his future profits in growing the business, bringing down car prices, and creating jobs. The Dodge brothers protested this new policy, claiming that Ford’s new course was not in the best interests of the stockholders and that it was their right as owners to receive these dividends.
"The dispute escalated when Ford decided to invest in a smelting plant, further indicating a shift from dividend payments to reinvestment. The Dodge brothers filed suit, seeking to reinstate special dividends and prevent the construction of the smelting plant. The lower court ruled in favor of the Dodge brothers, ordering Ford to pay a special dividend and enjoining the construction of the smelting plant. Ford appealed the decision, leading to this case being heard by the Supreme Court of Michigan." 1
Decision of the Supreme Court
"The 1919 Michigan Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision regarding the payment of dividends but reversed the decision enjoining Ford from building the smelting plant. The court held that while shareholders have rights to dividends from corporate profits, directors also have broad discretion to use those profits for lawful business expansion efforts deemed beneficial for the company’s future. The court also noted the business judgment rule, which gave Ford a wide mapping on how to run the company.
"Court held on several points that, Directors and Authorities of a company have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of shareholders. This duty requires them to prioritize maximizing shareholder value within legal constraints. The court emphasized that while corporations can engage in charitable activities or pay fair wages to employees, these activities should not compromise the corporation’s ability to pay reasonable dividends to its shareholders.
"The court clarified that the primary purpose of a corporation is to generate profit for its shareholders, and any actions taken by directors must be in line with this purpose. Decisions that prioritize other interests, such as charitable contributions, must not conflict with this fundamental duty." 2
The judgment by the court favored the owners, the CEO and shareholders, over the employees. The Dodge brothers probably used their dividends to fund their own car and truck corporation.The revenue generated by Ford Motor Company would have prolonged their plans if Ford had been successful in contri- buting to his employees.All food corporations have the obligation to "feed" their shareholders, who are also their co-owners.
They decide what anyone else receives because they are the investors and developers. This applies to all food businesses that feed the people of the United States and the world. What matters is that people purchase the products as long as they taste good, regardless of whether they are healthy or not. Food corporations prioritize profit by providing what people desire in terms of tastes, cravings, and convenience, regardless of health considerations. No one will eat the food if it doesn't taste good. The corporations will invest the least amount of materials, maintain Low production costs to realize the highest and most significant return on that investment. Fresh foods spoil and require a higher turnover. Preservatives ensure a higher shelf life, contributing to greater profits.That makes shareholders happy. In the meantime, people consuming these products become ill, imbalanced, and prime customers for the pharmaceutical industry.
"As of 2022, in Delaware, the jurisdiction where over half of all U.S. public companies are domiciled, share-holder primacy is still upheld.[4][5] Under some interpretations, the case also affirmed that the business judgment rule that directors may exercise is expansive, leaving Ford and other businesses a wide latitude about how to run the company, if management decisions can point to any rational link to benefiting the corporation as a whole." 3
There is a growing segment of companies focused on health and sustainability (like organic brands). Still, they represent a small share of the total market and may be acquired by larger conglomerates. However, When these companies merge into corporate groups, formulas may be revised to include lower-quality substances.The corporation will adjust the unit price and quantity to maintain the profit margin.
Resources
1. LegalWires, Dodge v. Ford , 1916
3 . Ditto
Links
The above meditation mandala will be available soon.
