https://www.ft.com/content/67916a20...d8-15c2dd1280ff

they got the headline wrong; the food system is not broken, it's dysfunctional.

If the writer is suggesting/implying that devoting more land to and eating more fruit and vegetables will stem the obesity epidemic (as is often suggested in other articles) it won't work IMO because obesity's causes don't really revolve around a lack of those foods. It used to be people would say "eat less fat" but when fat was found not to be the problem they thought, oh, it must be something else, so changed it to "eat more fruits and vegetables" yeah, that's it, but which doesn't really address the problems either. How about "Eat more (saturated) fats? Eat more (animal) proteins?" Most people and organizations aren't really there yet being able to embrace these things as actually healthy and anti-obesigenic. Also the reference to corn, rice, wheat, animal protein. The former three of these will promote obesity if eaten in large enough amounts to stave off frank starvation, the latter is good but likely not too available in bare subsistence situations in Africa. But unlike veggies and a bit of fruit, at least grains (and meat if affordable..) contain high energy value. No one can live off just fruit and vegetables. We all need energy. And another thought, those pictures Gary Taubes had in one or more of his books I read...the malnourished obese African mothers seated beside their malnourished skinny children. How Taubes pointed out these moms aren't over-eating and then under-feeding their children. They're all starving. They're giving everything they can to their little guys while eating barely enough to keep themselves alive. Demonstrating yet again obesity isn't a matter of calories in calories out because one can literally be obese while starving due to the hormonal havoc wreaked by an inadequate diet of refined carbs. So some African folks can afford to eat at fast food junk places that are popping up to take their money. Just as unhealthy there as here where people do the same, but I doubt that's the bulk of the obesity problem there. A lot more is going on. But big food is also taking advantage of the market there selling them sweet drinks and junk because profits elsewhere have dropped as more people in other places turn away from sugar and junk.

There is a lack of food in many areas, so I am confused. Grains are used to fill bellies as it is easy to grow, harvest, transport and store. ALl things fruits and vegies are not.

And it comes in the form of hamburger buns, fritos, etc.

I had a long conversation with my MIL, in her early 80's now, and grew up in upper state NY in a very rural area. Like a one room school house. We were discussing what foods she ate growing up, and whu today she is healthy, few cavities ( first one at 16, total of 4) and no meds. Cows milk from pastured cows; fruits and vegies and meats canned by her mom; no candy; oranges only at CHristmas; desserts only on SUnday. Then corn, real creamed corn: cream and corn. ( remember this is the old corn, pre- Se- and Su- types and GMO types.) And no bread. Eventually a WOnder type did make it to their plates--but I'm unclear how often ( every day staple or occasionally). Only a hygienist that visited the school.

Modern is not better IMHO.

My best guess is it's the lack of sugar even though grains were consumed for most of dietary energy. Like traditional Asians (who are now fattening on higher sugar drinks and other "western" foods added to their traditional grain diets). I remember my mom saying when her adolescent cousin was terminally ill with cancer back in the day that a watermelon was special ordered and shipped by train to their farming community to fulfill one of the girl's last wishes, to eat a watermelon. Sad story, but telling to illustrate that they couldn't have been eating much fruit even out on a farm. It was a wheat farm. Pigs, dairy cows, etc. Some fruit like cherries bottled for the winter.

Sad story-- but brought a smile to my face , by the kindness of those fulfilling a dream.

I think it is hard to know what people were eating. I would like to think we know but do we really?

As for fruit, IMHO the most common nutrients of fruits can be met via vegies: leaves, roots, herbs, etc. Somewhere along the timeline we ( AMericans) changed our food consumption. As hunter gatherers, we ate fresh grassfed meats and gathered fresh perishables as well as those that could be dried, or mixed with fat. Ithink about the when I walk around my small farm, nibbling on many kinds of vegetable matter, some cultivated, some volunteers, some wild....... what happened to create the mono-culture when corn is king, ( or wheat).

By about 1925 the native people of the Alakan Islands ate either traditional foods, or that food supplemented by tins from the AMerican government. The latter had twice as much tooth decay. The difference seems to be whatever was being supplied to them via the govenment. The cavities, imo, was the beginning of a slow death.

A slow death that we all experience NOW if we have not wised up to the benefits of carefully choosing our food, given the glut of options, most of which are under the header " slow death".

ALso read about a woman who promoted sprouting during the winter to provide good vitamins in an otherwise poor diet---this was the 40's onward in the cities, like Boston.

Just makes me think that quality vegetables are underrated for good health. Fruit? Fruit is a bonus. ANd may have key phytochemicals, flavinoids, etc, that are the icing on the cake.

Of course today, much of this food is covered with pesticides and herbicides........ sheesh....... are we going to win??