USDA 'Food Pyramid' Is Wrong

With 70% of American adults now considered obese, something is obviously wrong, right? For
decades now, we have relied on the Food Guide Pyramid as our bible for daily nutrition. I remember growing up eating potatoes every week for Sunday dinner, with a thick slice of meat, and a small portion of veggies. How similar was your Sunday dinners growing up? 

As someone who is now fighting each day to eat healthy and to lose weight, the food guide pyramid for me has been turned upside down. Obesity is now considered a disease. Some don't consider it a "disease" simply because the resulting effect was caused by personal choice. That being said, is lung Disease also not considered a disease because it is also caused by a personal choice to smoke cigarettes which are widely known to cause cancer and death? 

I read recently a statistic that 90% of ailments we experience as a people are fully reversible by getting proper nutrition. That includes cancers, diabetes, heart conditions, etc. The Food Guide Pyramid was not put in place with our best interests in mind. Many of us believe that simply because the government puts something into place that it is in our best interest. 

It is common knowledge that eating lots of fruits and veggies every day, with lean proteins, and minimal breads and dairy is the right way for us to be healthy. I want to pose a question. 

The Food Guide Pyramid was installed by the USDA which only has its interests in mind. Obesity is now an epidemic which affects 70% of adults and a growing number of adolescents. Food Addiction is the root cause of obesity. Is it a coincidence that the USDA put in place a Food Guide for us to follow only to purposely addict us to the food that they oversee? Addict the general population, sell more food, make more money. Just a question. 

The article below gives more insight to the problem I just addressed.

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by Tom Hargrove,

PlanetRice Editor-in-Chief

The famous "food pyramid," considered almost holy by many nutritionists and dieters, is wrong and hurts both waistlines and health, claims Dr. Walter Willett, a leading U.S. nutrition researcher, in his new book Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (Simon & Schuster, US$25).

The pyramid, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1992, advises daily consumption of six to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta; two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts; and sparing consumption of fats, oils, and sweets.

The food pyramid is published widely across the United States. It's printed on cereal boxes and bread wrappers, posted on elementary school bulletin boards, and published in university textbooks.

It's also known globally. The USA Rice Federation distributes the food pyramid, for example, through its promotion of U.S. rice in Mexico.

But the food pyramid is outdated and doesn't reflect the latest food research, says Willett, chairman of the Nutrition Department at Harvard University, in a July 26 feature in USA Today.

Willett claims that his new food pyramid offers a longer, and better, life.

Furthermore, the USDA food pyramid serves the interests of its main client, the U.S. agricultural industry, Willett claims.

In Chapter 1 Willett, a long-time critic of the pyramid, writes, "The thing to keep in mind about the USDA Pyramid is that it comes from the [U.S.] Department of Agriculture, the agency responsible for promoting American agriculture, not from agencies established to monitor and protect our health, like the Department of Health and Human Services, or the National Institutes of Health, or the Institute of Medicine.

"And there's the root of the problem--what's good for some agricultural interests isn't necessarily good for the people who eat their products.

"Serving two masters is tricky business, especially when one of them includes persuasive and well-connected representatives of the formidable meat, dairy, and sugar industries. The end result of their tug-of-war is a set of positive, feel-good, all- inclusive recommendations that completely distort what could be the single most important tool for improving your health and the health of the nation.

"At best, the USDA Pyramid offers indecisive, scientifically unfounded advice on an absolutely vital topic--what to eat. At worst, the misinformation it offers contributes to overweight, poor health, and unnecessary early deaths."

USA Today reported that a startling 61% of U.S. citizens weigh too much, and about 26% are obese-30 pounds or more over a healthy weight.

Willett says that the USDA pyramid puts too much emphasis on red meat and lumps too many types of carbohydrates together. The pyramid gives too little emphasis to nuts, beans, and healthy oils, which have positive health effects.

Willett's alternative, the Healthy Eating Pyramid, has daily exercise and weight control at the base, and recommends eating whole grains like brown rice at most meals.

It also emphasizes eating plant oils like olive, canola, and soy, and suggests eating lots of vegetables and gives fish, poultry, and eggs a higher profile than red meat.

USDA had no comment on Willett's new book or his pyramid, USA Today reported.

USDA designed the pyramid as an easy way to show the groups of foods that make up a good diet, and how much of the different groups one needs to stay healthy.

It is in a pyramid shape, rather than a circle or square, to explain the different proportions of foods to one another. The foods that make up the base, or widest part of the pyramid, should be the largest part of a diet. As one goes up the pyramid, the amounts get smaller as the pyramid apexes.

http://www.rense.com/general12/wrong.htm

Live like you're dying - Make today count

Every morning, I wake up to one of my boys wanting to come into bed and snuggle with me before the rest of the boys wake up. This morning I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly awoke simply because I sensed a presence in my room. As I opened my eyes, there he was, not 3 inches from my face. My youngest boy, Parker. Thumb in his mouth, blanket hanging to the floor. "Good morning Daddy, I love you" he says.

I invited him into bed with me for a short while and reflected back to times before we had the pitter patter of little feet in our home. 

My wife and I were married in 2007 and made the decision that we would not wait to have children. The way I look at it, when God wants us to have children he will provide them. "In God's time".  After roughly a year of trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, we made an appointment with a fertility doctor. When the reports came back, it was clear that the both of us had issues internally that offered us little to no chance to ever conceive on our own. The doctor said we had less than .001% chance. 

That day, I think a little part of me died inside. All of my life, I had hoped of nothing more than to be a father. I knew in my heart that I would be a great father. My father was not in my life much, so I wanted nothing more than to be there more for my own kids. 

We weighed our options, adoption, foster care, or no kids at all. Both realizing that we wanted nothing more than to be parents, we felt that the third option was not an option at all, and adopting a child would take years, and tens of thousands of dollars. Adoption didn't feel right. Too many kids are born into families that cannot provide for them in one way or another. I do understand that some children are put into foster care where they wold have been better off in their own homes, but most foster care children are there seeking a second chance. They feel cast away, neglected, hopeless, and unloved. Katy and I decided that WE NEEDED to look into foster care so that we could possibly give one or more children the second chance that they needed. We knew that we had love to give, and felt that newborns have more parents lining up for them, we knew we wanted the children that had less people lining up to take one home. 

In October of 2009 we received a call asking us if we would be willing to take a child into our home. We specifically asked the Foster Care Foundation for children over the age of 5 since they were the least "wanted" by other parents. The phone call left us surprised. They were asking us to take in a 7 month old boy. At the time, we both worked full time, I owned two Pizza restaurants that ate up close to 100 hours a week. We prayed about it and knew that he was for us. 

For the first little while, I called him "The Boy". Before we were allowed to take him into our home, we were required to read about his story. What he went through, the conditions in which he was found, and so on. He wouldn't let you hold him while he ate, he wouldn't let you hold him to rock him to sleep. One day I remember him laying on the floor eating his bottle, he rolled over and left the bottle where it landed. He scooted around for a minute and when he turned to come back to the bottle, he looked at the bottle, and at us. Again and again. He went back to the bottle, picked it up, shook it up, and put it back on the floor, scooted away from it watching us every step he made, making sure we didn't take it. He would put it in different parts of the house, leave, and watch us to see if we would leave it there. It became apparent that in his old home, he didn't have adequate food. He was testing us to see if we would leave his food alone or not. It was so heartbreaking for us to witness this sort of thing. 

At our first court appearance just days afterwards, his parents relinquished their rights, asking us if we would adopt him for good. At first we were shocked,  but we knew what we had to do. This was our opportunity to be permanent parents, this was our chance to give unconditional love to someone that needed it from us. 

His mother was already pregnant with twins, and she fully expected to keep them. But as she got closer to her delivery date, she changed her mind and asked us if we would be willing to adopt them. At first we said NO, even HELL NO. How could we handle another child, let along two?! Most parents have 9 months to buy clothing, crib, stroller, diapers, etc. for a child, we had just done all that over a weekend for one child, now we would have to do it for two more? 

After spending a day pondering the reasons that we couldn't take on two more boys, I woke up the next morning and knew without a doubt that we would adopt them. The lord bore witness to me that they were born for us. 

March of 2010 our family grew by 2 more, making us a family of 5. The twins were not in the best of health, being born 12 weeks early. Jackson (our oldest) spent most of his time at "Pop Pop's" house getting to know his new grandpa, while Katy and I spent every spare hour in the NICU with our two struggling boys. 

I remember the day that one of the nurses pulled us aside at the hospital to discuss Dylan's health screening that day. They had done a brain scan and found that his brain was "mush", "swiss cheese" they called it. We were astounded to say the absolute least. How would this affect his life? How would it affect our lives? We spent more time holding him that day, pouring our hearts out to him. That night we got on our knees and asked for mercy. We prayed for Dylan's health, we prayed for patience to be able to understand and help him as he grew older with brain damage. 

The next day when we visited the boys, the nurse said that he was doing fine and that they had done another scan and that he looked fine. I don't know even today what happened back then. Maybe a miracle, maybe a mistake, but either way that day has influenced the way I think about my boys. 

We brought the boys home 12 weeks after birth, and started our crazy, complicated, busy life together. We had 3 boys all under the age of 1. Jackson is 11 months older than Parker and Dylan, so each year for 3 weeks they are the same age. 

Parker & Dylan just turned 4, and Jackson turned 5. They are full of energy, and wanting to learn as much as their little minds can soak up. People look at us like we are freaks when we go anywhere. "Are they triplets?", or "I bet your hands are full". My response, "I'd rather them be full than empty". 

I walked away from my Pizza businesses less than a year after the twins were born so we didn't have to let them be raised by daycare. I started a recycling business so that I could make a living while also caring for my boys. 

Some people tell me that I am crazy, I feel like I am lucky. I have an amazing wife that works hard so that we can have insurance and stability. I was able to start a business that makes me a decent living while not having to put my kids in daycare, and because of that I get to see my boys all day, every day. Since being at home, it has allowed me to explore my passion and build my Videography business while my recycling business paid most of the bills. I get to snuggle with my boys in the morning, feed them breakfast, and watch them learn and grow as individuals. I get to teach them things every day. Because I don't have a set schedule, and with Katy's job being so flexible, we get to travel a couple times a year. 

We started off as a depressed couple unable to bear children of our own, now we have 3 amazing, smart little boys that remind us that every day is a blessing. 

There is a famous saying "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why it is called the present". I recite this quote several times daily. When one of my boys comes to me and wants to show me something that he built, I jump at the opportunity. I remember growing up, always hearing excuses as to why my parents wouldn't or couldn't help us with something, or simply come see what we had done. I made a commitment to myself and my boys that I would NOT be THAT parent. I don't want to look back in 20 years and think to myself "I wish I would have..."

You never know if tomorrow you won't wake up. What if your spouse gets in an accident today on the way home from work. What if your child falls off the slide at school and snaps their neck and dies of his/her injuries. I know it's tough to hear, but these sort of things happen every day. Today, do something a little reckless. Don't go rob a bank or shoot the neighbor that has been driving you crazy. Do something NEW, something that you wouldn't have done yesterday. 

The next time your child comes up to you and grabs your hand because they're excited to show you something, run! You may never get this chance again! Your child will NOT be this age ever again. This day will NOT come again. 

Live today like it's your last and you'll never regret a thing!

Four Reasons to Quit Your Job

By Jack and Suzy Welch

What criteria can you use to determine if you have been with the same company too long?

A friend of ours, an investment manager at a highly regarded company in the Midwest, who drove to work one morning, parked his car in the usual spot, and then found he simply could not bring himself to get out of the car. “I guess I stayed on the farm one day too long,” he joked later. When we asked him what went wrong, he answered, “It wasn’t one thing. It was everything.” No wonder he drove home and called in his resignation.

Obviously, most people don’t decide they’ve overstayed at their companies in such a dramatic fashion. Usually, angst about work creeps in, and then builds until it consumes you. And that can happen early or late in a career. Gone are the days when, after graduation, you took the best available job and stayed for as many years as you could possibly stand, frustration be damned. These days, it is not unusual to hear of perfectly legitimate careers built on multiple job stints.

So, to your question, how can you tell when it’s time to move on? We wouldn’t set out specific criteria as much as offer four questions to help sort out an answer.

The first is so simple it almost goes without saying, but the fact that a lot of people don’t confront it, including our friend who ended up stuck in his car—a Harvard MBA, by the way—suggests we should go ahead and put it out there: Do you want to go to work every morning?

This is not a matter to be over-brained. Does the prospect of going in each day excite you or fill you with dread? Does the work feel interesting and meaningful or are you just going through motions to pull a paycheck? Are you still learning and growing?

We know of a woman who worked in consulting for seven years. She loved her firm and had originally planned a career with it, but suddenly started noticing that she wished every weekend was five days long. “Basically, I felt like we were putting together massive books in order to make recommendations to people who knew more than we did,” she said. “Every day at the office, I felt a little bit more of a hypocrite.” She now happily works on the “front lines,” to use her phrase, in the marketing department of a retail company.

Second, do you enjoy spending time with your coworkers or do they generally bug the living daylights out of you? We’re not saying you should only stay at your company if you want to barbecue with your team every weekend, but if you don’t sincerely enjoy and respect the people you spend 10 hours a day with, you can be sure you will eventually decide to leave your organization. Why not make the break sooner rather than later and start cultivating relationships at a company where you might actually plant roots?

Third, does your company help you fulfill your personal mission? Essentially, this question asks whether your company jibes with your life’s goals and values. Does it require you, for instance, to travel more than you’d like, given your chosen work-life balance? Does it offer enough upward mobility, given your level of ambition? There are no right or wrong answers to such questions, only a sense of whether you are investing your time at the right or wrong company for you.

Fourth and finally, can you picture yourself at your company in a year? We use that time frame because that’s how long it usually takes to find a new, better job once you decide to move on. So peer, as best you can, into the future, and predict where you’ll be in the organization, what work you’ll be doing, whom you will be managing, and who will be managing you. If that scenario strikes you with anything short of excitement, then you’re spinning your wheels. Or put another way, you’re just about to stay too long.

To be clear: We’re not suggesting people quit at the first inkling of discontent. No matter where you work, at some point you will have to endure difficult times, and even a deadly dull assignment, to survive a crisis or move up. But it makes little sense to stay and stay at a company because of inertia. Unlock your door and get out.

Jack Welch is Executive Chairman of theJack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. Through itsExecutive MBA program, the Jack Welch Management Institute provides students and organizations with the proven methodologies, immediately actionable practices, and respected credentials needed to win in business.

Suzy Welch is a best-selling author, popular television commentator, and noted business journalist. Her New York Times bestselling book, 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea, presents a powerful decision-making strategy for success at work and in parenting, love and friendship. Together with her husband Jack Welch, Suzy is also co-author of the #1 international bestsellerWinning, and its companion volume, Winning: The Answers. Since 2005, they have written business columns for several publications, including Business Weekmagazine, Thomson Reuters digital platforms, Fortune magazine, and the New York Times syndicate.

A version of this column originally appeared in BusinessWeek Magazine.

How to cook moist chicken breasts and tenders Every Time

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (aka BSCBs) — is there anything more boring? They are all too often served dry, chewy and tasteless. I usuall avoid now BSCBs in favor of more succulent boneless, skinless thighs. I do have one method, however, that makes unfailingly juicy and tender boneless skinless chicken breasts. Need some chicken for a salad, or to top some pasta? This is the method. It takes some trust, but believe me — it works flawlessly every single time.

This method takes trust; you can't check them or really watch them cooking. But I promise that if you follow this method exactly you won't be disappointed. I learned it from the old Joy of Cooking, which gives this method its special label: Cockaigne, reserved for only their personal favorite and best recipes.

I usually do this with about 1 pound of chicken breasts at a time. It gives me enough chicken for a
few days of salads and lunches.

What You Need
Ingredients

1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon freshly chopped herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter

Equipment

10-inch sauté pan with lid

Instructions
1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the handle or flat of a knife.

2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.

3. Mix about a half teaspoon of salt in with the flour along with a little pepper. Chop the herbs finely, if using, and mix in as well.

4. Quickly dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, so that they are just lightly dusted with flour.

5. Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil and butter. Let them melt, and swirl the pan.

6. Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Then flip each chicken breast over.

7. Turn the heat to low. Put the lid on the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek.

8. After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek.

9. After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and tada! Soft, tender, juicy chicken breasts that aren't dried out in the least. Doublecheck them to make sure there is no pink in the middle. If you want to be absolutely sure it is cooked, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check (the chicken should be at least 165°F). Slice and eat.

http://goo.gl/AOHbAq

Junk food diet causes laziness, study says

LOS ANGELES — A diet full of processed food isn't only a potential cause of obesity, it can also lead to fatigue and laziness, according to new research.

In a study, rats were split into two groups and either given a normal diet of mostly unprocessed foods, like fish and corn, or a highly processed diet with lower quality ingredients, according to researchers from the University of California Los Angeles. They said the rats on the simulated junk food diet gained a significant amount of weight and became more tired and sedentary.

The findings apply to humans because their physiological systems are similar to rats, according to lead researcher Aaron Blaisdell.

"Overweight people often get stigmatized as lazy and lacking discipline," lead researcher Aaron Blaisdell said in a statement. "We interpret our results as suggesting that the idea commonly portrayed in the media that people become fat because they are lazy is wrong. Our data suggest that diet-induced obesity is a cause, rather than an effect, of laziness. Either the highly processed diet causes fatigue or the diet causes obesity, which causes fatigue."

  Enlarge image
The rat on the left was on the "junk food" diet.
Credit: Courtesy of UCLA
Researchers measured the rats' activity levels by giving the rats tasks like pressing a lever to receive rewards of food or water. The overweight rats did not perform as well, according to the study.

"The rats on the junk food diet demonstrated impaired performance, taking substantially longer breaks than the lean rats before returning to the task," a release from UCLA reads. "In a 30-minute session, the overweight rats took breaks that were nearly twice as long as the lean ones."

Blaisdell said the study also suggests obesity and cognitive impairments are caused by a pattern of consuming junk food and not just the occasional binge. After six months, researchers switched the rat's diets for a period of nine days, but didn't see any significant change in weight or activity during that time.

There doesn't seem to be a quick fix to the problem, he said.

Researchers said other side effects of the junk food included the growth of numerous large tumors throughout the rats' bodies and an increased appetite.

On a personal note, Blaisdell said he cut processed foods out of his diet five years ago and has noticed a big improvement in his health and cognition.

"We are living in an environment with sedentary lifestyles, poor-quality diet and highly processed foods that is very different from the one we are adapted to through human evolution," he said. "It is that difference that leads to many of the chronic diseases that we see today, such as obesity and diabetes."

The research was published in the April 10 edition of the journal "Physiology and Behavior."


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1012&sid=29485588#GhRBaAC9XS2Y9Eoo.99

This Is Why You Have Food Cravings

Have you ever wondered why you crave certain foods, even when you’re not hungry? There are a few possibilities to explain your food cravings. Here are the three most common causes of food cravings, along with tips to fight them:

Simple conditioning

The first possible cause for your cravings is classical conditioning. Much like how the sound of a bell
triggered Pavlov’s dogs to salivate, certain activities, people and places can trigger you to crave certain foods. In fact, I’m a victim of this type of craving. I like to watch movies with my family on Thursday nights, and movie night also happens to be when I'm most likely to say, “You know what? I feel like eating pizza!” In reality, my body does not have a physiological need for pizza every Thursday at 8 p.m. For whatever reason, I have conditioned myself to crave pizza on movie night. To be honest, I'm not sure why I started associating movie night with pizza, but because I am aware of it, I have been able to break this unhealthy habit.

It’s as simple as that. Once you figure out what triggers your craving, you will be better able to combat it. Just to clarify, when I say “simple” I am really referring to the concept. Actually breaking the habit can be tough. To break a habit based on conditioned food cravings, you have to do two things. First, figure out when the food cravings tend to occur so you can see if there’s a pattern. Second, determine what specific foods you crave at those times. Can you think of any life experiences in which a food is connected to a specific food? Are there any emotions connected to the food? Do you feel sad? Do you feel upset, anxious, happy or afraid? Once you know the “why” behind your food cravings, you can begin to actively fight them. Remind yourself, “My body doesn’t need this food. I have conditioned myself to crave this food, and I can condition myself to stop.”

A Physiological Craving

Sometimes we get food cravings for physiological reasons. For example, I began to notice a craving for salt every time I was very stressed and every time I did an intense workout. After doing some research and getting a few testing done, I found I have this craving for salty foods because my adrenal function is on the low side. The adrenal glands are responsible for sodium retention and regulation in the body. Since my adrenal function is low, it does not retain and regulate my sodium levels properly, and this is exacerbated when I am stressed and when I exercise. Since I lose so much sodium in my sweat when I work out intensely, it makes sense I crave salt afterward. Now that I know this, I make sure I have healthy options available after my workouts to satisfy my salt craving. I bring things like vegetable chips so I don’t turn to a bag of potato chips or French fries instead.

Stress has a similar effect as exercise in that it impairs the adrenal glands’ ability to regulate sodium levels, which causes salt cravings. When you can identify scenarios like this, you can get tested to determine if you are deficient in certain vitamins or minerals.

Addiction

If you don’t think your food craving is a result of classical conditioning or a vitamin or mineral deficiency, there’s a chance you’re addicted to the foods you crave. While you can be addicted to any food, sugar seems to be the food most people struggle with.

Certain foods, like sugar, stimulate the reward center of your brain in much the same way drugs such as cocaine and heroin do. These foods cause your body to release endorphins, which are your “feel good” hormones, every time you eat them. The method to kick a food addiction isn’t hard, but it requires a massive amount of passion and commitment. The first thing you need to do is detox your body of the food you are addicted to. In other words: You need stop eating those foods. This isn’t easy, because you will go through a withdrawal process, but it’s critical you stick to it if you want to kick the habit. The good thing is that you only have to do this for about two weeks. After the detox period, you can begin to introduce the food back into your diet very slowly.

As you can see, there isn’t a simple answer to why you have food cravings. And everyone is different – cravings can be caused by one factor or multiple reasons. That’s why I like to tell people to become their own scientists. If you learn the basics of how your body works, it will be easier for you to make better food choices and kick food cravings for good.

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

NY Times
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: February 20, 2013


On the evening of April 8, 1999, a long line of Town Cars and taxis pulled up to the Minneapolis
headquarters of Pillsbury and discharged 11 men who controlled America’s largest food companies. Nestlé was in attendance, as were Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills and Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Mars. Rivals any other day, the C.E.O.’s and company presidents had come together for a rare, private meeting. On the agenda was one item: the emerging obesity epidemic and how to deal with it. While the atmosphere was cordial, the men assembled were hardly friends. Their stature was defined by their skill in fighting one another for what they called “stomach share” — the amount of digestive space that any one company’s brand can grab from the competition.


Grant Cornett for The New York Times; Prop Stylist: Janine Iversen
James Behnke, a 55-year-old executive at Pillsbury, greeted the men as they arrived. He was anxious but also hopeful about the plan that he and a few other food-company executives had devised to engage the C.E.O.’s on America’s growing weight problem. “We were very concerned, and rightfully so, that obesity was becoming a major issue,” Behnke recalled. “People were starting to talk about sugar taxes, and there was a lot of pressure on food companies.” Getting the company chiefs in the same room to talk about anything, much less a sensitive issue like this, was a tricky business, so Behnke and his fellow organizers had scripted the meeting carefully, honing the message to its barest essentials. “C.E.O.’s in the food industry are typically not technical guys, and they’re uncomfortable going to meetings where technical people talk in technical terms about technical things,” Behnke said. “They don’t want to be embarrassed. They don’t want to make commitments. They want to maintain their aloofness and autonomy.”

A chemist by training with a doctoral degree in food science, Behnke became Pillsbury’s chief technical officer in 1979 and was instrumental in creating a long line of hit products, including microwaveable popcorn. He deeply admired Pillsbury but in recent years had grown troubled by pictures of obese children suffering from diabetes and the earliest signs of hypertension and heart disease. In the months leading up to the C.E.O. meeting, he was engaged in conversation with a group of food-science experts who were painting an increasingly grim picture of the public’s ability to cope with the industry’s formulations — from the body’s fragile controls on overeating to the hidden power of some processed foods to make people feel hungrier still. It was time, he and a handful of others felt, to warn the C.E.O.’s that their companies may have gone too far in creating and marketing products that posed the greatest health concerns.

The discussion took place in Pillsbury’s auditorium. The first speaker was a vice president of Kraft named Michael Mudd. “I very much appreciate this opportunity to talk to you about childhood obesity and the growing challenge it presents for us all,” Mudd began. “Let me say right at the start, this is not an easy subject. There are no easy answers — for what the public health community must do to bring this problem under control or for what the industry should do as others seek to hold it accountable for what has happened. But this much is clear: For those of us who’ve looked hard at this issue, whether they’re public health professionals or staff specialists in your own companies, we feel sure that the one thing we shouldn’t do is nothing.”

As he spoke, Mudd clicked through a deck of slides — 114 in all — projected on a large screen behind him. The figures were staggering. More than half of American adults were now considered overweight, with nearly one-quarter of the adult population — 40 million people — clinically defined as obese. Among children, the rates had more than doubled since 1980, and the number of kids considered obese had shot past 12 million. (This was still only 1999; the nation’s obesity rates would climb much higher.) Food manufacturers were now being blamed for the problem from all sides — academia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. The secretary of agriculture, over whom the industry had long held sway, had recently called obesity a “national epidemic.”