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An Insider's Look At Who's (Really) Making America Fat
Ecco
February 2009
On Sale: February 1, 2009
272 pages ISBN: 0061363863 EAN: 9780061363863 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
It was his job to keep you eating. It
was his job to keep you drinking. It was his job to
keep you buying. Unfortunately for you, he was good at
it. For more than thirty years, Hank
Cardello was an executive and adviser to some of the largest
food and beverage corporations in the world. For more than
thirty years, he watched as corporate profits—and America's
waistlines—ballooned: fattening consumers meant fattening
profits. Now, in this fascinating and timely book, Cardello
offers a behind-the-scenes look at the business of food,
providing an insider's account of food company practices,
failed government regulations, and misleading media coverage
that have combined to place us in the middle of a national
obesity epidemic. With insights culled from
Cardello's time in the food industry, Stuffed
explores how food companies have spent the last fifty years
largely ignoring healthier fare in the name of their bottom
lines while pushing consumers toward "convenience" food and
supersize portions without considering the health
consequences. From grocery aisles to restaurant booths to
boardrooms, Cardello reveals the hidden forces that have
long shaped your supermarket purchases and menu selections.
He examines the black-and-white mindset that has produced
the carefully targeted marketing strategies that have
maximized profits for the food industry and led to weight
gain for you. But Cardello makes clear that the
food companies should not take all the blame. They are
merely a cog in a larger system that's broken, and here
Cardello illustrates how the government and the media have
only made it harder for Americans to make nutritious
choices. Highlighting both bit players and high-profile
voices of change, Cardello explains the fundamental risks to
one-size-fits-all regulatory solutions and the bigger
dangers posed by letting the food pundits confuse the health
conversation. More than simply a chronicle of how
we got here, Stuffed also puts forth a groundbreaking
blueprint for the future of the food industry. In debunking
the common myth that "healthier" has to mean higher costs
and unpalatable tastes, Cardello provides novel but concrete
steps that food companies can take to fatten their profits
and slim down their customers. In addition, he stresses the
realistic role that consumers must play in America's new
health equation, explaining that unless they demand
healthier food with their wallets, America will continue to
tip the scales for years to come. Provocative and
insightful, Stuffed is a sweeping critique of
excessive food consumption in America, one that uncovers the
money behind the calories and presents a fresh vision for
building health into the lives of ordinary Americans.
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