Food terrorism: Destructive nutrition and responsibility

We are very "sensitive" about our national resources. We occasionally raise our voices regarding our mines, businesses, ports, etc., even if only slightly. However, we do not care at all about our greatest asset: our human capital. 

Was it like this in the 1930s? The revolutionary republic, which enacted the Public Health Law, held the state responsible for taking measures against almost every danger threatening public health, especially epidemics. In this field, our country achieved successes that left the world in awe. 

The Public Health Law's fight against epidemics, in particular, is preserved in the memories of many progressive people. However, we are unaware of the faulty/incorrect nutrition and the virtual food terrorism that rapidly destroys our country's greatest resource—its human material—burdens the healthcare system, and disrupts its finances. 

Let me remind you of the law. Article 1 of the law states: "It is among the general services of the State to improve the sanitary conditions of the country, to combat all diseases or other harmful factors that harm the health of the nation, to ensure the healthy upbringing of future generations, and to provide the public with medical and social assistance." 

This means the state is obligated to combat actions that threaten public health and to ensure that future generations are raised healthily. Is this obligation being fulfilled? 

Let's look closer, for example, at Article 187 of the law: "It is prohibited to trade, keep for sale, or sell food products under false titles and qualities or with signs that may cause the public to be deceived."

Deceiving the public has become a common occurrence in the food sector. Diet products, "healthy" snacks, vitamin-fortified drinks, "no added sugar" foods, food supplements, and items sold in ordinary herbalists... All of these are products prepared, packaged, and placed on shelves in a much less regulated manner than the pharmaceutical sector, which everyone pays close attention to. Moreover, these can be advertised easily. Furthermore, these products are presented with such skill in almost every market that they whet the appetites of "future generations" and create such intense demand that it pits them against their families. 

It is a custom in our country to become experts only after a disaster. We also attach heavy labels to events that are the result of our time-spread mistakes. Examples? "Inflation monster," "traffic monster," "interest lobby," "market terrorism"... Our expertise varies. After a disaster, all television program guests briefly retreat to the bench, and geologists, economists, etc., take their place. We become seasonal experts depending on the type of disaster. Let us not wait for a disaster to occur to listen to experts on food terrorism. Because we are already in the middle of the disaster. Waiting to see all the consequences is pure madness. 

All these disasters actually say "I am coming." Although food terrorism is in action moment by moment, it is not discussed much for now because we see its effects in the long term. Yet, we can see the effects of metabolic syndrome, which is the result of this terrorism, almost everywhere. Since we take the screen faces of capitalism as a benchmark, we are mostly interested in visual/aesthetic results. The phenomenon that catches our attention the most is obesity. However, cardiovascular diseases, various cancers, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease, which is now also called "type 3 diabetes," are closely related to nutrition. It appears that in addition to metabolic syndrome, some psychological disorders are also closely related to dietary patterns due to changes in gut flora. So, does a person create all these problems knowingly and willingly? Undoubtedly, they have been deceived, and their will has been crippled. Against this deception and the crippling of the will, the primary responsibility according to law and justice lies with the companies that cripple the will, secondarily with the state and relevant institutions, but the third responsibility undoubtedly lies with the experts and intellectuals who are aware of this issue. It is no longer possible to shirk responsibility here. 

I am not even mentioning the ecological effects of food terrorism. Please, a little seriousness. We must go beyond just complaining about this issue. This event cannot be brushed off with remarks like "we will solve it when we come to power." We must mobilize existing resources wisely to fight against food terrorism and those with malicious intent in this regard, and we must raise awareness among the potential victims of this terrorism. 

We will continue!