Jack Tame: RFK Jnr has a point about processed food

Trump’s wasting no time, we can be sure of that. Whether it’s his executive orders, Greenland, or his extraordinary Cabinet appointments, the President’s strategy in office is obviously to move quickly, to flood the zone. For his opponents, there is just so much to be outraged about they simply can’t keep up.    

Of the many crazy things to observe, RFK Jnr’s confirmation hearing this week has been a standout for me. Obviously, the guy is wacky and unconventional but having someone with his history of campaigning against vaccines in such an important public health role is extraordinary, even by Trumpian standards. Potentially dangerous, for sure.   

But I don’t want to talk about vaccines, I want to talk about food. Because despite his unconventional persona, despite how much I disagree with things he’s said about vaccines and actions he’s taken in the past, not everything about RFK’s health philosophy should be discounted. Not everything’s loopy. When it comes to his attitude towards ultra-processed foods and America’s big-food industry, I’m 100% on Kennedy’s side.  

In a nutshell, he reckons America’s ultra-processed food industry is making Americans less healthy. The combination of processing, the use of artificial, engineered ingredients, factory farming, and excess sugar has contributed to alarming health outcomes.  

And honestly, I agree.   

Speaking personally, I think I might have first adopted a food philosophy of sorts when reading Michael Pollen – he of the simplest food rules (‘Eat Food, mainly plants, not too much). But for a long time now, my personal philosophy on food is the more it’s been processed, the more it’s been tinkered with and optimised and engineered, the more numbers it has for ingredients, the worse it probably is for your health.   

Don’t get me wrong – I love a bit of junk food. But life’s too short to only eat numbers. I’d much rather have a big wedge of carrot cake or a slab of ginger crunch from a fancy café than a junk food that comes in a package. I’d rather have a pizza from an independent pizza place or an Uncle Man’s Malaysian laksa than a large combo and a Coke from one of the big chains. I know they’ve made big efforts to improve their offerings, but speaking personally, it’s almost 18 years since I had anything from the likes of McDonalds, BK and KFC etc. I doubt I’ll ever eat that stuff again in my life.   

In America, of course, it’s much worse. Everything is processed. Everything comes in a packet. Every aisle at the supermarket is a middle aisle. I’ll never forget when a Kiwi mate came home for a month over summer and accidentally left a bag of bread in the pantry of his New York apartment while he was overseas. He returned after four or five weeks, expecting to find a writhing blob of blue penicillin in his pantry, only to discover a bag of bread without a single spore of mould, anywhere. Yeesh, we wondered, if that bread can survive a month in a warm cupboard, what’s it doing to us?    

And yet on average, despite spending twice as much on healthcare per capita than other large, wealthy countries, life expectancy in the U.S is five years lower. Bananas, eh? They spend twice as much per-person, only to live five years less.   

We can’t pin it all on ultra-processed foods, but diet certainly plays a role.   

About half of the trillion US dollar supermarket industry is ultra-processed food. That’s about NZ$850 billion every year.  

If RFK Jnr is confirmed and can break through some of the vested interests that underpin that industry, honestly, all power to him. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'd be well, Donald Trump, you would have to say,
isn't wasting any time whatsoever. We can be sure of that,
whether it is his executive orders Greenland or his extraordinary
cabinet appointments. The President's strategy for his first few weeks
in ovie is obviously to move as quickly as possible,

(00:34):
to flood the zone, as they say in politics, And
for his opponents, there's just so much to be outraged
about they can't really keep up. But of the many
crazy things to observe, I reckon RFK Junior's confirmation hearing
this week has been a bit of a standout for me. Obviously,

(00:55):
the guy is wacky and unconventional, but having someone with
his history of campaigning against vaccines in such an important
public health throw is extraordinary, even by Donald Trump's standards.
Potentially dangerous for sure. But anyway, Look, I don't want
to talk about vaccines this morning. Don't worry. I want
to talk about food because despite his unconventional persona, despite

(01:21):
how much I disagree with things he said about vaccines
and actions he's taken in the past, not everything about
rfk's health philosophy, if we can put it that way,
should be discounted. Not everything's loopy. And when it comes
to his attitudes towards ultra processed foods and America's big

(01:41):
food industry, I am one hundred percent on RFK Junior's side.
So in a nutshell, he reckons that America's ultra process
food industry is contributing to and making Americans less healthy.
The combination of processing and you know, the use of
artificial engineered ingredients, factory farming, and excess sugar has contribut

(02:06):
betted to alarming health alarming health outcomes. And honestly, I agree,
I totally agree. Speaking personally, I reckon it was Michael
polland you know that amazing American author. I've actually had
him on the show a couple of times, so we
can call him friend at the show, Michael Polland it
was from him that I first adopted a bit of
a food philosophy of sorts, because he came up with

(02:29):
those simplest food rules when investigating food and nutrition. His
rules eat food mainly plants, not too much. But for
a long time now, I reckon my food philosophy has
been the more that food has been processed, the more
it's been tinkered with, the more that it's been optimized

(02:52):
and engineered, the more that it has numbers for ingredients,
the worse it probably is for your health. Now, don't
get me wrong, I absolutely love junk food, absolutely love it. Right,
life is too short, though, as far as I'm concerned
to only eat numbers. I would just much rather have
a big wedge of carrot cake or a slab of

(03:13):
ginger crunch from a fancy cafe than junk food that
comes in a package. So I'd much rather have a
pizza from an independent pizza place or an uncle Man's
Malaysian luxA than a combo and a coke from one
of the big chains. And I know they've made efforts

(03:34):
to improve their offerings over the years, but speaking personally,
it is I think almost eighteen years since I've had
anything from the likes of McDonald's or BKKFC, not even
a single fry, and honestly, I doubt I will ever
eat that stuff again in my life. In America, though

(03:54):
it is obviously much worse. Everything is processed, everything comes
in a packet. Every aisle at the supermarket is a
middle Aisle. I'll never forget when a key we mate
came home for a month or so over someone and
accidentally left a bag of bread in the pantry of
his New York apartment while he was overseas, And so
he returned after four or five weeks, expecting to find

(04:17):
a writhing blob of blue penicillin in his pantry, only
to discover a bag of bread without a single spot
of mold, without a single spore anywhere. Yes, we wondered,
if that bread can survive a month in a warm cupboard,

(04:37):
what's it doing to us? And yet, on average, despite
spending twice as much on healthcare per capita than other
large wealthy countries, life expectancy in the US is five
years lower. A's bananas. A. Well, it's not bananas. I
suppose it's yeah, high fruit toose corn syrup. A. They

(04:59):
spend twice as much per person on healthcare only to
live five years less. We can't pin at all on
ultraprocessed foods, but diet certainly plays a role in that.
About half of the trillion US dollar supermarket industry they
reckon as ultra process food. So in New Zealand, dollars

(05:21):
that means that the ultra processed food industry in US
supermarkets is worth about eight hundred and fifty billion New
Zealand dollars every year. So if RFK Junior is confirmed
and can break through some of the vested interests that
underpin that, honestly, all power to them.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
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podcast on iHeartRadio.