Is obesity selfish consumption?

Not a typical philosophical question on the surface, but some social bias surely. A recent Statista post really got my attention, and I wanted to gnash my teeth and wail against both the data and the social commentary. Is there a social / cultural philosophy trend changing that promotes greed and selfishness even in our food consumption? … and at what cost?

The US is materially the most obese country in the world based on this data set. My immediate bias went to “we are such selfish people!” We eat more than we need, ship food from all over the world where people need it so we can be obese. That just rang immoral and unethical on so many levels. Selfish consumption that both damages other people’s lives and our environment. And, given our current political sphere things are getting worse.

Then, after a couple sips of tea, I reconsidered and posed an alternative … maybe US folks are so obese is because from around the world, we eat the most processed and low quality food – especially those in socio-economic challenging situations. SO … maybe not selfish consumption but consequence of either mass consumption marketing (consume at all costs as much as possible) or economic stress.

Is US obesity selfish consumption or necessity of circumstances? Probably not an easy binary question as most are.

My response is both – and most importantly, by looking at people I’d never know which causal factor weighs most upon them … I must suspend judgement and do what I can to both eat with as little environmental impact and share as much as possible with those in need.

There are not villains here … but absolutely an opportunity to both improve people’s health and our environment.

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