The Costs of Our Non-Food Food Supply

There's a shocking and sad story ("Obesity-Linked Diabetes in Children Resists Treatment") in today's New York Times concerning the spread of Type 2 diabetes in children and how it is more difficult to control in kids than in adults.

The first two paragraphs:

"Obesity and the form of diabetes linked to it are taking an even worse toll on America’s youths than medical experts had realized. As obesity rates in children have climbed, so has the incidence of Type 2 diabetes, and a new study adds another worry: the disease progresses more rapidly in children than in adults and is harder to treat.

“'It’s frightening how severe this metabolic disease is in children,' said Dr. David M. Nathan, an author of the study and director of the diabetes center at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'It’s really got a hold on them, and it’s hard to turn around.'”

And:

"The findings could signal trouble ahead because poorly controlled diabetes significantly increases the risk of heart disease, eye problems, nerve damage, amputations and kidney failure. The longer a person has the disease, the greater the risk. So in theory, people who develop diabetes as children may suffer its complications much earlier in life than previous generations who became diabetic as adults."

Think for a second about the physical, emotional and economic damage done to the children, families and society. And yet we allow government subsidies of all the foodstuffs (it's not food) that are causing the problems? And yet we allow the companies that are producing these foodstuffs to advertise indiscriminately on television and online? When will we realize our future is bankrupt?