The Real Reason Oprah, You and I Keep Getting Fat

Oprah is mad as hell and she isn't going to take it anymore.  Once again she lost a bunch of weight, looked good and felt great.  And once again she put on a bunch of weight, looked fat and felt awful.  She's certainly not alone.  Studies show that in our lifetime 7 out of 10 women and 9 out of 10 men will become overweight.  We've all been on the latest diet, taken off some poundage and promptly put it back on again.  But if Oprah, with all her high-tech trainers can't keep the weight off, what hope is there for us?

I was watching Larry King last night as Oprah's personal "dream" team of experts talked about the courage Oprah has shown in being open about her weight gain and frustration that "weight" is still an issue for her.  We heard from her personal trainer, Bob Greene.  We heard from her personal physician, Dr. Mehmet Oz.  We heard from her personal spiritual advisor Michael Bernard Beckwith.  All three are absolutely tops in their field.  If this team can't help Oprah keep her weight under control, two conclusions seem logical.

First, weight-gain is inevitable and we should stop trying to lose weight and accept the fact that we're all destined to become fat.

Second, the dream team is missing the real reason Oprah, you, and I keep getting fat in spite of all we do to lose weight.

I'm convinced that the second conclusion is the right one.  The key to understanding what's been missing is to take a closer look at the approach that Oprah, you, and I have been taking to weight gain and weight loss.  We all believe the problem is "personal."  Since Oprah can afford the best help money can buy, she is able to hire the best "personal" physician, the best "personal" trainer, and the best "personal" spiritual advisor.  For those of us on a more limited budget we settle for the latest "personal" diet program.

But what if the real problem we face is "social" not "personal"?  What if all our personal efforts will be for naught, without a change in our social understanding of food?  What if the missing person on the dream team is a London-born economist who worked at the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations?  His name is  Raj Patel.

I first met Raj in Mendocino, California when he was on tour for his book, "Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."  Though he started out as a card-carrying member of the corporate-dominated economic system, he has since become an outspoken and noted critic of all of these organizations, and has been tear gassed on four continents protesting against his former employers.  

Patel believes that the reason we are overweight has less to do with our personal practices as it has to do with corporate practices.  And there's something we can do about it.  Here's how he begins his book:

Today, when we produce more food than ever before, more than one in ten people on Earth are hungry.  The hunger of 800 million happens at the same time as another historical first:  That they are outnumbered by the one billion people on this planet who are overweight.

He goes on to say that the reason the world is both "starved" and "stuffed" is social rather than personal.  "Global hunger and obesity," he says, "are symptoms of the same problem, and what's more, the route to eradicating world hunger is also the way to prevent global epidemics of diabetes and heart disease, and to address a host of environmental and social ills."