Is it the people or the food?

According to an article titled, “Fat to blame for half a million cancers a year, WHO agency says,” the World Health Organization (WHO) has reportedly said that “some half a million cases of cancer a year are due to people being overweight or obese.”  In the article, the author underlines how the WHO says the problem is acute in North America.  The writer also cites a study published in The Lancet Oncology that suggests that a high body mass index (BMI) has become a major cancer risk factor and that it is responsible for about 3.6 percent (481,000) of new cancer cases in 2012.  Specifically in Europe, it is purported that “obesity is to blame for around 6.5 percent of all new cancers a year, or around 65,000 cases.”  Furthermore, it is stated that cancers linked to obesity and being overweight are anticipated to increase along with economic development.  The article advises that the findings “underlined the importance of helping people maintain a healthy weight to reduce their risk of developing a wide range of cancers, and of helping developing countries avoid the problems currently faced by wealthier ones.”

After reading the article, I couldn’t help but ask myself the following questions: Is it the people themselves who each too much, become overweight, and then get cancer?  Or is it the garbage that is put in the food that causes people to become overweight and get cancer?  Or worse still, is it the garbage that is put into the food that we consume that causes people to get cancer?

I find it convenient (and suspicious) how the findings point toward the need to “help” people maintain a healthy weight to reduce the risk of developing cancer.  To me, this is like attributing all of the blame to the people who are eating the junk-filled food and none to the conglomerate producers of the poisoned foods that increase the risk of cancer.  Truthfully, it might be that all of the additives placed in the food by the conglomerates that in turn cause people to overeat and become overweight.  It is these same chemicals that are at the root of the cancers, not the people!

What is the government doing to “help” you ask?  Nothing!  We continue to see the same glamourous-looking fast food ads on TV and all of the “flavourings” that continue to be sanctioned by the governing bodies!  So, what is the moral to the story?  You guessed it: Blame it on fast foods!

- B. J. T. Pepin

Controlling the Narrative

Just recently, Jian Ghomeshi—a Canadian broadcaster, producer, writer, and musician—was “placed on indefinite leave” and later “let go” by his employer (the CBC) for, according to sources, “conduct [CBC] could not be seen to defend” (source).  Jian then released a statement on Facebook that gave details concerning his behavior and maintained that the “encounters” in question were always consensual, and anyone who made comments to the contrary would be lying.  Like clockwork, allegations suggesting that Jian’s behavior was not consensual surfaced, with one stating that he choked and beat a New Brunswick woman.

Like any “story” involving a high-profile individual who is in the public eye, the various media outlets provided the public with “reports” or commentary on the matter.  Not being a fan of this type of news, I didn’t pay much attention to it until something caught my ear: The radio show host said something about “controlling the narrative.”

Now, before I continue, I want to make it clear that I am not commenting on the subject of the allegations and I am most definitely not choosing a side on the matter.  Rather, I am simply looking to discuss the subject of “controlling the narrative.”

The truth of the matter is the government, politicians, conglomerates, the media, and individuals always turn out “spinning” their stories, and this story serves as a reminder that we can’t trust anything that is presented to us in the media.  As Michael Wolff says, “Storytelling is now the highest form of commerce.  This process, occurring at the intersection of technology, pop culture, and millennial behavior, is ever more complicated and fast-changing, and consumes more and more time and resources, involving a wide-ranging search for talent.  It's a new business without a precise name yet” (source).

With each story, a web of lies is spun, and the hope is to catch in it as many people as possible, all just to "earn a quick buck."  At the end of it all, what can even remotely be considered close to the “truth” is and forever will be lost.  So to speak, the truth is a commodity.


It’s up to you whether to agree with me or not.  But, to me, it’s clear who we can attribute this new “reality” to, this “reality TV” approach to everything: Blame it on fast foods!

- B. J. T. Pepin