The Medici Effect and our hidden epidemic of malnutrition
I found myself in 2023 on a year-long quest. Rather than being armed with a sword and shield, I was armed with the most basic form of economics.
My quest was to find the lowest price to meet dietary guidelines in Australia. This wasn't supposed to be a critique of the guidelines themselves but before long I stopped in my tracks. There was no way around it. For average incomes, the Australian dietary guidelines were as unworkable as asking someone to fly using a cape. So I pivoted to two other countries to see what they did and whether it was working for them. It turns out that in the U.S.A, U.K and Australia, less than ten per cent of the population are following their country's dietary guidelines.
This should concern us. None of us can reach our full potential without good nutrition. Today, even in these three wealthy nations, malnutrition is impacting as many as one in five. It is being raised as a concern in economic forums and it is factoring into life expectancy.
It's a hidden epidemic because in a wealthy nation, you can be morbidly obese and still have malnutrition. Perhaps if we saw emaciated children asking for food on the streets of our most beautiful cities, we might take action.
Instead, it is invisible. Even the person suffering from malnutrition rarely recognizes the early signs. Aren't we all tired these days? Don't we all suffer from brain fog sometimes? When symptoms such as hair loss, frequent infections or rashes occur, perhaps the health care system is called upon. By then the damage, particularly for childhood development, is already done. It is easier then, to blame the victim or their carers. After all, the dietary guidelines are there, they just have to follow them.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on UnsplashAustralia has the most stringent guidelines but all of these countries have the same approach. Your diet should be mostly fruits and vegetables, in large quantities, but these are so expensive now.
I was beginning to join the dots and my research was going in a direction I didn't want to go. This book was never supposed to be an attack on the system. I'm not a nutritional scientist?-?my work before retirement was economic development and strategic planning. My dissertation was on food security, but still, who was I to question another field of endeavor?
I clung to my principles and kept researching, knowing that whatever I came up with would need to be airtight. When my feelings of Imposter Syndrome reared up, I reminded myself of the Medici Effect. In 2004 Frans Johansson coined the term 'the Medici effect.' It is the idea that innovation happens where two or more disciplines intersect. In a nutshell, we benefit from 'outsiders' coming into our profession with a different way of thinking and shaking things up.
A great example of this is Jane Jacobs. In 1960 she had no qualifications and yet this sassy American fundamentally turned the field of urban planning on its head. Today every planner across the Western world studies her ideas in their first year of university. Her philosophies seem obvious now but were considered radical then.
We need a Jane Jacobs wrestling with dietary guidelines today.
I believe that the largest obstacle to compliance is cost. Prices across these three countries for fruit and vegetables have gone up as much as 20% in the last five years.
This was not unexpected. In the field of food security, it has long been predicted that fruits and vegetables along with dairy and meat would be exposed to a litany of challenges, resulting in higher prices at the checkout. It won't end here.
Brace yourselves because unless we deal with increased extreme weather events, soil depletion, encroachment of housing on farming land, loss of pollinators, more frequent disease epidemics, ageing farmers and depletion in the planet's potable water supply?-?fresh produce price inflation is just beginning.
Photo by JD Designs on Unsplash
As clever as we humans are, I don't see all these challenges being overcome overnight. This unavoidable inflation is aggravated further by the actions of suppliers and supermarkets. Whenever we have price increases due to outside sources, it is common to take an extra cut for themselves. Prices go up easily enough but rarely go back to where they were before. If nothing else, COVID-19 taught us this.
If you're on an above average income in a wealthy country, you can adjust to the higher prices. If you're not, you're probably already adjusting. Many are reaching for processed carbohydrates such as ramen noodles, white rice and white bread because they are a cheap way to fill yourself and your family. If you can, you will buy some fruits and vegetables just to color the plate but your diet is overwhelmingly processed carbohydrates. This, I believe, is the main cause of our hidden epidemic. The result of my research into the lowest price necessary, was to throw away the current recommendations based on servings of dairy, fruits, vegetables, proteins and fats. Instead, I followed government food composition tables and the recommended amounts required for 17 vitamins and minerals.
Plant foods are still plentiful with this method but they don't all fall into the categories of fruit or vegetables. Pulses, seeds, herbs, and spices have a significant role to play with less sweet fruits. That is not to say that sweet fruits like apples and oranges are not good for you, but when looking at the best nutritional return, they don't come close to their near cousins such as tomatoes, capsicums and limes.
Limes have the highest concentration of vitamin C so you don't need as many to get the same result. Photo by Acton Crawford on Unsplash
A dietitian informed me that my approach is termed "nutrition by numbers" and that this approach is "fine." She (who cannot be named) explained that dietary guidelines are based upon the five food groups to make them easier to follow. Given that the approach I have used is about 60% cheaper and practically no one follows their approach anyway, this seems a poor excuse. If I was a struggling young mother, I would want to know the alternatives. If they are difficult to follow, then it is the job of the professional to pave the way to make it easier.
Food security has never been a more pressing issue. All nations need dietary guidelines that are realistic for today and tomorrow. However, while I remain critical of the nutrition sciences, they are not alone in operating within a bunker, making their policies in isolation.
I suspect that there are countless policies and guidelines worldwide that are not making a damned bit of difference to the problem they wish to tackle. Their main goal in writing these is to show that "something is being done." If public consultation occurs at all, it is to tick-the-box or justify funding.
I know this is not the case in every industry everywhere but it still occurs far too often and usually as a lip service response for our most complex and stubborn problems. These professions would benefit from other disciplines and those directly impacted by the problem, coming to the table and scattering their papers, even stomping all over them, before sitting down to join them in a true collaboration.
What the world needs now is the Medici effect.
Originally published on Medium.com