by H. Aslan Aslani-Far

Created on: October 19, 2007

To suggest that "eating healthy" is an individual's choice is to make three uninformed, dangerous assumptions: that the accessible food supply is, in and of itself, untainted; that fast-food marketing campaigns are equally countered by direct, legitimate sources of information that expose the detriments of its continued product consumption; and, that sensible alternatives are available to average Americans.

Unfortunately, none of these assumptions are even remotely true, and all three are either directly subject to existing federal standards of inspection, which as recent events have shown, fall perilously short of instilling consumer confidence; or are wholly compromised by the nefarious influence of international trade agreements with foreign governments to whom we, as a nation, are increasingly indentured. Add to this volatile mix, the powerful influence lobbyists acting on behalf of the fast-food industry exert on legislators, and it becomes readily apparent that Americans have little choice in the matter.

The failures of the Chinese Government to effectively inspect exports to the United States recently resulted in the sickness and death of many Americans. The effect of the ensuing outrage was the expulsion of China's highest-level authority on the export of foreign consumer goods and promises that higher standards would be implemented. The telling fact however, is that after an offer by the United States to implement inspection areas in export zones in China was rejected by the Chinese government, the Chinese threatened to call in all outstanding foreign debts if the United States attempted to further regulate or minimize Chinese imports.

What does all this mean? It means that because the United States is beholden to China, as debtor, the Chinese government can dictate the terms of inspection and export of products destined for your digestive tract. If you die in the process, you will do so knowing that there wasn't a thing your government could do to prevent it. In the end, you'll pay for the nation's debt with your life and the only fact comforting your survivor's will be that you tried to eat a healthy, balanced diet that was sufficiently fortified with toxins, antifreeze and bacteria.

It would be unfair, however, to single out China as the lone purveyor of tainted food distribution since in recent weeks the inspection failures at the Topps Meat Company resulted in several cases of E. Coli sickness, culminated in millions of pounds of recalled beef and

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