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Comment by xtracto | Hacker News Reader

>optimize a snack for deliciousness

Oh noh!, that snack is so delicious that I cannot stop eating it.

It really puzzles me that, in America, the 'vote with your wallet' place, people who care to be healthier doesn't just start buying healthier foods.

After all, the USA is characterized for a strong free market no? as soon as demand for healthier food increases, companies surely would start selling this kind of food I think.

The truth is that people don't care (and not only Americans... in Mexico we have the same problems).

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They care. They care very much. But, they want the fix to be easy and convenient. Therefore, what we get are foods that people _think_ are healthier, but actually aren't. Why do they think they are healthier? Because producers and advertisers convince them of such. (Think whole-wheat/grain pasta.) The reality is that the truly healthiest food options are also the least-processed. But that reality doesn't sell because it requires too much effort and "sacrifice" on the part of the consumer.

Why is this the top response? That's exactly the point, there is nothing wrong with delicious snacks. The problem is that have a mountain of evolution distorting your "free market" of food choices, and snacks optimized for deliciousness flipping biological triggers that want to make you eat more of those snacks.

And yes, you can overpower those triggers, but we're talking about over a nation's population. Plenty of people care and still end up gaining 2-3 pounds per year, which is really not that much (20-30 calories over your expenditure per day, on average), but 3 pounds a year really adds up over a decade or two or three.

As for increases in the demand for healthier food, I urge you to read that article for how that demand is met, often in ways that are not substantially healthier (if at all).

Why do you think they don't care? You can't blame individuals for a culture that completely eschews skepticism and critical thinking skills in children. I'll bet you that every time an educational program is proposed for nutrition in grade schools (at the local, state, or national levels), the junk food lobby steps in and uses its money to quash education. Our educational system is shaped by moneyed interests, just like everything else in government. Our children are taught what doesn't hurt the industries with the paid lobbyists or the status quo in general

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