This might be me talking out of my ass, but years ago, when I saw the chart comparing US and USSR food production over time, it occurred to me that, in old pictures, people always seem thin - not healthy thin, more like emaciated, holocaust survivor thin. Whereas the USSR achieved a nice little 3000 kcal plateau around 1940 and kept it there until the end, the US achieved food parity in the mid 70s - after which, production continued to rise, and correlates with when you anecdotally start to visibly see the emergence of obesity.
It followed that people in the past were just malnourished, but it's never presented as such. It follows further that, in the course of pursuing profit, food companies overproduced compared to actual demand, and through various converging factors, coerced the public into eating more than necessary so that they could make that profit - resulting in obesity.
This might be me talking out of my ass, but years ago, when I saw the chart comparing US and USSR food production over time, it occurred to me that, in old pictures, people always seem thin - not healthy thin, more like emaciated, holocaust survivor thin. Whereas the USSR achieved a nice little 3000 kcal plateau around 1940 and kept it there until the end, the US achieved food parity in the mid 70s - after which, production continued to rise, and correlates with when you anecdotally start to visibly see the emergence of obesity.
It followed that people in the past were just malnourished, but it's never presented as such. It follows further that, in the course of pursuing profit, food companies overproduced compared to actual demand, and through various converging factors, coerced the public into eating more than necessary so that they could make that profit - resulting in obesity.