Portrait of a Killer

Imagine a team of forensic psychiatrists, working on a murder enquiry, drawing up a profile of the killer. There is a sense of urgency about their work as they try to prevent further attacks and of outrage as the killer also taunts the investigators by leaving clues to his identity. Often the case is solved by some breakthrough piece of evidence or of an intuitive hunch which puts the detectives in front of the killer in the final phase of the show. We go off to our beds knowing that the bad guy has been caught and that the world is a safer place without him. But what if the happy ending is thwarted when it is discovered that the prime suspect has Diplomatic Immunity or otherwise enjoys the protection of privilege or the state? Imagine that the boundaries of responsibility are further blurred through state collusion. What anger and outrage would result? What would we do about it? How much worse does it feel when it turns out that the killing has been going on for years and instead of a handful of gruesome murders the evidence reveals that millions have been dying over decades? This would escalate the conspiracy to a matter of international concern, but still nothing would be done about it. This is not the plot of some new best-seller but the day to day stuff of food production in the world today. Edible substances have multiplied in efforts to increase market share and corporate profits. Their composition has changed as they vie to proclaim the exclusivity of their brands or simply to enhance their addictive qualities. There are many suspect practices but the number one villain in our food supply is sugar. In every age sugar has caused massive loss of life. The slave trade that established forced labour for the plantations may be gone but mankind is no less enslaved today through its addiction to sugar with its devastating outcomes for health. It is the root cause of many of our rapidly escalating rates of chronic disease including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, NAFLD and dementia. The dangers are well known to governments but the culprit hides in plain sight – on every food package label adorning our supermarket shelves. The impact of healthy eating would usher in another economic crisis as the agrochemical, pharmaceutical, food production and ‘Healthcare’ industries found their operations slashed. The bottom line is that there’s no money to be made in preventing or curing illness but millions to be made by managing it. Have we really arrived at a state where we’re content not to rock the boat in order to feed corporate greed? Have we somehow come to believe that it’s better to suffer within this system than to change it? On a personal level will we continue to lie to ourselves by denying that our behaviour affects our health or utter the words of ultimate cop-out – ‘A little of what you fancy does you good’. The Christmas story is one of new beginnings. We can choose to start afresh anytime we like and to build a healthful future that will allow us to truly appreciate the gift of life. A good first step is to identify the killer as sugar and remove it from our lives. © Paul Curran 6th December 2014