The US government’s craven submission to large food corporations and its absolute disdain for the US consumer was made plain from its reaction to the various video exposés of sick cows being fork-lifted to slaughter. Instead of investigating these obvious abuses of animal welfare, the US government made it illegal for anyone to seek employment in an abattoir with the intention of exposing malpractice therein. The enormous subsidies given to ensure surpluses of corn, which then get turned into high fructose corn syrup and thousands of other processed products, are yet another example of how US government policies actively support the obesity epidemic and poor nutritional standards. Basically the US consumer is regarded as a bucket into which large corporations pour endless junk. But there’s an upside! All those sick Americans then buy billions of dollars of pharmaceutical products, thus adding to overall GDP. It’s a beautiful system provided you’re the CEO of one of the large corporations that benefits.