Maybe it's wellness influencers that are "toxic"

Data usurp a monetization scheme

If you follow any number of wellness influencers, you’ll quickly learn that Americans somehow survive in an absolutely toxic environment. The water is toxic (except for the raw water they sell). The food is toxic (except for the food products they sell). The digital environment, powered by 5G, is toxic (except for what they post, often on 5G networks). Vaccines, antidepressants, cancer therapeutics—toxic (but they have immune-boosting supplements, link in bio).

When it comes to food, however, here’s how America actually scores according to the international ranking system, The Global Food Security Index (GFSI).

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Let’s take a look at that the index is, and why their findings contradict influencer claims—and marketing.

The GFSI

The GFSI is an annual assessment tool that measures and analyzes food security across countries worldwide. The Index is developed and managed by The Economist Intelligence Unit, which also publishes The Economist.

Every year, the GFSI aims to:

• Provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the root causes of food insecurity globally

• Assess and benchmark the state of food security in countries around the world

• Serve as a policy check for governments and a diagnostic tool for investment

The Index evaluates food security across four key pillars:

• Affordability: Measures consumers' ability to purchase food, vulnerability to price shocks, and support programs

• Availability: Assesses agricultural production, supply chain capabilities, and research efforts

• Quality and Safety: Examines the nutritional quality of average diets and food safety

• Sustainability and Adaptation: Evaluates exposure to climate change impacts and adaptation efforts

The GFSI uses a dynamic quantitative and qualitative scoring model, constructed from 28 unique indicators, to measure these drivers of food security. As of the latest editions, the Index covers 113 countries.

Since its founding, the GFSI has become:

• A standardized metric for evaluating food security across a wide range of countries

• A research tool for NGOs and multilateral organizations to identify key countries for food security policy advocacy

• A strategic decision-making aid for the private sector in exploring food consumption trends and developing corporate social responsibility initiatives

These statistics are revealing: the US has world-class quality and safety, yet lags in terms of affordability and availability. Geography isn’t always destiny, but sometimes, it is.

First, let’s take a look at food insecurity measures.

Now, obesity rates.

Finally, median income.

If your eyes are pulled toward the south, specifically southeast, you start to piece together at least part of the story of America’s health issues. The same danger zones are clustered together. The data are pretty obvious: the lower the income, the less food availability (which means more dependence on ultra-processed foods instead of fresh food), the higher the obesity rates, which is often an indicator of worse health outcomes.

Weaponizing data

Now consider the fact that many wellness influencers, who market their products by calling the American food system “toxic,” are located in Los Angeles, Austin, and New York City. Gaze in those directions on these maps and watch an entirely different narrative unfold.

Of course, this is a generalization—”wellness” has the potential to occur anywhere. Yet over and over, top influencers live in major cities, or previously lived in them before embarking on their homesteading cosplaying. They weaponize data on poor health outcomes far removed from their environment to sell their products and services instead of addressing the “root causes” of poor health outcomes, such as poverty, food deserts, and reduced access to education.

America’s food system is not “toxic.” But our products are unevenly distributed and the healthier options are unaffordable to those in food insecure regions.

Addressing these issues has to be the first step in understanding how to Make America Healthy—sorry, can’t do “Again” as these are chronic conditions that, for any history buffs out there, are the result of post-Civili War social conditions.

So the next time an influencer yells about toxicity, check out where they live and who their audience is. Sometime rough heuristics are powerful enough to piece together an entirely different puzzle.