The business of healthy eating

An old friend, who is also a former client and colleague, now works for Edelman Public Relations, the firm behind a just released global research study on attitudes about health and how these attitudes affect businesses. The "good health is good business" theme got my attention. My friend asked me to look at the data and presentations and blog about it if I found something interesting. I mention this in the interest of disclosure.

Edelman's Health Engagement Barometer confirms something that has become increasingly obvious to anybody paying attention. There are consequences for companies, and industries, that contribute to disease and bad health practices, as they find themselves exposed in a variety of media with increasing frequency and reach. Food and eating are hot topics because, like the weather, they affect everybody. Author Michael Pollan has effectively spread the word about ways to improve health through better eating with his books on food and how it is "produced" in America. Recent movies, such as The Informant, Food Inc., and Super Size Me have also shined an increasingly brighter light on corporate food and farming practices that are major contributors to child and adult obesity, along with other health problems; diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer are just one deadly trifecta fed by choosing to eat the wrong foods. So, clearly, companies face public perception consequences when they are purveyors of foods that slowly make us sick, even though they fill us up and don't cost too much.

From a business perspective, this also creates opportunities. Companies that focus on good eating and healthy choices can reap benefits. Whole Foods Markets has been a leader in this area. And renewed focus on organic farming and the humane treatment of animals can be business benefits if you follow the thinking embedded in the Edelman findings. When businesses are motivated to do the right thing because of economic incentives they usually get it done, even if it means changing the way they do business.

The real test will be how many companies adapt and start doing things differently. Some will certainly go for the short term benefit of disputing findings that work against their interests. Genetically modified produce is one of those battlegrounds. Corporate farmers depend on crops that have been genetically engineered. They tout the benefits, understate the risks, and pay little attention to consequences that hurt smaller farmers producing different crops. Ultimately consumers drive the trends. Food Inc. included a scene where buyers for Walmart were cutting deals with organic food producers. Edelman's Health Engagement Barometer serves as new evidence that good health is good business. When it comes to providing alternatives to highly processed and factory farmed foods, Whole Foods got the message long ago, Walmart more recently, but not without controversy.

The businesses that "get it" will find ways to exploit good health; that's better than exploiting our "sweet tooths" and thirst for bigger beverages. The important message is that good health, on a personal level and for the public, is a global imperative. As businesses recognize this they can contribute to a healthier future that exceeds even the benefits to their bottom lines.