Unfortunately, the playing field is not level. Compared to the billions of advertising dollars spent by the fast food and processed food industries, funds available to promote healthy eating programs are a drop in the bucket. The challenge, consequently, is to understand what kinds of campaigns are effective and what kinds are not effective. Anecdotal and small-scale causes of changes in eating patterns are also well known. Individuals are told by their cardiologists to change their diets or they will likely have another heart attack.
Overweight people decide to slim down.
Food coupons offer large discounts on certain food purchases. Famous people appear in advertisements eating this food or that food. This has inevitably drawn attention to the trees and away from the forest, and the stream of often conflicting news reports is one of the reasons increasingly cited by consumers who express their confusion about what is healthy to eat and what is not. The Colloquium's panels and speakers address all these issues. The Common Sense Mediterranean Eating Guide avoids a number of pitfalls embedded in other eating plans.